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Tales of Leadership
#108 Randy McCoin - Empowering Military Education Through Service
Randy McCoin, is a proud U.S. Army soldier of 26 years and founder of the McCoin institute. Randy knows the struggles of attending college while being a full-time soldier, as it took him 13 years to earn his undergraduate degree. Since then, he has earned a Master of Education from Pennsylvania State University, a graduate certificate in International Student Services from Western Kentucky University and a graduate certificate in College Advising from Columbia University. His passion is to help people, the organization and he loves to witness others achieve their greatest potential.
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🫡 My Why: I’ve seen the cost of poor leadership — how it can destroy morale, break trust, and in the worst cases, lead to lives lost, including through suicide. That’s why I’ve committed my life to helping others lead with purpose. Through Tales of Leadership, I share real stories and actionable insights on how to overcome adversity and become the kind of leader people remember for the right reasons.
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Yeah. So I think you know we, as leaders whether you're an officer, enlisted or just in the general public you know we have to acknowledge that we have to evolve. You know the leader that I was as a young corporal is not the leader that I was or am as a Sergeant Major, and I think a lot of times, you know, we tell people like at the Sergeant Majors Academy, when I was an instructor there that hey, continue to do what got you thus far, because obviously you're doing something right, and I think that statement is good when we're talking about, like your daily activities, your habits, like getting up early reading books, and you know those type of things seeking out leadership opportunities. But as a leader, though, we have to change and adapt the way we lead.
Speaker 2:You're listening to the Tells the Leadership podcast. This podcast is for leaders at any phase on their leadership journey to become a more purposeful and accountable leader what I like to call a pal. Join me on our journey together towards transformational leadership All right team.
Speaker 3:Welcome back to the Tales of Leadership podcast. I am your host, josh McMillian. I'm an active duty army officer. I am an army leadership coach. I am the founder of McMillian Leadership Coaching but, most importantly, I'm on a journey to be a better leader and I bring people on this show to help me grow personally as a leader and to truly understand what it means to be what I like to call a purposeful, accountable leader. And my mission is to end toxic leadership by promoting transformational stories and skills. And on today's episode, I'm bringing you a transformational leader, a true servant leader, randy McCoy. You a transformational leader, a true servant leader, randy McCoy.
Speaker 3:He is a proud US Army soldier with over 29 years of service and the founder of the McCoy Institute. Randy knows the struggles of attending college while being a full-time soldier, as it took him 13 years to earn his undergraduate degree. Since then, he has earned a master's of education from Pennsylvania State University, a graduate certificate in international student services from Western Kentucky University and a graduate certification in college advising from Columbia University. His passion is to help people, is to help soldiers, to help service members, and he does that and fills that out every single day. He is a purposeful, accountable leader, and I'll tell you right now the world needs more people like Randy.
Speaker 3:As always, stay to the very end and you will get the top three takeaways that I have, and you can go to McMillianLeadershipCoachingcom If you're listening to this episode. I have did a blog article accompanying this podcast episode that distills down the key points. So if you don't have 45 minutes to listen to an episode, you can take a quick read that'll take you five minutes and get the key takeaways from this episode. Let's go ahead and bring on Randy. Randy, welcome to the Talisman Leadership Podcast. I know we said it before, but how are you doing Good?
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm honored to be one of your guests.
Speaker 3:Yeah, brother, you've been someone that I've known for a while at least by supporting this whole platform that I had, and I thought it was humbling when I went to Fort Benning now Fort Moore and I was at the PX. I think I forgot something and I ran into you there. It's truly a small world and I know you're still in the military and you're still full with purpose, so your time is valuable and I genuinely appreciate it. Thank you, I appreciate you having me here today. Yeah, so I always love starting off with the same question, because I have people from multiple different backgrounds, but just setting the framework of how you would define leadership through the years of service that you've had.
Speaker 1:You know, first of all, I would say that we, as military leaders and leaders in general, we make leadership complicated, and it's really not that complicated. To me, leadership is a simple and I know you've used this word before is love, but I think it's about caring. You have to care, you have to care about the mission, you have to care about your subordinates, their families. It's as simple as a four-letter word. Whether you use love or care, that that is what leadership is. I mean we can put all these big definitions on it, the army, I mean there's probably a thousand different definitions of leadership online.
Speaker 1:You can research that and I'm in a doctorate program right now with the university of tennessee at chattanooga and you know most of my bringing up was focusing on certain leaders and their qualities and aspects of their way of leading. You know people like Patton and General Petraeus and people like that, but leadership really just comes about caring about the people that you work with your co-workers, your superiors and, of course, your subordinates. You know the chief of the Army Reserve a few years ago, before he took over, General Lucky. I don't know if you know who he was, but when he took command of the Army Reserve he said look, as long as you're living the Army values and doing what's right per the Army values, I've got your front, I've got your flank and I've got your back and that always stuck with me. So it's just about caring. It's really just that simple to me.
Speaker 3:I think I made a post a long time ago or it was one of the episodes that I did where I broke down the word meekness, because I think you and I share that is that at the base or the core of my leadership foundation is what I term the word meekness, but I pulled it from a biblical aspect of how, how Jesus kind of led uh with being meek and then breaking down that word. What does it mean? It's not weakness, it's engaged, listening, it's evaluating the moment, your surroundings, and then keeping a servant's heart, understanding that acronyms right Hugs, uh, humility, understanding and then gratitude. And if you can keep those things centered in you, you'll show up authentically and you'll do your best and at the end of the day, you'll inspire other people around you to do their best.
