The Leadership Tea | First Edition

Being Deliberate With and Thankful For Leadership Experiences

Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash

The Leadership Tea?

As my daughter, Taylor, says, “What in the French toast is that?”

Well…this is my first-ever newsletter, and there’s so much to unpack, so please bear with me as I attempt to explain what this is and what I’m doing.

Quick table-setter: After graduating college in 2001, I went to Navy Officer Candidate School, served on active duty for eight years, and then transitioned into the Navy Reserve to begin a corporate career. This allowed me to continue serving, which was one of the best decisions of my life. Simply put, continuing to serve in the world’s greatest Navy is about as good as it can get for me. I love our Navy! And…Go Navy, Beat Army!

As a result of my continued service and commitment to the Navy, I’ve been privileged to climb the ranks over the years and, in 2022, was honored to be promoted to U.S. Navy Captain. Then, on December 7th, 2024, I achieved another significant milestone by assuming command of Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron Eleven (MSRON-11), based in Seal Beach, California—one of only a few reserve commissioned squadrons in the Navy!

The entire experience, including the ceremony and the time spent with family, friends, mentors, and peers, was something I will cherish forever. When you can surround yourself with those you care so deeply for, even if just for a moment in time, embracing that moment and holding it close can carry you forward forever. I am beyond blessed.

My Command Coin

Understandably, over the years, my commitment to service has led to some time away from my family (and employers). Going on deployments, for example, is not uncommon for military reservists, and I’ve certainly experienced my share. And in 2018, I returned to the U.S. after completing a long one. It was an extraordinary deployment, as it was my first time serving as a Mission Commander leading a Task Group; we were responsible for executing something challenging and with high visibility in East Africa. It was fulfilling, rewarding, cool, unique, and an experience of a lifetime!

Here’s a video clip that captures a bit of it:

Being the Mission Commander for that deployment was an 18-month evolution. The first six were spent preparing for the deployment, which included selecting the right couple of hundred reservists, activating them, and establishing a culture. We selected the right combination of personalities and talent for the mission, and they lived and worked all over the U.S. as corporate leaders, nurses, police officers, firefighters, lawyers, airline pilots, teachers, students, etc.

After activating them, we brought them all together in Virginia Beach for several months, formed a tight and cohesive unit, certified the unit to do the mission(s), got the unit over to Africa safely with all of the gear and weapons, got the missions done safely (and correctly), and when it was all over, got everyone home to their families and employers, safely. It was certainly challenging, but we had as good of a team as you’ll ever find, and they made it all look easy.

Later, after returning to work at my employer, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), I began reflecting deeply on the deployment. I had so many questions about leadership and wanted to learn more about its concepts and theories so that I could leverage the learning to improve. The reflection led me to pursue a doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership at the University of Southern California. And after beginning the doctoral journey, my personal and professional priorities began shifting.

A few years later, I made an extremely difficult and unpopular decision to leave my dream role at J&J to reset. At that time, I had too many competing priorities, and one phone call one evening was a wake-up call; I came to terms with the fact that I was rowing too hard. Between family obligations, weekly air travel to and from work, increasing Navy responsibilities, and my work as a doctoral student, it was just too much. So, I bet on myself and took a leap of faith by walking away from my civilian career. Shortly after things calmed down, a friend from Honeywell called to say his counterpart needed a strong people leader. And weeks later, I joined them in a senior-level role in a whole new industry.

That was a game-changer.

Now, let me back up a bit. J&J and Honeywell are massive, well-respected Fortune 100 companies. At both, I worked for specific operating companies within them. At J&J, that operating company was Biosense Webster, the global market leader in the science and technology of cardiac arrhythmia treatment. At Honeywell, it was Intelligrated, the world’s leader in warehouse automation technology. So, when I refer to my time at J&J and Honeywell, I only reference my experience working for those two operating companies.

At J&J, things were comfortable. Sure, there were challenges in my various roles, which included sales and sales leadership, market development, and talent development, so please don’t misconstrue my words; we had contested moments, and by no means was it easy. Yet the relative comfort and peace I felt there is a testament to the organization, its people, and its products. It was rewarding to work with a patient-focused mission; the comfort was also likely due to my familiarity and competence in that space, J&J’s unique CREDO, the kindness of those who worked there, and so much more. I met some of the finest people I’ve ever known at J&J, including the four leaders I served under during my tenure. I’ll always root for them, and I am eternally grateful for those connections, my time there, and their unwavering support of my military service.

At Honeywell, it was a vastly different kind of experience. Rather than leading 30+ medical device sales reps, I led 750+ multi-discipline technicians, managers, and directors with responsibility for P&L and more functional areas than I can count on two hands. I also had responsibility for the performance of nearly a thousand contracted personnel, which added a whole other level of complexity to the role. I had teams spread across North America and abroad at project sites and in our offices, and I encountered problems that tested my leadership skills starting on my first day.

Additionally, as a company, our margins for error were razor-thin, and you can only imagine how that impacts various personalities. The environment was pressing, and our days were super long, oftentimes resulting from short-fused taskings with emergent response requirements. Still, my role was professionally fulfilling, and I’m not sure I’ve ever worked harder. Unfortunately, the organization was also experiencing growing pains, and I led through multiple rounds of layoffs. The experience of laying off hundreds of my personnel was harrowing for so many, for so many reasons, and I’ve privately written about it to express my thoughts. Some day, I will publish those words.

