Jeremy Stalnecker

But what I observed was that a lot of people outside of the military, they didn't have that hyper-aggressive thing, but they had what we would call now a passive-aggressive thing, right?

And so it was this leadership that is almost manipulative.

Like, I'm going to get you to do what I want you to do.

And it won't sound the same as you'd find in the military, but the goal is the same, to get you to do what I want you to do.

And what I came to understand, and through a lot of study, writing that book was really just a process for me to try to define this and understand it.

was that real leadership is about using the tools, the resources, the opportunities that you have, viewing those from a stewardship perspective.

I have these for the benefit of others.

So whatever those things are, I have them for the benefit of others.

So my job as a leader is not to get you to do what I want you to do.

It's to leverage everything I have at my disposal to make you better than you would be without me.

I use the definition that leadership is taking people from where they are to where they need to be.

A good leader is someone that takes people from where they are right now to where they really need to be.

And we can spend hours talking about the implications of that.

But what that leads to then for me is that leadership is not about learning a list of tactics, techniques, and procedures.

It's not about learning a specific job.

There's a place for that.

You need to know that.

You need to be proficient at your job.

But leadership fundamentally is being.

And so when I talk about leadership, what do I focus on?