Speaker 1:And I love that. I totally agree. And when we, when we as leaders, in my opinion, when we show that we are human beings and we have weaknesses, all of us do right. I don't know of anybody that don't have a weakness. Our subordinates are the people we work with. They gravitate to us more and they want to accomplish more for us because they know we're human.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah, I am probably fraught with more faults than most, and it's definitely gotten better throughout the years, but I would love to kind of tailor it back to starting off your leadership journey. Where did it start for you? Did it start by joining the military, or did it start before that it?
Speaker 1:actually started before that and I'm glad you asked it that way, because in 1991, when I started high school, I made the choice I think it was a good choice to join the JROTC and back in those days you know JROTC has a different flavor now but you know it was pretty much like being in the Army. I had two post-Vietnam Star Majors, post-vietnam Fullberg Colonel, infantry type. Well, actually all three of them were infantry type and you know haircuts Infantry type. Well, actually all three of them were Infantry type and you know haircuts, uniform. It was like being in the Army and I did what back then we called it the Ranger team but now it's called the Raider team. So I think I was put in the leadership early on and you know, of course, looking back, even beyond that, I think I gravitated to some leadership positions. But I think it was really in JRTC where I took on those leadership roles and sought out leadership opportunities.
Speaker 3:Those leadership opportunities? Did they come natural to you? I guess, from a standpoint, is when I was first starting out and I really did a deep dive in all the different experiences I had all the way till grade school and I never truly understood that I would naturally gravitate towards leadership positions and I felt that I it wasn't me who was choosing, that, it was other people who were choosing me for that billet Um, if that makes sense and when? When did you actively realize that, hey, like I, I am a leader that other people like respect? I honestly, I think it was my realize that, hey, I am a leader that other people respect.
Speaker 1:I honestly think it was my senior year. By the way, I was a departmental honor student from my high school for that program. But I think it was my high school year when I had made the decision to go into the Army and the leaders of RJRTC had picked me to be Battalion XO. But I said, hey, I don't want to be a Battalion XO, because Battalion XO is not with Sold Will Cadets. At the time I wanted to be a company commander and that's when I realized that I wanted to be with the troops. I wanted to be with the soldiers, the people who you're leading on a day to day and you know, don't join the Army.
Speaker 3:That's the one thing that I miss. Now I don't know if you know that or not, but, like I transitioned over to acquisitions, so I'm doing cost schedule and performance, focusing mostly on robotics, which is very humbling because it's the cutting edge of where we are within warfare. But the one thing that I miss most is being around soldiers. My favorite job in the world was being a company commander, and I always say that I had a blessing to do it twice. That was hands down my favorite job. And if you could tell me, hey, you can go be a company commander again, I would do it in a heartbeat because I love being around soldiers. And let's talk, through that decision, of what inspired you to actually join the military. I know you joined rotc, but what was that uh inspiration for you to? To look at this as a career field?
Speaker 1:yeah, well, first let me say I think you were double blessed as a company commander, because you were a company commander with the ramrods dude I want to get into that?
Speaker 3:yeah, I saw your platoon sergeant time and I was like man, it's a small world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very much, it very is no. So so my older my, so my dad, was in the marines for 16 years and and let me go back real quick and bring me back if you need to uh, so my dad was from beckley, west virginia. Oh, that's our connection, yeah, and so you know, I think that's where I, you know, from our family, we get our work ethic and it just really drives you, gives you a grit, you know, being from a descendant from West Virginia, it really drives you who you are. So my dad had a third grade education, but when he went in the Marine Corps, they, you know, on his 214, when we buried him in 2015, I talked about how the Marine Corps had got him through grammar school, but I'll tell you and the McCoy Institute, which we'll talk about more later, I'm sure that's not named after me. I'm not that self-centered to name something after me. That's named after my dad because my dad was a lifelong learner, even with a third grade education. He's probably the smartest man I've ever known and I'm in a doctorate program and I still think he was smarter than I am. So he was the Marine Corps for 16 years and two of my older brothers were in the Army. One was in the Marine Corps like my dad, and the other one was in the Army and served in Desert Storm. And even with all that, I still think that my drive or desire really came from my mom and the reason I say this because I remember as a little boy.
Speaker 1:Chattanooga used to be known for having the grandest Memorial Day parade. I guess it's coming up here this coming weekend in Chattanooga. It used to be the largest. I don't know if it still is or not, I need to look into that, but my mom would take me to that. You know, you'd have jets flying over, you'd have all these big. So I think that's really where I got my sense of patriotism from was my mom, and at age 82, because she's still alive and maybe she'll see this video or hear the podcast, I don't know, but I tell you my mom she was born in 1941, just days before December 7th, and I think, as a little girl growing up in that timeframe, my mom right now, if you told her to go and take on the Russian military at the age of 82, she would do it. She's that much of an American. So I think that's what initially got me into the service to serve initially.
