Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another exciting episode of Make Unplugged. And today we have someone the first time that I met her, I was truly captivated by her mind, her vision, all the amazing things that she has done and will continue to do for our military and veterans. I would love to present to you my good friend who has the most brilliant mind and leadership that I know.
It's Joanne Bass.
You're listening to Mick Unplugged, hosted by the one and only Mick Hunt. This is where purpose meets power and stories spark transformation. Mick takes you beyond the motivation and into meaning, helping you discover your because and becoming unstoppable. I'm Rudy Rush, and trust me, you're in the right place. Let's get unplugged.
Mick, I'm so glad to be here.
Chapter 2: What inspired JoAnne Bass to join the Air Force?
You know this is some love because we're recording this, by the way, somewhere downtown D.C. and I live in Northern Virginia and it is a whole thing to get here to D.C. But one, I'm honored and humbled to be here. I love the work that you're doing, period, but especially the work that you're doing for our veteran community. And so it's really my honor to spend some time with you.
And again, the love to come all the way to DC to come and spend some time with your audience and really hopefully share some good insight that we can all glean from.
No, absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, it goes without saying I met you. Wow. It's only been earlier this year, but it seems like forever at an event with Robert Irvine.
Yeah.
A golf tournament, a golf event to support our military, our veterans, our first responders. Yes. And the moment that my wife and I met you and your husband, we were like, those are our people.
Amen.
Those are our people.
Yeah.
I feel the same way, but I'll tell you, growing up and spending time in the military, 31 years for me and 27 years for my husband, we always talk about this notion of a military family and when you're part of it, you just never leave it. And when we met you, we're like, oh, he's part of the family.
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Chapter 3: How does JoAnne define effective leadership?
I'm just so passionate when I see leaders because it's not easy. Especially in the military, it's not easy. And your background amazes me. So talk to us about how you got started. What made you decide to do the Air Force? Like go through all of that with us a little bit.
So I am the daughter of an army soldier. And so for my entire life, I have known nothing but national defense, right? Like as a military child. And then as an 18 year old, I'll never forget. I wasn't quite mature enough yet to go to college. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I grew up old school, by the way, where my parents were not paying for my college. And I'll never forget.
My dad always said four years in the military never hurt anybody. And so I thought, well, I'll do four quick years, get a GI Bill and figure out life. And then at the and I tell people this all the time. Right. So I so I joined the United States Air Force and not thinking that it was going to turn into a lifelong career and a real honor. But
But at the four-year mark, I only re-enlisted Mick because I had a Honda Civic that I need to pay off. So I wasn't completely all, we're going to have to get a picture of that Civic and post it, but I wasn't completely all set in. I'm a normal 18-year-old, like most folks, who didn't necessarily sign up for patriotic reasons, but I certainly stayed. Hmm. for those reasons.
So signed up to figure out life, get a GI bill at the four-year mark, signed up another four years to pay off my Honda Civic. And then it was probably about the eight-year mark when I started serving with people who we read about, right? Some of our nation's heroes who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. And I was part of those organizations and those units that true heroes.
And so I started to really understand what it meant to wear our nation's cloth and to be part of something bigger than ourselves. And the bigger than ourselves piece is where I like to talk about it because only 1% of our nation serves. Only one percent of the United States population serves our military. Yet we are a free and prosperous nation because of that one percent.
So it took me a long time to really grasp and understand that that that what we do is for the sake of our children and our children's children.
Mm hmm. You know, and I'm trying not to get emotional because I know who you are and what you stand for. And you talk about that one percent. Right. Why is it?
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Chapter 4: What does JoAnne mean by the importance of community support for veterans?
that we only have 1%. And I'm gonna take it a step further because I don't know the number of this, but I don't know how many people that aren't a part of the 1% support the 1%, if you get what I'm saying, right? Like I was not a part of the military, but I can promise you every day of my life goes to support, right? Why don't we have enough people that do that part?
You know, I am a persistent optimist, I call myself, by the way. I think by and large, the majority of people in our nation do support the military. I think what it is is most people don't know how. to really support the military or have a full understanding.
As we talk about some of the challenges that our nation is gonna face when it comes to, for instance, recruiting in the military, if only 1% serve, what I share with people broadly is we can't count on just the 1% serving to figure out our recruiting challenges. We need 99% of America who knows that this is their military. And by the way, I share that often with people.
