by Owen West Every so often an article declares that the military is suffering an avoidable exodus of its best junior officers. This argument has reappeared a dozen times since I joined the Marines in 1991. It’s misleading. Most officers who in their third billets demonstrate the stuff to convert into top-tier seniors remain in uniform. Brain Drain articles focus on officers. Enlisted men and women are *seen* to have faster, flexible promotion opportunities. I don’t know if this is true – or if the argument is repeatedly tabled by departing officers writing only what they know. Military promo ..read more

Dr. Amishi Jha joins Joe to discuss her book, Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day . Amishi sheds light on the complexities of the brain’s attention system to help us understand how we can navigate and enhance our focus in stressful and demanding jobs. In this episode Joe and Amishi discuss:  How our attention shapes everything from emotions to relationships  Challenges in maintaining attention in an information-saturated age How the attention system works  The vulnerability of attention to stress and its impact on performance Insig ..read more

by Mike Lima  It’s not just officers who need to know how to write—it’s warrant officers too.  Warrant officers now have many roles, including staff officer positions and numerous duties as action officers. As a staff officer, the primary role is to support the commander in decision-making and implementation. We provide analysis, make estimates, and make technical recommendations. As action officers, warrant officers create projects and lead action on packages for senior decision-makers. Each staff member has specific duties and responsibilities within the staff structure, regardles ..read more

By Jacob Loftice The best training guidance I have received is “be able to do the things you say you can do.” Having the capability to execute your assigned mission is central to a unit’s readiness. It can be tempting to treat aspirations as facts and oversell your unit’s capabilities. However, units that do this ultimately do themselves a disservice, missing opportunities to build and maintain true readiness. In an environment with ever-increasing demands on resources, finding training opportunities is critical.  The following discussion shares my former unit’s approach to building capa ..read more

by Reed Markham Have you ever felt that the more you teach your Soldiers with words the less they get it? Or even listen? I have witnessed brilliant and experienced leaders struggle to train their teams over the years, and wrestled with the same. It is hard to raise the entire group’s performance instead of just the talented and hardworking, without devoting excessive time, ammo, and energy, to the problem. My concern about this challenge grew as our unit approached its major training event – platoon live fires. However, there was a time in th ..read more

By Joe Byerly In August of 2013, I hesitantly posted my first blog post on From the Green Notebook. I remember the moments after I hit the publish button – nothing happened. I’m not exactly sure what I expected, but in my young and naive mind, I believed that my musings would automatically go viral simply because I posted them on the internet. However, that wasn’t the case. Nobody showed up. After staring at the statistic that showed “0 views” for some time, I slid into the DMs of Steve Leonard (aka Doctrine Man) and asked him to share my post if he thought it was good. He graciously shared ..read more

by Jakob Hutter Reinventing the wheel is often discouraged. But COL Schmidt, the Director of Army University Press at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, argues it’s crucial for leaders to make impactful decisions and drive meaningful change in their organizations.  COL Schmidt’s insights align with the Army’s emphasis on knowledge management (KM), aimed at improving efficiency and information retention within an organization. KM, outlined in ATP 6-01.1, aligns people, processes, tools, and organization to enhance shared understanding and mission success. It encompasses fostering a culture of know ..read more

By Dan Sukman  If you want to go somewhere fast, go by yourself. If you want to go far, go together. – Glen Sather  Sports often serve as a metaphor, and in many cases as a testing ground for real life. There are lessons we learn playing youth sports that we carry into adulthood that serve us well in our careers. Traits such as hard work, discipline, physical fitness, fair play, and teamwork apply not only to sports but in our roles as military leaders. While participation as an athlete can build these qualities, the mantle of coaching carries its own set of skills.  Following ..read more

By Stein Thorbeck I want to tell you a story to make you better at supporting people in pain. I was glad to be there when it happened, despite the difficulty. Further, I was thankful to know something about struggle. My experience with depression in my youth connected me to what I was seeing. These kinds of stories are hard to write about and even harder to share, but they must be told. If only to better equip those looking to help when hope disappears. When I was a tactical (TAC) officer at West Point, there was a particular cadet. A feeler like I am. As feelers, we are left wanting in words ..read more

Dr. Michael Norton joins Joe to discuss his new book, The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions.  In this episode, Joe and Dr. Norton explore the hidden power of rituals in our daily lives. Highlights from this episode include: Understanding the powerful impact of rituals  The difference between a habit and a ritual How to find and examine our own personal rituals  The role of rituals in transitions (becoming a leader, returning from combat, retiring from the military) How rituals can improve our performance and help us ..read more