Speaker 3:I love that connection to West Virginia and I was going to bring that up because I was curious of where that was. So Beckley, west Virginia I grew up in I don't even know if you know where this is at or not, but Fenwick, west Virginia, which is just outside of Richwood and Summersville. So from Summersville I think you jump on 64. I can't remember it's been a while or 19. And then you can get into Beckley probably 40 minutes driving through Fayetteville. That's a different level of America, if no one's the.
Speaker 3:And I love that connection because I also have a deep connection with my father and that's where I think I get all my work ethic. He was a coal miner, still is, gets up at three every morning, works and gets home maybe four or five in the afternoon, still cuts grass and goes and cuts grass for his neighbors, some of his elderly neighbors. He's just a better man than I'll ever be and it's just a different level of grit and work ethic that I've shared and I'm hoping I can instill that in my kids. We're actually going back home next week to hopefully go spring gobbler hunting, take the kids for the first time. So I'm pumped about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean honestly and shamefully. I admit I have not been back in many years to West Virginia. I never actually lived there, but I, now that I'm retiring or we're going to be retired next month, I definitely want to plan to get up into the mountains and see that beautiful country.
Speaker 3:If we ever get an opportunity, I would love to take you trout fishing. Um, we can go up to the Monongahela National Forest where the cranberries are. It's really close to my house Once you're retired and maybe we could plan like an actual fishing trip. That'd be awesome. That sounds fun. So kind of tailoring it back towards that inspiration to join the military. When you joined the military, what were some of your initial thoughts and just experiences at that junior rank before you really made more of like a senior non-commissioned officer?
Speaker 1:You know, I loved the Army and I still love the Army to this day and I got out. So I got out of the Army as a staff sergeant in 2001, in June, with the hopes of going to Chattanooga State and obviously you know, 9-11 happened. And so my reserve side, I mean, when I left active duty I went into the reserves because I said I'm going to continue to do this, even if it's on the reserve side, because I love the army that much. But then 9-11 happened and then my two days later my reserve attachment got called up to Fort Campbell where I spent the next two years and even though I was on the reserve books for like the next eight years, all that time pretty much was active duty. It was either mobilized Iraq or AGR time period in 2008.
Speaker 1:I refried it. I don't know if you know what that means or not, but I refried it, released from active duty and came back on active duty and went to on active duty roles and went back to or went to Korea where I was a platoon sergeant. But but my first, my but my first duty station was Fort Drum and it was just fun High intensity training in the early 90s, mid 90s. 10th Mountain only had two brigades. We were constantly training, constantly going.
Speaker 3:You would not be disappointed that it is still that exact same way. Three brigades, now 2-2, moved to I can't think of the new installation's name Fort.
Speaker 2:Johnson.
Speaker 3:And that they are there supporting the other brigades that rotate through JRTC, but they also help augment. I have done more JRTC rotations and we shared that too because I was an OCT, but 10th Mountain has not changed their op tempo. I've done more live fire exercise with that organization and I am a T at it. So when you were transitioning through the ranks, in terms of just leadership skills that you had, were there any specific skills that you picked up along the way that you thought were the most valuable, specifically when you were starting off at a junior rank and then you started to transition to more senior ranks?
Speaker 1:yeah, so. So I, I think you know we as leaders whether you're an officer, enlisted or just in the general public you know we have to acknowledge that we have to evolve. You know, the leader that I was as a young corporal is not the leader that I was or am as a Sergeant Major, and I think a lot of times, you know, we tell people, like at the Sergeant Majors Academy, when I was an instructor there, that hey, continue to do what got you thus far, because obviously you're doing something right. And I think that statement is good when we're talking about, like your daily activities, your habits, like getting up early reading books, and you know those type of things, seeking out leadership opportunities. But as a leader, though, we have to change and adapt the way we lead, and you know I did listen in one of my favorite podcasts that you did is obviously with General portray us, because he promoted me start first class in iraq. But you know he talked about how, um, he has no set leadership style and I really appreciated that and it really opened my eyes and made me reflect.
Speaker 1:Uh, because you know, back in the older days we had directing, participating and combined leadership, and I would like to say that I was combined. I think most people would say, oh, I'm combined because it sounds good. It's like a little bit of both, but I was probably less directive and more participative. I'm the type of leader that I try to get in there and do the work with my soldiers or subordinates, be a teammate. But that's not always the smart answer, right, because sometimes, and especially as you move up, you know when you're a first sergeant you probably don't have the time to participate as much.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying that most first sergeants or company commanders don't want to participate. I mean, I'm not sure. As a company commander you wanted to get out there and do a lot of stuff with your platoons and squads. But if you're doing that daily, are you really leading your company Right? So you know, that's the thing I think is you know early on I was definitely more participative type of style. I don't even think we use those terms anymore in leadership for the army, but that's the way, that's what it was when I first came in. But I'm just saying we have to evolve as leaders and if we don't, I think we're going to fail.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I love this quote by Ralph Nader and always sticks with me is that the function of a leader is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
Speaker 3:And when I had General Petraeus on the, by the way, that was just extremely humbling Reaching out to him and him actually being on the podcast, not from a standpoint of like any type of following that I would get, but just to learn from one of the most influential military figures of our times, which was super humbling. And I agree with you when he talked about his leadership philosophy, that he didn't really have one, that he and I kind of boiled it down to leadership intelligence. He had the leadership intelligence to understand what he needed to do to be successful, not just as an individual but as a team and an organization, and he adapted that with the tools he had in his rucksack, based on the operational environment that he found itself. And I mean I wish I would have heard that a long time ago, because I thought we had a set leadership style and this is my leadership style and I'm going to go out forward and I'm going to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that really that episode you did with him, and when he made that comment I was like man, that's really impactful.
