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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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[00:00:00.07] - John S. Berry
The biggest misconception about leadership is that we can turn losers into winners. Now, sometimes we can, but that almost never happens. So what can we do as leaders? Welcome to Veteran Lead. I'm your host, John Berry. And today we're going to talk about one of the most important leadership lessons that we learn. It's this. You can't change the people around you, but you can change the people you are around. Unlike when you serve in the military, in the civilian world, you can only lead the willing. You can't make people show up, you can't order them to show up, Of course, you can't hit them with UCMJ, NJP, if they don't show up. You can fire them, but you get to decide who's on your team. So let's talk about the people around you. I think there's a lot of important questions we have to ask, like, do Do they give us energy or do they suck the energy out of you? Are they stuck in the past or are they trying to build a bigger future that you want to be part of? Do you even want them in your future? You see, once you get out of the military, you have absolute control over how you spend your time and the people you spend your time with.
[00:01:24.16] - John S. Berry
Now, you can lead people, but you usually can't fix them. If you're in a toxic leadership relationship, news flash, you're not going to be able to fix that person. Now, they may be able to fix themselves, but there's nothing you can really do about it. Sometimes you can give them self-awareness, sometimes you could be a buddy to them, sometimes you can refer them to the chain of command and see if someone can help them. But the truth is this, that there are toxic people who will always be toxic. And so long as you stay in their environment, you'll be affected by it, and you could become toxic. So sure, that toxic person may get help and they may change their behavior, but you have absolutely no control over that. Your only real choice is whether you are going to tolerate that person in your life. The biggest misconception about leadership is that we can turn losers into winners. Now, sometimes we can, but that almost never happens. Losers stay losers for a reason. Losers stay losers because they They don't want to change. They don't want to make the effort, and they feel a lot better about themselves when they can drag you and others down to their level instead of getting it together and rising to the level and the standards that you've set.
[00:02:47.08] - John S. Berry
We all know that misery loves company, and losers love to gossip and complain, and make fun of people more successful than them. The thing about losers is they don't see themselves when they look in the mirror. They see a helpless victim staring into the abyss of hopelessness. You cannot change these people. They can change, but they must decide to change. What can we do as leaders? When we have these toxic individuals in our organization, these people who are just losers, they don't want to be positive, they want to stay in the negative, they don't want to improve, they're never going to make the effort. The best thing we can do for them is have an honest conversation with them. And if we can't make them see the truth, then we got to let them go. Whether that is we're not friends anymore, or we terminate them, or if they're family member, obviously, that means you can't. Usually, you're a family member, but you might be hanging out with them less. The reason why is because it has an impact on us. You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with.
[00:03:50.07] - John S. Berry
If you're hanging out with people who are losers, who are toxic, and you're spending all your time trying to fix them and make them better, you are depriving the winners in your life, the great people in your life of your leadership. Because we, as leaders, can make winners even better. As I said in my book, Veteran Lead, don't waste your time on the C players. Invest your time in the A players. Recruit more A players on your team. It's like a football. Business is won in the draft. You get the best talent, you nurture it, you learn from it, and you make excellence a part of the culture. The only way to make excellence part of your culture is to hire excellent people because excellent people will make mediocre people better and attract even better talent. Now, you can't change the people around you. They have to decide to change if that's what they want. But you can change the people you are around. If you're a leader, a civilian leader, you're going to choose who's on your team. Now, the other side of the coin is you have to be a leader worth being around because if you're not worth being around, great people will not stick around to be around you.
[00:05:03.07] - John S. Berry
Build a team that you want to be around. Think of the people that give you energy, that are positive, that you think you could contribute and provide value to give them an even bigger, better future. Those are the people that you want the team, because if you can contribute and give them something, they will give back to you tenfold. We've all learned that from our leadership experience, where maybe it was a young private or a sergeant or a lieutenant that we mentored. Our lives became a lot better because we developed a great leader. Not only did we feel good about it in our heart, but our organizations flourished because we had leaders who would step up. Once you have individuals like that on your team, Talent will attract more talent, and most importantly, it will repel mediocrity.
[00:05:51.18] - 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. We want to hear how your military challenges prepared you to lead your industry or community, and we will let the world know. And of course, hit subscribe and join me next time on Veteran Led.