In this episode, we'll feature Rob Cujo Teschner to share his story from life and business hardships to success. Join us for an in-depth discussion about the current global conflict and the significance of having solid leadership qualities during these challenging times. Don't miss this meaningful conversation, and start developing your true potential as a leader!
Key Takeaways To Listen For
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
About Robert “Cujo” Teschner
VMax Group's Founder and CEO, Mr. Rob "Cujo" Teschner, is a former F-15C Instructor at the prestigious US Air Force Fighter Weapons School. "Cujo" is also a former operational F-22 Squadron Commander. More importantly, he was the US Air Force Subject Matter Expert on the practice of debriefing. The work he did while on active duty is still in use across the force and is used to train the next generation of leaders at the Air Force Academy.
With over 20 years of experience teaching teamwork principles to high-performing teams, "Cujo" and the VMax Group team are uniquely positioned to help your organization achieve excellence and survive the disruption of the business battle space.
Connect with Rob
Connect With Us
Master your context with real results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate on His Social Media
In this episode, we'll feature Rob Cujo Teschner to share his story from life and business hardships to success. Join us for an in-depth discussion about the current global conflict and the significance of having solid leadership qualities during these challenging times. Don't miss this meaningful conversation, and start developing your true potential as a leader!
Key Takeaways To Listen For
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
About Robert “Cujo” Teschner
VMax Group's Founder and CEO, Mr. Rob "Cujo" Teschner, is a former F-15C Instructor at the prestigious US Air Force Fighter Weapons School. "Cujo" is also a former operational F-22 Squadron Commander. More importantly, he was the US Air Force Subject Matter Expert on the practice of debriefing. The work he did while on active duty is still in use across the force and is used to train the next generation of leaders at the Air Force Academy.
With over 20 years of experience teaching teamwork principles to high-performing teams, "Cujo" and the VMax Group team are uniquely positioned to help your organization achieve excellence and survive the disruption of the business battle space.
Connect with Rob
Connect With Us
Master your context with real results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate on His Social Media
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:00:00] One of the things that I've been given the opportunity to do is to steward this particular organization forward, to help everybody in the organization to be prepared for doing whatever is necessary to defend our nation.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:00:13] Well, if you haven't been through a crisis in leadership, you likely will. I know I have, and I desired to learn not only during the crisis, but before one happens. So I've invited an expert to join me on the program today, retired Air Force Colonel Robert “Cujo” Teschner, the real top gun who has faced not only business, but also personal crises and emerged victoriously. We'll use the backdrop of the Ukraine. Talk about real courage and leadership and organizational context. And I know he will give us the tools we need to thrive as leaders. Can't wait for you to listen in. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, and this is A Call to Leadership.
[00:00:57] Cujo, as you like to be called my friend. It is so amazing to have you on the show. I've been looking forward to our time together since the first time we met. And I just realized there was so much synergy in your experience in leadership, working in the military and working with organizations. When I first saw you, I had to admit that intensity in your eyes, I knew this guy must be either ex-military or or currently working for the CIA. Welcome to the show.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:01:34] Well, thanks, Nate. The feeling's mutual I've been looking forward to today for, uh, for as long as it's been, since we last chatted and, uh, that intensity piece, that's kind of funny. I had a boss once, um, who said, Hey Cujo why do you wanna kill me? And, uh, sure. I can assure you, I don't. He's like, well, it sure looks like you do. And I'm like, that's the first time that I ever found out that I came across that way. And I've had to try to modulate that in order to be a more effective leader. I don't want folks to think that I'm so intense that it's gonna be a difficult relationship. That's not at all what I'm trying to come across with it just kind of how God made me exposed.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:02:09] Yeah, no, that, I wonder me being an educator if you know, if in school that, that was also a tactic to get your grades better or teacher sweating is, you know, you got hinted.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:02:23] No, not at all. Yeah. Yeah. And if it worked for me, then it was, uh, unbeknownst to me, right, that kind of thing.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:02:29] No. Well, you've got a winning smile that goes right along with it so, thank you, I appreciate you having on the show, especially today. Now of course, when this episode airs, our hope is that the conflict will be resolved. And of course, for years to come, when people listen to this episode, but I think it's really timely to talk about what's happening in the Ukraine with Russia and the, and the world landscape from a leadership perspective. Because these conversations are resonant and I believe they have utility for years to come. And we can look at prior leaders who faced very difficult situations and call on their behavior to inform us and to help guide us in very terrors intense situation. So I'd love to just start. Let's just go deep just to start.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:03:19] Yeah. Yeah. I think the timing of this interview is perfect, but in a sad way. You certainly don't want to be having an interview on leadership in the midst of a war. You certainly don't want to be having to point out highlights or deficiencies in the midst of what's a very real terrifyingly real experience for the people of Ukraine, you know, but it is what it is. That's the world in which we live. And I think part of the blessing of us having this conversation today is that there's so much good that we can look to the Ukraine for examples of leadership done brilliantly well and a response from a nation that's responding in ways that I don't think most would've expected I think. I think there's sort of an expectation that if a bigger, more power rolls in than whoever is currently wherever, they just abdicate responsibilities and leave. And we're certainly not seeing that right now. Maybe there's a shining example of what it is that we'd wanna emulate in the future.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:04:19] Oh, indeed. And so that's, I think, well put, because your expectation generally would be okay, a larger power capitulation and moving on. That's not at all what's happened, not even close, not even close,
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:04:34] Not even close. And so I think we're seeing a shining light in a sea of darkness, which is an important example for us to look into and hopefully learn a lot from.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:04:44] Let's break it down. Of course, leadership is essential and we can't under undervalue underestimate under, we have to underscore the value of leadership, how it is about discovery, influence and achievement and ultimately revolves around shared purpose. And so let's talk through some action items that happened along this short trajectory. We're only six days in, I believe that you have observed that were check boxes if you will, to effective leadership.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:05:19] I think one of the most Sterling examples of a box that was so brilliantly checked was President Zelenskyy saying, we're staying here, I'm staying here, but it's not just me. And he filmed on social media, a little video clip with his cell phone or somebody's cell phone, which said, it's, it's me and it's this minister and this other minister and this other minister who are all staying behind defending our nation's capital against a foreign oppressor. And I mean, and you see what the response has been on the world stage. Folks are driving to join them. I mean, people are coming to the Ukraine to help out folks that initially were on their way out, have reassessed and said, no, we're going back in and trains are bringing people back into Ukraine right now to help out.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:06:11] Yeah. So it reminds me of this virtue of courage. How important in the scope of leadership is courage.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:06:21] Oh, I mean, I don't know if you can quantify how important, I mean, on a scale of zero to 100, is it 700 or something? I mean, and really what it is is it's the leader's ability to demonstrate what it is that everybody else hopes to be able to emulate, which draws folks in. And it's one thing. It's one thing to aspire to it. It's, it's one thing to say, Hey, here's who I aim to be. It's another thing to be that person in the moment.