Speaker 3:So kind of continuing with your military service, because I know education is something that is near and dear to your heart, is near and dear to your heart. Did you have any challenges while you were in the military actively of pursuing any of those advanced educations as a soldier? And then what are some of the resources that you used and have used?
Speaker 1:Well, first of all, what I would say is you know, when I first came in in 1995, going to school as an infantryman was not a thing, right, it really wasn't. It wasn't. It was your thing. Right, it really was, it wasn't, it was you. Your job was to go to the range, it was to do pt. Uh, it was to run faster, it was to run harder. That strong ranger, yeah, yeah, you know, it's what we did.
Speaker 1:But I will say this and I don't know which battalion commander it was, because I'd like to give him credit but he did set up a one of our down periods. He set up for Jefferson Community College in Watertown to come in during lunchtime and give us a composition 101 class. So that was really my first taste of a class in the military. And I like to tell people my job as a soldier always came first, always. So I may have two masters and I may have two graduate certificates, but I never put any of that before my job as a soldier.
Speaker 1:Now I'll say this in today's army, I think having college education, whether it's one class or a degree or whatever, makes us a better soldier, makes us, uh, ready tonight, the so. What worked for me ready tonight, the. So what worked for me? It was taking one class at a time. I took one class at a time because I think soldiers can overload themselves. If you're trying to do your job as a soldier and you're trying to take two classes, that's a lot right. But so it took me 13 years to get my uh four-year degree and after that I got selected to go to the Start Majors Academy as a student, and there, at UTEP, university of Texas at El Paso, they offer graduate degrees at nighttime, so two nights a week, in addition to the start majors course load, which, if anyone's listening doesn't know, is pretty academic and strenuous. So I can. In 10 months I earned my master's of public administration.
Speaker 1:And then in 10 months. That's a lot of work, a lot of work. Then I got selected for the fellowship at the academy and earned a master's of education, and that's what led me to kind of doing what I'm doing now.
Speaker 3:So what inspired you and inspires you to continue down that path of education? Because I have that same drive. I just don't. I literally don't have the time, because something would have to give within my current role. It would either be my job, which is absolutely no-fail job, or my family. So everything I want to do is a bucket list item. I plan to do that later. But what keeps you driven to go after these master's degrees? Because I'll tell you I'm going to be honest with you when I went to the Naval Postgraduate School and they forced me to get a systems engineering degree, when I thought I was getting an MBA and I have a criminal psychology bachelor's degree, I avoided math like the plague, because not because I'm stupid, but because I just did not want to do it, and I was like I'm never getting another degree. But now I find myself wanting to go get a doctorate degree, but specifically like in leadership studies, because that fascinates me. But what has kept you motivated just to pursue this high level of education?
Speaker 1:Well, I want to hit on two things with this. One is I want to go back to balance here in a minute, but what drives me personally is going back to my dad. So initially, when I joined the army out of high school, my dad, he said and I knew my parents, you know they were from West Virginia right, he did not have the money to send me to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which I think it's kind of interesting. Now it's full circle, because now I'm doing my doctorate there, which is interesting. So I have all of my GI Bill and I feel like my dad would be looking at me right now and saying hey, randy, you have this educational benefit. Why are you not using it? Why are you not bettering yourself? And that's truly why I'm doing it.
Speaker 1:I don't care for the title of doctor, I really don't, and humbly, I'll tell you just recently, during my transition, because of the things I've been been over doing over the last couple years, people are seeking me out. I never thought in a million years that this young guy from chattanooga would be offered to be flown to the university of florida for a job interview. Oh, wow, yeah, and now I I pulled my name out of the uh list of contestants for that position. Now I pulled my name out of the list of contestants for that position but still I went down there and did a five-hour interview with a certain office and it was just humbling and I thought I did really well. But after doing more reflection came back to Columbus, fort Moore, and I was like you know, I need to be here right now. And then another opportunity was presented Because I'm also teaching classes at Georgia Military College here in Columbus, and another opportunity opened up for me to take a full time position at the Columbus location and I actually submitted my application and then, like two or three days later, I withdrew that application because I'm like right now I'm in this doctorate program and this doctor it's only going to take me just a little bit over a year because of my two graduate certificates.
Speaker 1:So that's why I want to go back to this word balance. So what is that balance? And because everybody loves to throw around this word balance and I even at the start majors academy, when I was instructing, I I would try to get our small group to talk about what does balance mean. I would try to get our small group to talk about. What does balance mean? Because balance to you as a dad, what you, you know you may be doing 50, you know 80% of your work, 10% to this you know business, a podcast, leadership, school that you have, and then the other 10% goes.
