Leading and inspiring by living a life of value and purpose

What does living a life with values look like to you?

" Values can be told to somebody or they can be embodied. If you would have checked in on me, like, four years into the military, I would have been like, yeah, that's the values. I'm supposed to be doing these things. Really?.” - John Spencer

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Who is John Spencer?

Our guest this week, John Spencer, is a retired United States army officer, researcher of urban warfare, and author on the same subject.

He's also a podcaster, with his own show the Urban Warfare Project which you can find on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 

During the Russia invasion of Ukraine, John became notorious for his selfless act of offering advice to those impacted by the event.

John explains more about this during the episode.

John Spencer's military experience and how it speaks about leadership

John Spencer's spent a large chunk of his life dealing with the military.

Even though he's now retired from active duty, the military is still very much a part of his life due to his wife being in active service.

This leaves John with the responsibility of being almost like a pseudo lone parent.

John explains how he's had to find stoicism as part of that parental journey.

Understanding wider identity after being a soldier

During his conversation with Sope, John shares how a lot of soldiers struggle with identity in life after service in the armed forces.

He explains how important his kids have become when it comes to his own identity.

There's also some real vulnerability shared around the role that the military played when it came to his own paternal needs.

The importance of values in John's story

Obviously, given the title, this episode is all about values.

And values play a very central role in John Spencer's story.

Not only with his origin story of joining the military and following their values around leadership.

But also the joining of his wife and her values, and applying those values to their children.

He shares how ultimately, family values and military values are not that different both in terms of their impact and their importance.

 

Key leadership learning moments

 

01m37s - John's start in the military

05m12s - Identity outside of the military 

09m22s - The military's part in teaching fatherhood

15m40s - Technology and its connection with the military

19m17s - Growing as a leader within the military frameworks

24m14s - The military's version of 'hybrid working'?

29m25s - Developing self-actualisation and self-awareness

35m18s - The process of writing a book

44m03s - Staying grounded outside of the military

50m00s - Growth and development in the face of adversity

51m01s - John's definition of leadership

 

 

Useful links and shout outs in the episode

John Spencer's website

John Spencer's LinkedIn

John Spencer's Twitter

Flow - The Psychology of Happiness on Amazon

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