From The Green Notebook
Joe Byerly
Recent Episodes
Colin Stevens, author of Make Your Mark: Lessons from Legends for a Life of Fulfillment and Impact, joins the show to share his inspiring story of chasing a dream that didn't pan out the way he thought it would and the lessons he's learned along the way. Joe and Colin talk about the following topics:
- The importance of self-belief for achieving success
- Why we should study the "full game" over the "highlight reel".
- Leadership through transparency and owning mistakes.
- The impact of social media on young athletes' mental health.
- How to develop resilient kids
- The role of fear and failure in pursuing passions.
- The power of being true to oneself.
Colin Stevens is a former Division 1 basketball player and senior year team captain at Coastal Carolina University. After working in the banking industry for years, he left the 9-5 to embark on an entrepreneurial journey and start his own business. He has since created two successful brands in the basketball development industry.
For the past five years, Colin has worked as a life strategist and performance coach. He has been hired by professional athletes, business executives, and entrepreneurs to help them maximize their potential. With a unique approach that combines his sports background and personal development expertise, Colin enhances decision-making, personal growth, and emotional intelligence.
Colin is the published author of two books, COACHABLE, and his most recent book with raving reviews, Make Your Mark. He is a sought-after speaker and trainer for various companies, motivating and empowering others to reach their full potential. Learn more about Colin at www.thecolinstevens.com
Special thanks to this week's sponsors!
Veteran-founded Adyton. Connect Leadership With Action Across Distributed Formations With Mustr by Adyton. Mustr is your digital knife-hand for daily and rapid personnel accountability, real time response data visibility, and automated reporting. Learn more about what Mustr can do for your formation here!
My favorite coffee is veteran-owned Alpha Coffee and I've been drinking it every morning since 2020! They make 100% premium arabica coffee. Alpha has donated over 22k bags of coffee to deployed units and they offer a 10% discount for military veterans, first responders, nurses, and teachers! Try their coffee today. Once you taste the Alpha difference, you won't want to drink anything else! Learn more here.
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
- Insights into memory and emotional regulation
- How mindfulness training helps strengthens our attention system
- A practical approach to mindfulness training for enhancing attention
Whether you’re struggling to stay present, looking to enhance your memory, or seeking solace in the whirlwind of the digital age, this episode promises to turn the light of your attention onto pathways that could lead to a calmer, more focused state of being. Learn more about Amishi's research in military cohorts here.
Dr. Amishi Jha, PhD is Director of Contemplative Neuroscience and Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami. Prior to her current post, she was an Assistant Professor at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania.
She received her B.S in Biological Psychology from the University
of Michigan, her Ph.D in Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) from the University of California–Davis, and her post-doctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University in functional neuroimaging.
Learn more about her work here.
Special thanks to this week's sponsors!
Veteran-founded Adyton. Connect Leadership With Action Across Distributed Formations With Mustr by Adyton. Mustr is your digital knife-hand for daily and rapid personnel accountability, real time response data visibility, and automated reporting. Learn more about what Mustr can do for your formation here!
My favorite coffee is veteran-owned Alpha Coffee and I've been drinking it every morning since 2020! They make 100% premium arabica coffee. Alpha has donated over 22k bags of coffee to deployed units and they offer a 10% discount for military veterans, first responders, nurses, and teachers! Try their coffee today. Once you taste the Alpha difference, you won't want to drink anything else! Learn more here.
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 better navigate life
- Rituals and family life
- How to create family traditions when you move all the time
- ....and much more!
Michael Norton is the Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He has studied human behavior as it relates to love and inequality, time and money, and happiness and grief. He is the author of The Ritual Effect and the coauthor—with Elizabeth Dunn—of Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending. In 2012, he was selected by Wired magazine as one of “50 People Who Will Change the World.” His TEDx talk, How to Buy Happiness, has been viewed nearly 4.5 million times. He is a frequent contributor to such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Scientific American, and has made numerous television, radio, and podcast appearances.
Special thanks to this week's sponsors!
Veteran-founded Adyton. Connect Leadership With Action Across Distributed Formations With Mustr by Adyton. Mustr is your digital knife-hand for daily and rapid personnel accountability, real time response data visibility, and automated reporting. Learn more about what Mustr can do for your formation here!
My favorite coffee is veteran-owned Alpha Coffee and I've been drinking it every morning since 2020! They make 100% premium arabica coffee. Alpha has donated over 22k bags of coffee to deployed units and they offer a 10% discount for military veterans, first responders, nurses, and teachers! Try their coffee today. Once you taste the Alpha difference, you won't want to drink anything else! Learn more here.