Speaker 1:I don't know what yours is, but I'm just giving an example. But you know that that may be what you think is right, but what right for your, your children, or what is right for your spouse and we. A lot of times I don't think we know that we get the balance wrong until it's too late. But that's what drives me. So, going back to the original question, it's, it's really because my dad would be. Look, I think he's saying to me like you have this benefit, the gi bill, why are you not using to further develop yourself? Because my dad continued to read books, whether it was a car manual or a magazine, or lawn and garden or whatever it was, until he died.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, my grandfather. He would sit there and he would do Sudoku, sudoku, puzzles and puzzles and read Western books, I think all the way up till 89 years old, right before he passed away, all the way up till 89 years old, right before he passed away. But he was one of the sharpest men that I knew and he would always just keep himself entertained. And I love how you went to the word balance, because you and I see it the same way, and I don't think balance is achievable and I say this from a standpoint is that if we always try to chase balance, then we're chasing that moment in time of where we're comfortable. But life isn't like that, because we always have bins that are overflowing. And I break it down, kiss, keep it simple.
Speaker 3:Stupid is that work, family, self, so we always have to go to work. There's something that we have to get paid for or we want to do family and self, self-care. And I just break it up into those allotments and I actually did an assessment, exactly what you just talked about, and I'm about 60-30-10. 60% goes to the Army on a normal day of my time, 30% goes to my family and then 10% goes to myself. But it wasn't like that before.
Speaker 3:It was 60, 35, 5, with 5 being my family, and that's when I realized I have to back off, because this is the most informative years for my kids and I don't want to miss that, because I'm trying to chase my passion, which is leadership, and that's hard to realize. I was able to do it because I had an accountability partner, which was my wife. I kind of call it my accountability tree, someone who's like deeply rooted, that just doesn't want to hear anything and will keep you on a straight and narrow, but that that's hard to do. How, how, how did you identify that? The, the work-life balance or understanding, when you become unbalanced in a certain area and you have to reevaluate?
Speaker 1:well. So so much like your, your spouse, your wife. So for me I call it a circle of trust. And to me my circle of trust is on about five people, right, and what I do is is when I'm trying to take on this doctor, so when I was deciding about the georgia military college position, the university of florida position, that both of those positions I would have loved, is when I'm trying to take on this doctorate, so when I was deciding about the Georgia Military College position, the University of Florida position, that both of those positions I would have loved and this doctorate, I run those by those five people and I say, hey, this is where I'm at, this is where my mind is.
Speaker 1:And I'll tell you, being here lately, thinking about thinking, metacognition, reflection, and we always think those are great things but I'll tell you here lately, for somebody who's made decisions for 29 years and advised commanders on on making decisions, on you know, what I thought was the appropriate decision. Man, it's hard, it's hard to make those decisions. So I rely on those, uh, my, what I call my circle of trust, to help me, uh, to make sure that I'm not overburdening myself.
Speaker 3:I love that man Circle of trust. It's really it's like an individual mastermind or accountability group that you can vet and validate your decisions on. That's awesome. I want to go to back to something that you talked about before, and it was the Georgia Military College. So I know that you do a couple classes I think it's Leadership 201 and then Leadership 101 within that class. What are some of the fundamentals that you're teaching in that class that could apply to leadership?
Speaker 1:anyone who's listening so the first one is leadership and college success. So really the only thing that one is getting after is college success what will make you successful in college. And one example of that would be a lot of students going like first generation college students don't know what it means. When we talk about instructor hours, you know certain demographics in our country think oh well, that's instructor's hours, that's times that you don't bother them, right. But that's not the case. That's the time when you're supposed to go bother them and say, hey professor, hey instructor. I don't understand this concept, I don't understand this theory. And that's their office hours. That's when you're supposed to go see them. So we go over that and it's really just setting the students up for being successful college students and it's really a fun course. The other course is basically getting after being a creative and critical thinker, which we value in the military.
Speaker 3:I think critical thinking that was something that you talked about before of why it's so important to the military is that it helps bridge the gap between theoretical and problem solving If that makes sense, like book answers versus actually being a problem solver. Some of the material that I took, like software coding and all that stuff, I will never use. But what I did learn was how to critically think through problems and if you've ever heard the term engineering be verification, validation and the bridge of kind of like making decisions, I think education, from that standpoint, helps us be a more critical thinker or, at the end of the day, a problem solver, and that's why education I agree with you wholeheartedly is so vitally important within the military, because it teaches our young service members how to think through problems that you may not truly get any experience with, even going through real world events, but going through these complex ideas it rewires your brain in a way of critically thinking through issues.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and one of the ways I get after that in the course I lead is group work. So a lot of times what I'll do is I'll have the student write down their answer, what their belief is, or whatever the answer, what they believe the answer is to the problem on a three by five card and then that way I know what they were initially thinking and then I'll tell them share that with your classmate, and then I'll put them in a larger group and then sometimes I'll even divide them and I will get them to go on the opposite side of what they believed about a topic. And now they have to argue, uh, the the opposite of what they believed, to try to get you know, open their mind.
Speaker 3:You know that critical and creative thinking, Today's show sponsor comes from 10th Mountain Whiskey and Spirit Company. They are a philanthropic, award-winning craft distillery located in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. For being a listener of Tales of Leadership, you get 10% off on any order using the promo code PANDOCOMMANDO when you place an order at 10thwhiskeycom. Both of those are in the show notes so you'll be able to find them. 10th Mountain Whiskeys and Spirit Company honors heroes and they craft legacy. I've commanded two organizations in the 10th Mountain and both of which are very deeply impactful to me. This is a company that I stand behind, and if you're looking for a great bottle of bourbon, look no further at 10th Mountain Whiskey and Spirit Company. Back to the show. That was what I had to do that exercise in college, and I hated that exercise the most because I was dead set on like OK, this is my thought. This is the way that I see this problem. Oh, now you have to flip that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it challenges us. No, no one wants to, you know. Challenge, you know, challenge your beliefs.
