Greg Cullison | QWERX, Inc.

Yeah, the first one is leadership.

And there are a couple pieces to that.

In the military, I think the great advantage is that you could be rank private and still be given some leadership opportunity, whether it's a task or a work group or a study group up to, of course, general officer.

But I want to pivot on that a little bit and think about leadership of self.

And so really thinking about how do I, what is my conduct? What is my thinking like? How do I present myself? How do I control my reaction to certain situations? And I think for those of us who have been in the military and had some pretty sucky days, your ability to master yourself and still deal with the situation is paramount.

And so in entrepreneurship, you just don't know what's going to come after you.

So this ability to deal with ambiguity and adapt to the situation, really go forward without a lot of information in many cases.

So the ability to deal in shades of gray and still move ahead is really a big component of leadership for me.

So as a result of that, if I'm in a good place, then what I'm reflecting to others that are my subordinates is going to rub off on them, basically.

And I think it all really starts with the mentality.

And I even tell this to the kids I coach in youth sports.

It's like, if you're right up here, the rest of it flows.

You've just got to be in the headspace.

And so you can't be having a sour attitude, a terrible body language, and expect people are going to follow you.

Now, I will say there is a difference between having a couple bad days and really dealing with serious mental health issues.

And I think that... very happy that that's been de-stigmatized in society now.

And I would say if anybody's really in that category, I urge you to get help.

And there's really no shame in that.

I know in the military, we're often taught to be tough and all that.

And you present a facade.

And so people may not be understanding what you're going through.

So I think that's a very important thing, not to say, look, we can't just wish this away in some cases.

Now, if the circumstances are bad and it's just a question of going out for a run or whatever, then that's a different story.

But I think our ability to master self with that type of self-leadership is very, very important.

And that, I think, really dovetails into the second, which is the perseverance.

Yeah, the first one is leadership.

And there are a couple pieces to that.

In the military, I think the great advantage is that you could be rank private and still be given some leadership opportunity, whether it's a task or a work group or a study group up to, of course, general officer.

But I want to pivot on that a little bit and think about leadership of self.

And so really thinking about how do I, what is my conduct? What is my thinking like? How do I present myself? How do I control my reaction to certain situations? And I think for those of us who have been in the military and had some pretty sucky days, your ability to master yourself and still deal with the situation is paramount.

And so in entrepreneurship, you just don't know what's going to come after you.

So this ability to deal with ambiguity and adapt to the situation, really go forward without a lot of information in many cases.

So the ability to deal in shades of gray and still move ahead is really a big component of leadership for me.

So as a result of that, if I'm in a good place, then what I'm reflecting to others that are my subordinates is going to rub off on them, basically.

And I think it all really starts with the mentality.

And I even tell this to the kids I coach in youth sports.

It's like, if you're right up here, the rest of it flows.

You've just got to be in the headspace.

And so you can't be having a sour attitude, a terrible body language, and expect people are going to follow you.

Now, I will say there is a difference between having a couple bad days and really dealing with serious mental health issues.

And I think that... very happy that that's been de-stigmatized in society now.

And I would say if anybody's really in that category, I urge you to get help.

And there's really no shame in that.

I know in the military, we're often taught to be tough and all that.

And you present a facade.

And so people may not be understanding what you're going through.

So I think that's a very important thing, not to say, look, we can't just wish this away in some cases.

Now, if the circumstances are bad and it's just a question of going out for a run or whatever, then that's a different story.

But I think our ability to master self with that type of self-leadership is very, very important.

And that, I think, really dovetails into the second, which is the perseverance.