This isn't my Air Force or my Army or my Marine Corps or my Space Force, right? This is America's Air Force, America's Army, America's Navy, America's Marine Corps, America's Space Force and Coast Guard. But it's America. So how do we start to educate and inform? I think it's... platforms like yours that really do that.
People, again, by and large, appreciate what their service members do for them. They just sometimes don't know the how. And so now as I've transitioned out of uniform in the last 20 months, that's part of some of my how is I know the the power of our military service members and their families.
But I think it's important that we really do educate America on the value proposition of a strong military. And Mick, one of those things, I do call our service members America's greatest competitive advantage.
Like if you have, again, if we realize if employers, if industry, if corporate America really realizes the value that they get when they hire or bring on or onboard a service member, their family member, and that is talent. Yes. Anyway, I think we have, back to your question, I think we have more of an issue of helping America realize how they might support their military. Right.
Okay. And that's your passion now. One of your passions. Yeah, for sure. I usually ask my guests at the very beginning, what's their because? Yeah. That thing that's deeper than your why, right? Like I say this all the time in every episode, your why is probably your children, right? Your parents, your community, your family. But when I ask you, but why?
That sentence usually starts with, well, because, and I care about your because. And so if I were to say, Joe, what's your because? Why do you do what you do the way that you do it?
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Chapter 5: How can leaders harmonize work and family life?
What's that burning desire and purpose for you now?
Yeah. Why are we getting so deep so early in the morning? That's how we do it. This is what I've learned. So I would say that my because, I said it a few minutes ago, my because is because I want a free and prosperous nation for my two girls and your children and our great grandchildren. That is why. But I know that the only way for us to have
You know, the freedom of democracy, it's going to take all of us. So the military piece is one component, having a strong military. But we have got to, as a nation, rally around this thing called democracy, value what we all bring to the fight. Yeah. Industry has to start building stuff. Schools have to start teaching things.
Parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles have to start teaching character and citizenship. So that is, again, I'm still trying. trying to figure myself out. But but what because and why I do the things that I do is because I want years from now to be able to, you know, rest well and know that our our kiddos have it and their kiddos have it. And we're going to continue being a great nation.
I love that. So speaking of these kiddos, we're in a different era than when you and I grew up, right? And I say it's not bad. Yes, we are. I tell people all the time, it's not bad. When we talk about millennials and Gen Z, they're the most resourceful generations that we've ever had. But there's more things for them. There's more information. There's more access. How do we...
recruit them into military and or service? What's the missing recipe for my kids and those that are gonna follow?
That is the question of the century. And to be honest, I don't know. That is not a question just for the military. I think all of workforce in America and, quite frankly, workforce across the globe is really thinking deeply about how do we tap into the full potential of this next generation.
When I served as the chief master in the Air Force, one of the things I was very much focused on was the people aspect, the people behind the warfighting mission that we have. And I knew for certain that the only way we were going to tap into this next generation and the generations that follow after that is we can't have old, antiquated people policies that I came into 30 years ago. Mm-hmm.
Our workforce looks different today than it did 30 years ago. The military looks different today than it did 30 years ago.
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Chapter 6: What role does self-care play in leadership according to JoAnne?
30 years ago, the workforce was primarily the man coming to work and the woman staying home. And that is what things look like. And I'll never forget, you know, The old generation military would say if the military wanted you to have a family that issue you one like that was a thing. That is not the case in today's modern military family or today's working family.
And so we've got to update our HR people policies and they have to be relevant. um, at the speed that we need it to, to be able to onboard talent that we have.
The other thing that I would say is, and this can be controversial and I've had a lot of my, um, peers in the military kind of freak out when I say these things, but when I think about the, the military that we're going to need in the future, it looks more like oceans 11, um, than it does, um,
You know, from 50 or 60 years ago, like I care less about the rank that somebody has on their sleeves or their shoulders. I actually care about the potential and the talent and what they bring to the team. And so that's where I think we're going to have to tweak up some of our stuff to reach that next generation. The other thing that I would say, it's interesting because people...
people always say, oh, this generation. And I'm like, they said that about me and you, you know, when we entered the workforce. And what I would say is this generation has choice. This generation wants to know that they are part of something greater. This generation is going to ask why. And we better be able to have some transparency to help
You know, just bring them along so they understand the big and they're so smart and talented. Like they know. Right.