Speaker 3:So some of the roles and titles that you had before we get to the McCoy Institute I know you were up with. So were you a platoon sergeant? And to you before you were an observer, coach, trainer or how did that work for you?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was with the.
Speaker 1:I think you probably came, if I'm guessing, right after I left to to. I was with them for 2010 to 2012. I was with them for 2010 to 2012. And I was on that 2011 tour to Afghanistan and I was platoon sergeant for half of that and then the other half I was the battle NCO in the battalion talk and then, when I came back from that deployment, sergeant Major Tagg, who ultimately made it up to be a four-star nominative sergeant major, he moved me in to be the first sergeant of the Ford support company. I don't know what it was when you were there. I think it was Fox company 201. I don't know if it was still the same when you were there.
Speaker 1:But and then, immediately after that, I was only back there for like six months and you know HRC was well, this is when the brigade you were at Fort Knox. Right, I've been to Fort Knox. You were at Fort Polk. Yeah, I was at Fort Polk, or Johnson, now, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, get it straight, but I was at that time period that the brigade, 3rd Brigade, 1st ID, was at Fort Knox. Ah, okay, and so when I, about six months after being back, we had a meeting with the lieutenant colonel that was over the infantry branch there at HRC and I had come down on orders initially to go to NTC and, you know, I said, hey, you know, I want to go to another deploying brigade. This is what I want to do on a deploy.
Speaker 1:And this lieutenant colonel was like well, I'm sorry, you've been selected to be an OC and that's it. And I had no interest in going to NTC and that's it. And I had no interest in going to NTC. And he said, look, and this is what he told me he said, look, it's probably a good thing that we selected you to be an OC. And I didn't kind of know what he was laying down at the moment, but at that time HRC was actually selecting people to be OCs, octs, and so then I said, well, can I at least go to Fort Polk at the time versus NTC, because I'm not a desert person, I'm just not. And he says, well, we can do that for you. And so they sent me to Fort Polk, now Fort Johnson, task Force 2. And about four months later my name popped out on the E8 first round list.
Speaker 3:So that is a small world, um. So I think delta company was dingo company when, when we were going through, alpha company was wolf company, bear, cobra we're all named after animals when we were there. And then hsc was hawk company, but I did my oct time first and it was funny because mine went um the same way. I had a meeting with Branch at the Maneuver Center of Excellence after I was finishing the captain's career course and I was in. I just, you know dead set. Just got back from 2-2 brigade out at Fort Lewis, under 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, deployed to Afghanistan during a combat deployment. I was, I was all motivated. I went in there with the mindset that I'm going to be the very last person that branch talks to, because they're going to remember me. Horrible decision, and if anyone's listened to that, never be the last person, cause that basically means all the slots were filled when I went. They're like all right, well, you have two options. You can go be an eyeballing instructor or you can go to a CTC rotation. Uh, it's like well, I've already been a platoon leader. I don't want to learn, and, as bad as that sounds, to be a better platoon leader, I want to move forward and learn how to be a company commander. So if I have to choose, I will choose a CTC.
Speaker 3:And then I chose Jared TC and I also fell in under 2-2 or Task Force 2 as well. So I was there as a platoon walker for six months and then I transitioned. I got lucky. I was able to do a company walker I think I was Yankee 0-2 for about 18 months. I think I had like about 26 rotations roughly between that and being in 2-2, but that set me up for success of being a company commander because I saw all these different leaders come through. I call it Clint Eastwood the good, the bad, the ugly of how to be an effective leader, and it was really cheating in a way. So when I was able to take over a company I had all the answers to the test.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I totally agree and you know I've often tell people that. You know, when I was Yankee 3-0 November, that I could tell from my first engagement with the company, from when we'd first go meet them you probably remember doing that I can tell by the unit units disciplined, how well they were going to perform throughout the rotation and and that really impacted me. So when I went out and did more leadership positions that's why I was like discipline, discipline, just discipline, initiative. You know, like when you had units that came in where we're in, where soldiers weren't standing at progress for their soldiers or ncos, just kind of borderline disrespect stuff, that unit was probably going to be crappy. If I'm being honest, when you had units that came in there and they were, you know, uniform, looked good, equipment looked good, all that stuff, they were going to do pretty well in the rotation.
Speaker 3:So the next thing I want to kind of transition to because I could keep going there's so much stuff that I want to kind of transition to because I could keep going. There's so much stuff that I want to pull from there. But the mccoy institute, walk me through you, forming that, the vision, the mission of, of what you wanted to achieve with the mccoy institute.
Speaker 1:So so I formed it because, you know, counseling and mentoring soldiers and going through education myself, you know, like I said early on, it was a struggle because people didn't know, you know, the options or opportunities to go to school and so, you know, I think I figured it out and when I was counseling my platoons and my company on going to school, my subordinates, you know, I just kind of just honestly, I just fell in love with it.