But here’s the silver lining: Honeywell gave me what I was missing and exactly what I needed without realizing it. Before Honeywell, I only knew the supplier side of healthcare, a fantastic industry I love. At Honeywell, I gained new experiences by leading within an industrial project management environment, which, strangely, connected me to my earliest days in the Navy. And here’s the best part: the leadership experiences gained in the Navy and J&J translated nicely and set me up for success at Honeywell. Why? Because leading people is not industry-dependent.

Of course, there’s always a learning curve, but that had nothing to do with my ability to connect with and lead others. Even better, I was given wide latitude to lead at Honeywell and took full advantage. Case in point: I built a diverse team that included veterans, signed countless self-initiated organizational change directives, operationalized my leadership models and priorities, and, with the support of my team, restructured my entire organization after selling the concept to the president. I put my personal touch on a massive organization that needed me during those days, and I’m forever grateful for the experience. There’s no substitute for taking a leap of faith, stepping outside your comfort zone, and learning and seeing something new. And as a bonus, I got to work with some dear friends, including the one who opened the door for me to go there.

---

So, what’s the leadership tea from all of that?

1. Adversity does not build character; it reveals it. I learned this from a former Commanding Officer years ago, and it’s a critical viewpoint. Yes, we grow, but how we react to the pain of growth is what tells our story. Therefore, our legacy as leaders is that we will not be remembered for what we endured but rather for how we endured it. And…more importantly, how we treated others in the process.

2. Excellent results and company performance can mask really poor leadership attributes, behaviors, and characteristics. In other words, just because your organization is thriving doesn’t mean there aren’t leadership concerns. They’re 100% there; eventually, the music will stop playing. But until that happens, they’re just a little harder to spot without help. Conversely, when an organization struggles with poor business outcomes and performance, undesirable leadership attributes, behaviors, and characteristics will be highlighted so brightly that even the most untrained eye will notice. Regardless of the environment, when leadership concerns manifest, even amongst the smallest of teams, they can have detrimental consequences if left unaddressed. Just take a moment and let this paragraph sink in.

3. Project Management and Sales are the two functional areas where leadership development is historically needed the most. Why? There are many individual contributors in both functional areas, and there tends to be a strong dependence upon their ability to influence others to drive desired performance-based outcomes. Professionally, we call this “leadership without authority.” Therefore, in significant ways, these roles can positively or negatively impact the work experiences of those they work around and…those who support their performance-based initiatives. Further, the most successful project managers and sales reps are often promoted to lead their peers, but that doesn’t mean they know how. When that happens without some degree of continual leadership development, they can fail miserably, causing catastrophic effects for their organizations.

---

If I’ve learned anything at J&J and Honeywell, those three takeaways explain brilliantly why my work today is so important.

In mid-2023, I took a significant step forward by establishing my leadership consulting firm, which I’ve slowly built up since. It’s called VALiDITEA® (pronounced just like “validity”), an acronym for Veterans Advancing Leadership by Improving Diversity, Integrity, Trust, Ethics, and Accountability.

Each word matters.

Why? Because veterans are uniquely equipped to advance the continuum of leadership in organizations through their experiences in uniform. We’ve seen hard things and are inherently driven to overcome them in service to others. The little “i” in the logo, of course, stands for “Improving,” but it’s lowercase in the logo because it’s a pivot point; each letter after that is unique to what leadership is all about—promoting diversity of experience and thought, having unshakeable integrity, creating environments squarely centered upon trust, and executing the mission ethically and with accountability.

It's straightforward.

VALiDITEA®’s mission is to assess, coach, consult, develop, and give back to the community (10% of all revenue is donated).

To support the “develop” arm of the company’s mission, in late 2023, I joined Academy Leadership as an independent facilitator, which gave me the resources to conduct leadership development training for all my clients. At Academy Leadership, I am one of many independent facilitators licensed to bring their unparalleled leadership development content to individuals, teams, and organizations of every size and type. The clients love the content, and I am honored and privileged to offer it.

In 2024, I finally completed my doctorate, which was a remarkable journey. Because of it, I developed some amazing lifelong relationships, and as expected, I learned a ton. I also conducted a massive quantitative research study and wrote a dissertation on a topic I am passionate about: veteran leadership experience.

But to be clear, I didn’t need a doctorate to launch my firm, to join Academy Leadership, or to become a leadership coach. Anyone can start a company with a few clicks on a website. My experiences in the Armed Forces gave me the foundational skills needed to facilitate Academy Leadership’s first-class material effectively, and my qualification to perform leadership coaching came from my training at Air University’s Eaker Center and Georgetown University.

However, the doctorate has given me the tools to support the “assess” and “consult" arms of VALiDITEA®’s mission. It has given me the skills to evaluate organizational problems and recommend meaningful solutions with credibility, which could come from leadership development training, leadership coaching, or more complex activities such as consulting through difficult and necessary organizational changes.

The doctorate has also given me the skills to write academically and with authority, prepared me for adjunct faculty professor roles, and given me access to a larger body of intellectual leaders who’ve supported my journey. Lastly, it has given me a platform to become an author, and I am only getting started. My first book, ‘Lead Your Diamonds,’ will be published in late 2025, with more to follow.

So, why “The Leadership Tea” as a title for this monthly newsletter?

Well…it’s a play on words. It taps into my company’s name and represents an opportunity to share or “spill the tea” on the previous month’s published leadership articles in a summarized format with my personal commentary.

I’m passionate about leadership and giving back. Writing this newsletter helps me fulfill my purpose with those I care about—you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed it! Thanks for reading and for your support!