62. Veterans Day Special: Courage and Leadership

In this special Veterans Day episode, we explore the connection between courage and leadership beyond the battlefield. From stories of service to lessons in resilience and integrity, this conversation is a reminder that true leadership starts with the courage to serve others first.

Whether you’re a veteran, a leader, or someone striving to lead with more purpose, this episode will leave you reflecting on what it really means to lead with courage, heart and honor.

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Want to learn more about the leaders and stories mentioned in this episode? See below: 

Gen. Colin Powell

• Colin L. Powell’s Thirteen Rules of Leadership – U.S. Department of State
• Colin Powell’s Legacy Defined by Two Very Different Wars in Iraq – NPR

Adm. William H. McRaven

• What I Learned from Being Fired – Business Insider
• Achievement.org Profile: Admiral William H. McRaven

Col. Florence A. Blanchfield

• Colonel Florence A. Blanchfield – Army Nurse Corps Association
• Col. Florence Blanchfield Remembered as Army Nurse Corps Marks 122 Years – U.S. Army
• Dictionary of Virginia Biography – Florence Aby Blanchfield

Veterans Day

• History of Veterans Day – U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

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Let’s keep the conversation going—connect with me on Instagram and LinkedIn, subscribe to my Sunday newsletter, or reach out at sara@leadintoitco.

Excited to be with you!

Transcript

Sara Greco (00:00)
You're listening to episode 62 of the lead into a podcast.

Welcome everyone. And thank you so much for spending a few minutes of your day with me. I'm your host Sarah Greco. I'm so excited to share today's episode because it's about veterans day. As a veteran myself, the day holds so much meaning for me. And it really is just a time to pause, reflect, and to honor all those men and women who have served.

They sacrifice so much and they give so many incredible lessons to us. It could be about courage, could be about leadership. So today I want to share a few stories of veterans whose examples remind us of what courageous leadership looks like. And it could be in moments of uncertainty, pressure, or even conviction. But first I want to take a moment to talk about what Veterans Day actually is.

because sometimes there's a little bit of confusion between Veterans Day and Memorial Day, and they're both incredibly important, but they serve very different purposes. So for Memorial Day, which we observe in May, it's a day of remembrance to those who gave their lives to our country while in service. the other hand, honors all those who have served, past and present, whether somebody served 40 years or four.

whether they're active duty, guard or reserve, they all wore the uniform this day is for them. So today is a perfect day to say thank you for your service and to truly mean it.

And while we're at would also recommend, and it's worthy to recognize the military families. Their sacrifices, have long nights, the missed holidays, the silent strength that the families go through while they're members away, the constant moves. They're just as worthy as a thank you for your service. And just a quick bit of history for Veterans Day. It was originally called Armistice Day, so it marked the end of World War I.

and the arm says took effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. Hence November 11th as Veterans Day. In 1954 after World War II and the Korean War, Congress changed the name to Veterans Day. So it brought in its meaning to honor all veterans of all wars.

Today, as we remember and give thanks, I want to talk thread that I've seen woven throughout every veteran's story I've ever known, and that is courage.

Courage isn't always a loud, dramatic kind. It isn't running into danger or leading the charge. It's often the quiet conviction, standing firm in your values when it would be easier just to stay silent. It's admitting mistakes, taking accountability, and leading with integrity when no one's watching. And that's what ties these three leaders together I want to highlight today. General Colin Powell, Admiral William McRaven,

and Colonel Florence Blanchfield. First, I want to start with General Powell.

known of Colin Powell for a while. Obviously I learned about him throughout all my history books and while in ROTC and I've even seen some of the history while I was growing up of Colin Powell. But I don't think I truly understood his impact until I really started to dive into the research for this episode. And it gave me a much deeper respect for him.

He was a career soldier, Vietnam vet, and eventually became the first black U.S. Secretary of State. beyond his titles, what stood out was his commitment to what he called moral courage, doing what's right even when it's inconvenient or unpopular. Throughout his career, Powell talked about leadership being rooted in character. He believed that trust was the foundation of leadership and then had to be earned daily through consistency, humility, and accountability.

And he famously kept a handwritten list of 13 rules taped under the glass of his desk. And it was just reminded that he wanted to lead with integrity. And he would use these to have speeches. And he shared them in his book. Some of them I thought were super interesting and I want to share. It ain't as bad as you think. It'll look better in the morning. Get mad, then get over it. kind.

Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision. So these are just a few zingers that he had that he over the course of his career and decided to share later on in his book and throughout his speeches. But it was also a reminder for him of what kind of leader he wanted to be. All simple, but they were all profound.

One of the most defining moments of Powell's career, and probably one of his hardest impactful to his career, came during the Iraq War. he delivered a speech to the United Nations about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Later, the intelligence turned out to not be that great, and Powell called it a blot on his record, and he didn't shy away from taking responsibility for it.

And this was a huge moment. If you remember this time in history, if you were around, this was the start of when that phrase weapons of mass destruction ended up coming to be. We heard it a lot after this speech. And Powell went into this speech with full determination because he trusted his leaders so much and his followership was so strong that he was like, if this is what my leaders need, I will deliver. And he did deliver what he thought was accurate and true at the time. Looking back,

he realized that the intelligence wasn't that great. the intelligence was being used to shape a story at the time. And so he looks back now and that's A mistake that he takes responsibility for. He takes responsibility for not asking more questions. And so we think about that for a moment. How many leaders, political, military, or whatever, have the courage to say, I got it wrong on a public stage?

which continued to say even following this career. So that is the moral courage in action. He lived in truth of his values didn't shift or blame or point fingers. He took responsibility for the action of that day, even though at the time he thought it was 100 % accurate. He thought he knew what he was doing. believed in the words that he was saying.