Speaker 1:It's mentoring at its finest or leading, and it's fine, I don't know what to call it, but I just fell in love with that process of coaching, mentoring, developing other people. So, you know, that's when I, you know, I looked at my dad being a lifelong learner, I said, hey, I'm going to name it after him and basically, the McCoy Institute, really all it is is a community of practice. It's a community of practice that shares the latest trends and the best practices and it's really for those people who support, like the people at the education office or the you know the the education office at a major university like the University of Florida it's really for those individuals to earn these certificates, uh, so that they can better advise our veteran uh server and our service members and our military connected students on career and educational opportunities, whether it's using their ta tuition assistance or the gi bill or looking at different programs. You know some of the new stuff out there. Some people don't want to get degrees anymore.
Speaker 3:They want to get these micro certificates and you know I can't argue against that, because some of these micro certificates like you can get a coding certificate from the University of Texas at Austin for about six months and be very marketable. There are so many, so many different academic educational benefits and programs that are out there. I will tell you, though, that I've noticed, at least over the past two years, that they're starting to dwindle in a way, and like a specific example you shared one on LinkedIn not too long ago, but one that comes to my mind is the Army credentialing program. The Army used to give $4,000 a year with no ad, so to go pursue whatever certification you want and I was able to get the RBLP certification through that but now they're changing it to where it's no longer a $4,000 a year. I think it's $1,000 a year is the max, up to $4,000 for the lifetime of service.
Speaker 3:So things are constantly changing, and I say that from a standpoint that it's awesome that you have the McCoy Institute that provides, or weaponizes, all of that to service members who want to go pursue education, because, to be honest, we are only going to wear a uniform for a very minute period of time within our lives. Even general officers, they're in for what? 37 years, you're probably going to have another job afterwards, at the end of the day, and that's such a small percentage of people who make it to that level, and could you share some key initiatives or projects that you're currently working on within the McCoy Institute?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So one thing I think I'd like to share, and hopefully the listeners will share, is so on the McCoy Institute website, mccoyinstitutecom, there's a link where service members or veterans, marines, soldiers, airmen, whatever can take a self-paced course, and that course is free as of right now. First of all, since 2011, up until now, I've never charged for anything, so all of this is coming out of my pocket, but maybe someday when I'm out of the Army, I'll charge for some of the more professional certificates, but this particular certificate college success for military connected students and veterans will always be free. That is my mission, because I want soldiers to be able to log on there, marines log on there, airmen log on there, guardians log on there and take that course, and basically it goes over things like how to use your TA for being successful in college, how to use your gi bill when should you use your gi bill, when should you not use it those type of things.
Speaker 1:So it's really good for somebody who has never been to college, or maybe maybe they're transitioning back into college. Maybe they went to school as a civilian, now they're a service member and they're wanting to go to school, and they don't know exactly. It irritates me when I find a student at the PX or club in sales or a club team and I'm like where's the education office? And they have no clue. They don't even know who their educational counselor is. So one of the things that talks about in there is building connections. Relationships matter and if you're going to go to college, you know, build a connection with your professor or your instructor early and often, you know, don't call on them the night before you need them, because now it's too late, right? So that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 3:There's a quote by Winston Churchill that I love that we make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give, and I generally believe, by giving it, and thank you for that. I know it's not easy, so I do leadership coaching 100 percent free, and it will always be free for for service members, no matter where, wherever I go with this. That's something that is deeply passionate, at least from my perspective, and the world needs more people like you, randy, that are willing to make those types of sacrifices to make this world a better place. So that's awesome.
Speaker 2:It's time for our final show segment that I like to call the killer bees. These are the same four questions that I ask every guest on the Tales of Leadership podcast. Questions that I ask every guest on the Tales of Leadership podcast Be brief, be brilliant, be present and be gone.
Speaker 3:Question one what do you believe separates a good leader from a great leader?
Speaker 1:I think it goes back to what I said initially Be willing to care and take action. We make leadership complicated, but I don't think it's complicated at all. Just have a willingness to care.
Speaker 3:And once you see a fault or whatever, take action to correct it. Second question, and this is probably going to be a hard one for you, because I know you're going to have so many that come to mind If you could share one resource with our listeners to help them grow their leadership, what would it be?
Speaker 1:So the one I want to talk about is the DOD.
Speaker 1:I'm going to give you a website, wwwdodmoucom, and what that is is it's a way for people to validate that the school they're going to is regionally accredited, and that's important.
Speaker 1:Regional accreditation is important, and when I advise students or veterans, I want to make sure you know there's some nationally accredited schools that are great schools, and institution and learning is learning, in my opinion. But if you're going to spend your time, spend your GI Bill, spend your tuition assistance and your energy, I think you should be spending it on something that's going to be able to transfer to other major universities like the University of Alabama, the University of Florida, the University of Tennessee, and so that means that your schools really need to be originally accredited, and you can validate that by going to wwwdodo-u dot com, and it's a government website, uh, and all you gotta do is put the school in there and it'll search. It'll show you all the schools in the country and it'll tell you if it's a for-profit school, it'll tell you if it's a public school, it'll tell you if it's a private school. It'll tell you how many students are going to that school using their gi benefits, uh, so that's a resource I'd like to share with your audience.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. I've never heard of that, so that's definitely a new resource that hasn't been shared on this, so that's great. Question three if you could go back in time and give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be and why?
