Conditioned to Win: Why Metrics Matter Less Than Moments

Numbers track our progress, but they don’t tell our story. In this episode, John S. Berry breaks down why true leadership isn’t found in statistics, but in the moments we rise after failure. Learn how veterans are conditioned to win through relentless preparation, resilience, and character under pressure. Subscribe and discover how to turn your toughest challenges into defining victories—both in business and in life. 

What is Veteran Led?

Veterans know how to lead. The lessons we learned in the military form the foundation for bigger successes in business, entrepreneurship and community.
Host John S Berry, CEO of Berry Law, served as an active-duty Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army, finishing his military career with two deployments and retiring as a Battalion Commander in the National Guard. Today, his veteran led team at Berry Law, helps their clients fight some of the most important battles of their lives. Leading successful teams in the courtroom, the boardroom, and beyond, veteran leadership drives the firm’s rapid growth and business excellence.
Whether building teams, synchronizing operations, or refining tactics, we share our experiences, good and bad, to help you survive, thrive and dominate.

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[00:00:00.00] - John S. Berry

Welcome, fellow veterans. From the tip of the spear to in the rear with the gear. I went from active duty Infantry to reserve component Logistician. I'm your host, CEO, entrepreneur, trial lawyer, and Lieutenant Colonel Retired, John Barry. Most leaders believe that numbers don't lie.

[00:00:23.09] - John S. Berry

But I don't always agree with that. Look, most business leaders and sports fans focus on metrics and statistics. And of course, when you were in the military, you were exposed to standards, hopefully high standards, and those were the same things. Those were your metrics and statistics. Did you qualify at the range? How many targets did you hit? Did you pass the physical fitness test? Did you pass height and weight? Of course, it went on from there. You were being measured constantly. In the business world, we're measured constantly. In sports, we're measured constantly. And everybody is looking at the numbers until we're losing. Then we start losing and we start thinking, oh, my gosh, we're down by three touchdowns How are we going to come back? And you're hoping for that hero who is going to defy the odds and put up amazing numbers. And it's we, the spectators, who become obsessed with the statistics that want to believe in something else. Now, we could look at yards per carry, quarterback rating, tackles for loss, sacks, interceptions, receptions, yards per catch, and touchdowns. But it's not the metrics that we remember. It's not how many yards that running back had last week.

[00:01:28.07] - John S. Berry

You might remember last week, but it is the stories, the myths, the legends. Heroes are created in an instant. It's not because of the numbers they put out on any given day, but because they are, as our guest, Channing Walker said, conditioned to win. Being conditioned to win means, first of all, being conditioned. You think about physical conditioning, the number of reps you put in, the number of days you work out, you condition your body, you condition your mind. Right? But conditioning to win a little bit different, where you are going to fail, you are going to struggle, but you come through every time. So, every time you go through a struggle, every time you go through a failure, and you get back on your feet, you are conditioning yourself to win. You are conditioning yourself to win no matter the circumstance and when everything is on the line, in the military, we don't have the opportunity to back down, to quit, to freeze up. The brave men and women who serve in our military don't have that luxury. They must perform to keep us safe. When we think about why metrics matter, metrics matter because we have to test ourselves daily.

[00:02:42.07] - John S. Berry

It's not so much about always hitting the target, but conditioning ourselves to win, conditioning ourselves to build ourselves bigger and stronger so that we, as a community, can build strong communities, grow strong businesses, and most importantly, protect our future and protect that future of other Americans. So, metrics, at the end, it's important to measure, but it's the stories that come from those metrics. We all remember the immaculate reception, Frank O'Harris. Does anybody know how many receptions he had that game or how many yards he had? I don't know, but I know he caught that one pass, and I know he scored the game winning countdown. That is what sticks in our mind. We don't remember day in, day out what those numbers were or how many workouts you did. It doesn't matter. You are doing all of that work so that when your time comes, you are prepared to not only execute, but to dominate. That is why we keep track of the metrics so that we condition ourselves to win, that we continue to push ourselves. We don't play games where there's no score. Think about all your evaluations throughout the military. You were always being evaluated on something.

[00:03:48.14] - John S. Berry

There was always a standard. There was always a number, but the number didn't tell the story. I want you to close your eyes and think of who that hero was to you. That one moment where you saw real leadership for the first time. You might not remember what that person's PT score was, how well they shot at the range, or maybe you do, but you do know one thing, you remember how they made you feel in that moment. Because you see, leaders give us hope. And the hope happens because we trust them. We trust them to perform, to perform every single day. And yeah, they're going to fail from time to time. We all fail, but they are conditioned to win. We, as veterans, are conditioned to win. We've been through basic training, boot camp. We've all had failures. We've all been pushing dirt, doing push-ups, flutter kicks. And it's not over. It's never over. You don't get to a point of success. So what I'm telling you is this, you're going to get kicked in the face again, and the only way you can look at it is look at your metrics, figure out a way that you can become even How can you do more?

[00:05:01.19] - John S. Berry

But the metrics won't define you. It will be that one moment in time where your character is tested, or you're physically tested, or you're exhausted, and you come through. That's your hero moment. Be ready for it.

[00:05:17.00] - John S. Berry

Thank you for joining us today on Veteran Led, where we pursue our mission of promoting veteran leadership in business, strengthening the veteran community, and getting veterans all of the benefits that they earned. If you know a leader who should be on the Veteran Led podcast, report to our online community by searching at Veteran Led on your favorite social channels and posting in the comments.

[00:05:40.15] - John S. Berry

We want to hear how your military challenges prepared you to lead your and we will let the world know.

[00:05:48.00] - John S. Berry

And of course, hit subscribe and join me next time on Veteran Lead.