And then looking back, he realized it was a mistake. That takes huge character. And it reminds us that leadership isn't about being perfect. It's about being accountable. And maybe one of the biggest takeaways from this story in particular, is that real courage is about ownership. And that leads to leadership.

let's talk about Admiral William McRaven. You've probably heard of him, especially if you've seen the viral commencement speech at University of Texas where he famously said, you want to change the world, start by making your bed. Who thought that something as little as making your bed would make change in the world? But this speech went absolutely viral and led to his book that he ended up doing. And I think the value of it is, it is simple advice. It's simple.

But what he meant is that courage and discipline can start small, as small as making your bed. Because making your bed each morning gives you a sense of accomplishment. It builds momentum. And through those small, consistent actions over time, it creates a foundation for greatness. But McRaven's story isn't just about neat sheets It's about resilience in the face of failure. He talks about early in his career, he was fired from one of his first major leadership positions on the SEAL team.

He and his commanding officer clashed and didn't get along. McGravens has since admitted that his pride probably got in the way. And as I was researching this, I realized how much this could have just ended his career. you've experienced knowing somebody who's been fired or been fired personally, it can feel like the end of the world. it can halt all momentum in your career

how you feel like you can progress. But instead what he did, he used it as an opportunity to grow. He didn't let this end his career. He decided to put his pride aside.

he later said, pride was the first thing to fall. is something that is a big challenge that leaders face. You're in charge, you need to have confidence, but there's such a thin line between confidence and arrogance. And when do pride and ego get in the way of actually you doing your job and leading your team well? It takes courage to know when you cross that line from confidence into arrogance.

So McRaven took this time he got fired into an experience that fueled his self-awareness, self-reflection, and growth. He learned humility. And humility really truly became one of his defining strengths as a leader. And he eventually went on to command the US Special Operations Command and oversaw the mission that led to death of Osama bin Laden.

But I would say that maybe that mission itself wasn't the most important part of his legacy. It was truly how he led and how he continues to lead today. He treated his teams with respect. He expected excellence but modeled it himself. And he understood that leadership wasn't about being the loudest in the room, but the one who listens the best.

And let's think about courage in that context. It isn't just about bravery and combat. It's about the humility to learn, the resilience to recover. I mean, recovering from being fired, that's huge. And the strength to keep going things don't go as you planned.

Then let's move on to a story that I absolutely love and that's Florence Blanchfield. If you haven't heard her name before, you're not alone impact is enormous. Blanchfield was an army nurse who served in both World Wars and during World War II, she noticed a major problem while she was being a nurse. That it took far too soldiers from the battlefields to the hospitals and because of that delay, it usually cost lives.

So she wanted to change that and bring the nurses closer to the front lines so that they could provide care faster because she saw how much of a difference that could make. The idea meant resistance and it was because of logistics and because frankly she was a woman trying to challenge the system. But she had conviction and she kept it going. So her efforts led to ended up being called the chain of evacuation and it's a system of mobile field hospitals that could move with the troops. And it's something that we still use today.

But the result is that fewer than 4 % of soldiers who received medical care in the field died from wounds or diseases. That's less than 4%. That's huge. That's such a huge change. once said, don't let anyone tell you that the combat zones is no place for nurses. It is definitely. I love that power of that phrase that she was like, yeah, of course it is. And her courage to challenge the norm saved lives. She didn't stop there. Of course she didn't.

So Blanchfield also fought for women in the Army Nurse Corps to receive permanent commission status, not just the temporary wartime ranks that they were receiving at the time. And in 1947, finally passed the Army Navy Nurse Act, which granted nurses permanent commissions. So cool.

Florence Blanchfield herself became the first woman to permanent commission in the US Army. And this was personally presented to her by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. I can't even imagine the courage it took to stand to tradition, to the bureaucracy, to an entire culture that didn't even see you as an equal. And she did it anyway. During this time period, how is that? story is such a powerful reminder that courage

isn't just about the battlefield. Sometimes it's about breaking barriers and they should have never existed in the first place but she saw the potential, she saw how it could change everything. So between saving lives and getting equal rights for women.

So these three very different people and very different times and places. And I just love that the one thing that united them all was the courage that they do what they needed in that period. Colin Powell showed courage to take responsibility. William McRaven showed the courage to stay humble. And Florence Blanchfield showed the courage to challenge the status quo. And the truth

for courage even when we're not wearing a uniform. not be in war, might not be navigating battlefields, but a lot of times we're navigating uncertainty. There's change, difficult conversations, and so many hard decisions. So maybe courage looks like giving honest feedback when it's uncomfortable. Owning a mistake at work instead of hiding it. Applying for that promotion that you're not quite sure you're ready for.

or simply standing up for what you believe in, even when it feels lonely.

I love this quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt, courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. I often believe that courage can overpower that fear, as long as you see how important

that aspect is to you, whether it's telling the truth, whether it's embracing a new change. You can have courage and still have fear at the same time. Just recognize that courage is more. be a stronger

mindset than fear itself. So today, as we honor our veterans, I want you to take a moment to reflect. How can you show courage in your own life? What's one area that you can lead with more conviction, humility, or resilience? Courage doesn't have to look like just about taking the next step, even when it's hard and scary.

To every veteran listening, thank you, thank you for your service, your sacrifice. And to everyone else, thank you for taking the time to listen and learn today to reflect on what courage means. If you want to learn more about the veterans that I mentioned before, I'll my sources and the additional reading in my show notes. As always, I would love to hear what resonated most with you from this episode. Send me a note at Sarah at LeadIntoIt.co.

And if you enjoyed today's episode, I would love, love, love if you left a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify to help others find the show. Until next time, keep leading with courage. Happy Veterans Day.