Yeah.
They're going to be just fine. It's it's it's a five. You know, we talk about five generation serving. It's the other four. They have to understand this next generation that's coming up.
I totally agree. And you hit on something that when I'm talking to business leaders, I've been saying for the last 12 months. Trust. Yes. And transparency. Yes. Is the new currency. And so for every leader, trust, transparency, emotional intelligence. Those are the three things that you have to make the forefront of what you do because this generation, air quotes. Yeah. Right.
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Chapter 7: How does JoAnne view the transition from military to civilian life?
We join you like I. I grew up saying those things. But again, it gets back after like this is a new world that we live in where the challenges that we had in the past are not going to be the same ones we have in the future. So tapping into that. Right. It is. It's trying to figure out that balance for in the military, for instance. Right. You're joining a profession of arms. It is a select few.
It's one percent, as I mentioned to you. Yeah. But we're still going to have to take a look at our people policies. And if we want to hold hard and fast to write like this is how it is and you joined us. Well, good luck with that. You know, we've got to figure out where does that make sense?
Yeah. Yeah. Again, that's why you're one of the most brilliant minds that I know. And from a leadership perspective, you kind of hit it really quickly. So we're going to zoom in a little bit. She said she was a Chief Master Sergeant. She was the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force, which means you're a bad, shut your mouth, I'm talking about Joe, right?
Talk about the moment, and it probably isn't a moment, but when you realized, being the leader was your destiny. Because I know for me, when I felt it for the first time and it was almost like I looked out and I could see, oh, whatever I do impacts all of them. Whatever I say impacts all of them. The decisions that I make What was that like for you?
And it's different because I was just leading a company. You're leading the people that are protecting our nation.
Yeah. I would say that, you know, what I recognize is it's funny, right? Like hindsight is 2020. What I recognize now is. is that leadership is absolutely a journey. And now I can look back at over 30 years and see that every assignment that I had, every duty title that I had, every work team, every team that I worked with, it was all a setup for the next chapter that was coming. And so I
I've learned that. And leadership is about, you know, reps and sets, right?
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Chapter 8: What initiatives is JoAnne involved with after retiring from the Air Force?
Like you don't just go in there, right? If I evaluated myself based on, you know, me 20 years ago, like I'm a completely different person. The foundation is still the same, but the reps and sets that you build and that experience is huge. I will never forget. It was my birthday, June 15th, 2020, when I was sitting in Biloxi, Mississippi at my previous assignment, Kiesler Air Force Base.
And I was, you know, one of the last few that were being considered for Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. I already had a blessed, wonderful career, by the way. And at that particular time, myself and my husband, we were looking at property for when we retire because, you know, just like any other job, right, there's kind of a hierarchy and it just gets fewer and fewer.
And so we thought, you know, hey, we've had an amazing career. We're going to continue serving, but it may be out of the military. But I was being looked at for chief master in the Air Force. And And, you know, going through the interview process, which is, you know, pretty selective. And I got a note from my team when I got into work that day.
And they said, hey, the future chief of staff, General C.Q. Brown out of Hawaii, out of the Pacific, is going to call and let you know if you were or weren't. And so I was like, okay, no pressure, right? So I go home for lunch and it occurred to me like, man, I haven't even prepared what I'm gonna say when and if he calls. And so I started thinking about what am I gonna say when he says,
You weren't it, right? Like, because I'm, you know, again, in my mind, not thinking that I will be the chief master surgeon in the Air Force. There are so many other strong, qualified, capable leaders. So I'm preparing for my I'm not going to get it speech. And he calls.
And, you know, again, my birthday, and he's like, you know, hey, Chief, I just wanted to let you know that I selected you to be the next Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force. So I was shocked. I didn't prepare for what I was going to say for that. And the only thing that came to mind was, General Brown, sir, you made the right damn decision.
There you go.
And I don't remember anything else. I blacked out, called the family, obviously, and was so excited and also humbled at the thought of being able to lead our Air Force, 689,000 total force airmen that make up America's Air Force. And I tell people all the time,
I'm not just the chief to the enlisted force, but I was chief to our officers, our civilians, the aspects of war fighting matters to me, but also their care and well-being and that of their families and setting the conditions so those total force airmen could continue to ensure the safety and security of our nation. So it came down.
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