Lieutenant General Christopher Donahue returns to the show to continue his previous conversation with Joe on culture and leadership. In this episode, they discuss:
- What LTG Donahue has learned since his last appearance on the podcast
- How the culture of the 82nd Airborne Division held up during the evacuation of Afghanistan
- Four reasons leaders need to focus on physical fitness
- The importance of innovation in today's Army
- What LTG Donahue is reading right now
- Tips for successful communication
Lieutenant General Christopher Donahue currently serves as the 39th Commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, and Ft. Liberty, NC. Prior to assuming command of the corps, LTG Donahue served as the Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.
LTG Donahue’s other assignments include Commander, NATO Special Operations Component and US Joint Special Operations in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Deputy Director for Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism, J-3, for the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C., Commandant, US Army Infantry School and Director of the Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team, and Deputy Commanding General (Maneuver) of the 4th Infantry Division.
LTG Donahue has led Soldiers at all levels in Airborne, Ranger, Light and Mechanized units, to include service with 3 divisions, the 75th Ranger Regiment and USASOC. He has deployed 20 times in support of operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, to include; Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Atlantic Resolve, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Operation European Assure, Deter and Reinforce, and in support of the Sudan crisis.
His formative and key, Army and special operations, assignments include Director of Operations, Joint Special Operations Command, and 16 years in various USASOC organizations, first as a platoon leader, then as a troop commander, squadron commander, and finally as a brigade commander.
LTG Donahue is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, and was commissioned in 1992. His military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Naval War College, and the US Army War College Fellowship at Harvard University.
Special thanks to this week's sponsors!
Veteran-founded Adyton. Connect Leadership With Action Across Distributed Formations With Mustr by Adyton. Mustr is your digital knife-hand for daily and rapid personnel accountability, real time response data visibility, and automated reporting. Learn more about what Mustr can do for your formation here!
My favorite coffee is veteran-owned Alpha Coffee and I've been drinking it every morning since 2020! They make 100% premium arabica coffee. Alpha has donated over 22k bags of coffee to deployed units and they offer a 10% discount for military veterans, first responders, nurses, and teachers! Try their coffee today. Once you taste the Alpha difference, you won't want to drink anything else! Learn more here.
The 41st Chief of Staff of the Army, General Randy A. George makes his first appearance on the podcast for a great discussion about leadership, his vision, and the lessons he's learned over the course of his four-decade career. General George and Joe cover a lot of ground in this episode, discussing topics including:
- Encouraging professional discourse
- Why leaders need to ask questions
- The training management program that's in the Chief's crosshairs
- Why great leaders are great editors
- What transforming in contact looks like
- How General George recharges his batteries after a long day
- The importance of professional boundaries
- What topics General George wants leaders to write about
- ....and more!
General Randy A. George assumed duties as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army on September 21, 2023.
George commissioned from the U.S. Military Academy in 1988 as an infantry officer. He served as a lieutenant in the 101st Airborne Division and deployed in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
George received his Master of Science in Economics in 1999 from Colorado School of Mines and then served at the National Simulation Center in Fort Leavenworth before attending the Command and General Staff College.
In 2001 George went to Italy and served as the executive officer of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. He was later executive officer and then deputy commander of the brigade, during which time he deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Returning to the 101st Airborne Division in 2004, George commanded 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment and deployed a second time to Iraq. He then went to United States Naval War College as an instructor and then student. He deployed again as part of the initiatives group for the commanding general, Multi-National Corps-Iraq in 2007.
In 2008 George returned to the 4th Infantry Division, where he commanded 4th Brigade Combat Team and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Following command, he was a fellow on the Council of Foreign Relations, chief of the strategic policy division for the Pakistan-Afghanistan coordination cell on the Joint Staff, executive officer to the 33rd Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. He later returned to Fort Carson as the deputy commanding general (maneuver) of 4th Infantry Division.
George took command of the 4th Infantry Division in June 2017. In this role he deployed again to Afghanistan. His most recent command was of I Corps at Joint Base Lewis McChord, after which he served as the senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense.
He is married to his West Point classmate, Patty. They have two children, Grant and Andrea.
Special thanks to this week's sponsors!
Veteran-founded Adyton. Connect Leadership With Action Across Distributed Formations With Mustr by Adyton. Mustr is your digital knife-hand for daily and rapid personnel accountability, real time response data visibility, and automated reporting. Learn more about what Mustr can do for your formation here!
My favorite coffee is veteran-owned Alpha Coffee and I've been drinking it every morning since 2020! They make 100% premium arabica coffee. Alpha has donated over 22k bags of coffee to deployed units and they offer a 10% discount for military veterans, first responders, nurses, and teachers! Try their coffee today. Once you taste the Alpha difference, you won't want to drink anything else! Learn more here.