Speaker 1:I wish I would have fallen in love with learning earlier. I really I mean in high school. I did well in high school but and I got through high school my main focus was JROTC, of course, but I wished I would have applied myself more or earlier in my academic journey in life. I'd probably be somewhere different than I am now. Not that I'm not disappointed on where I'm at, but I just wish I would have fallen in love with learning earlier.
Speaker 3:I think we all can set a path. I always go back to Proverbs 19, 21. Don't quote me on that. I might be wrong, but we all establish our footstep, but the Lord's kind of determined our path and I don't think there's anything wrong with the path that you're currently on, because I genuinely believe that you're the right man for the job to help make a change when it comes to academics and education within the military, and you're getting ready to transition now from over 26 years of service, I believe, 29. 29. I don't want to cut you short. Wow. So that's humbling in itself. And now you're getting ready to do this full time and I'm excited to see where that goes. And the last question is how can our listeners find you and add value to your mission?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so most, almost all, almost all social media platforms Facebook, linkedin, please like and follow. Instagram, twitter like and follow, share those with people who you think might need some of our resources, and the more they share, the better it helps. The McCoy Institute mission and vision.
Speaker 3:Yeah, randy, this has been an amazing episode, long overdue. The next time I go to Fort Moore which I'll probably be going to the Maneuver Center of Excellence soon I look forward to catching up with you, brother. Yeah, please hit me up. Have a great night, all right. Thanks, all right, team.
Speaker 3:It is time for our after action review. That was a great episode with Randy. It's funny that I'm constrained by time. I get off work at six o'clock. I went to my kid's soccer game seven o'clock to eight filming this episode, and I get up at 4 every morning to go back to work. I'm constrained by time. I wish that I had the time, like Joe Rogan, to film a two to three-hour podcast. If you're listening to this, I don't know if you feel the same way wish I did, because I have so many questions that I didn't even get a chance to ask Randy. But he is a true, purposeful, accountable leader. He is a servant leader. So it's time for our after action review.
Speaker 3:What are the top three takeaways that I pulled from this AR? I would love to hear yours as well. So the first one that I have and that we share is love of defining that as terms of leadership. I think love comes down to one word and that's meekness. Meekness is defined as we break the word down. It's not weakness, it's engaged, listening, it's evaluating the moment and it's keeping a servant heart. At the end of the day, leaders that can do those things and lead with hugs which is kind of a weird acronym, but hear me out humility, understanding, gratitude and a servant heart, then they can show up authentic and they can inspire other people. And we both share that. We both come from combat arms and we both have walked the same path. We've literally been in the same battalion and served in the same organizations. So the next key takeaway that I have is grit, and I think grit is one of those words that is easy to define but it's truly hard to master. So if we want to break down what the word grit truly means, I've done this, you're welcome. I've created an acronym for it.
Speaker 3:It starts off with guts. It takes a leader who has the guts. And number two, it takes leaders who have a resilient spirit. And number three, it takes leaders who have integrity. And then, number four, it takes leaders with tenacity to make a difference. Hard things happen. Leadership is not easy. It is filled with obstacles. It is filled with minefields and you need people that have grit, who had hard work, ethic.
Speaker 3:And that was connected through our shared experience of West Virginia. If you've never been to West Virginia the theme of the state if you drive in you'll see the big sign wild and wonderful. It truly is wild and wonderful. It is an extremely rural state with some of the most majestic, beautiful landscape that you'll ever see. The rolling hills of Appalachia is home to me. I feel home when I'm there. I love bluegrass, I love all of it. I'm actually getting ready to go back next weekend with my family to go trout fishing and spring gobbler hunting, which I'm really excited for. But what you don't see is the grit that people have there, because it is a different type of life that most Americans never experience.
Speaker 3:I grew up in a single family household. My father was a coal miner. He worked almost every single hour. I never really got a chance to see him that much until I got older and my parents unfortunately got a divorce. I grew up in a poverty household of where we had a lot of our basic needs met through hunting deer meat trout, which was great. I had a beautiful childhood. I loved my childhood, but it's a different level of grit that people have there and that's where that shared experience has.
Speaker 3:So number three is critical thinking. Leadership at its core comes down to the acronym always talk about T-ball. Thoughts shape beliefs, beliefs drive our actions and actions define our legacy. Critical thinking is part of that, because if we want to solve complex problems, we have to have the ability to actively listen, understand our options, weigh those options to mitigate risk and then to move forward. And through education, which is one of Randy's passions in life, you learn how to critically think through problems. And it's not necessarily the education that is going to change your trajectory in life.
Speaker 3:Right, getting a degree, getting a bachelor's degree, having a master's degree, has given me more opportunities, but what I've learned out of those opportunities is to critically think. And systems engineering was one of the best ways, because you view problems differently. Now and now I view problems differently and the critical thinking skills I've learned through academics I apply in real world scenarios. All right, team, do me a favor. If you like this podcast, make sure you share this episode, make sure you rate it, give me a five-star review, make sure you leave a comment. If you follow me on social media. Go to McMillianLeadershipCoachingcom. You can find additional resources, and I do this all for free, because I want you to be armed with the best information possible to be the best leader possible.
Speaker 2:Be a purposeful, accountable leader Be a leader that this world needs.
Speaker 3:As always, I'm your host, Josh McMillian, saying every day is a gift. Don't waste yours. I'll see you next time you.
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