[00:06:49] I had an experience. You mentioned the military background. I had an experience a couple of years ago. I gave a talk in Kansas city, Missouri, and afterwards the attendees gave me a standing ovation thanking me, not for the talk, but for my service. And I said, well, listen, I appreciate this. Certainly I absolutely do. But your your leader, the person who organized this whole thing is just shy of 200 combat missions in Vietnam. If you're gonna give a standing ovation to anybody, you give it to him, he then said, Cujo, no, thank you. I'm blessed to be where I'm at. I'm grateful for the experience that I had. And, and by the way, you've done the same thing in my shoes that I did. And you can only rise up to the circumstances in which you live. I came back and said, I hope that I would've done what you did, but we know that you did what you did. You were put to the test and you responded courageously. You went back for a second tour. You volunteered to go back home. A hundred missions was all that was required in that time. You went back for a second round and we’ll never know how I would've responded in that moment.
[00:07:53] Now, fast forward, a lot of people talk about heroism. A lot of people talk about being courageous. A lot of people speak a big game. Right now, what we're seeing from the leadership in Ukraine is they're living a big game where the stakes are the highest. I mean, again, President Zelenskyy’s got a wife and children at home who are also there and he's public enemy number one, according to the Russians and she's public enemy number two or, or whatever the case might be. It's a dangerous place for them to be. And yet they remain. Goodness.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:08:24] Wow, indeed. And even the children, I remember reading a headline that stated when he was inaugurated, not to put photos of him up as an idol. Put photos of their families, their children, so that it reminded them of when they needed to make decisions. How appropriate is that? It is a time of decision. We have choices to make, and the decisions we make will ripple through history, not only from a larger purview when we're talking about these world events, but even in our own individual lives. They're part of our DNA, our integrity, and how we react in these very difficult situations like you said, sends a message. And I wonder just how those same messages ripple through history. It reminds me a little bit about, of hur Churchill when he said we will never surrender. And there's always an alternative. Surrender is an alternative, but what message does it send when we will never surrender?
[00:09:37] What do people, because people are waiting to see what the leader will do, and they will ultimately generally follow that cause. Even those few words, and of course the actions that stand behind it are so incredibly impactful. And then not only the individual in that country as this case was Zelenskyy and of course with Ukraine, I didn't know who Zelenskyy was because I'm not up on every country's president, of course some are. Now he's risen to this, to this platform, to where, if you saw the EU this morning, the address not only was his interpreter moved, I was moved. And of course, as you'd mentioned before we went live, uh, his interpreter is German. Which is also speaking volumes sort of this memory. Right. And of course, man, it's so deep. it's it is so deep
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:10:41] That hits on so many levels. Yeah. That particular de and by the way, it was my wife that sent me a link to that speech. She was moved to tears, listening to it. And so here's what I would say. You know, you mentioned not knowing, uh Zelenskyy before the current events unfolded. It's pretty common I would imagine unless you've been focusing on European politics over the last however many years. But here's a gentleman whose background was decidedly not one that would necessarily prepare you for being a wartime leader. And yet it turns out he has the natural instincts of a brilliant wartime leader. Why is that the case?
[00:11:19] I think because he's the kind of a person that you'd want to have leading, it's not about him. And the way that he sent that message out about were not gonna be here to revere me, pictures of me do not exist, but pictures of your family in your, uh, places of work and focus on them and how it is that you're going to support them and celebrate them, that's much more important than having a picture of me. It says that he's a person of character. He's a person who understands that he's there to serve. This isn't about him. When it's about the leader, then it's 180 degrees out from what it is that we need.
[00:11:52] And I, I look at him, I look at what it is that he's doing, and I reflect back on my leadership journey and the people that, that inspired me along the way, I was blessed in my military career to work for a bunch of people with the same ethic. It wasn't about them. It wasn't about how to use this particular job as a stepping stone to the next, but rather it was a I'm here to serve the country. One of the things that I've been given the opportunity to do is to steward this particular organization forward, to help everybody in the organization to be prepared for doing whatever is necessary to defend our nation. I'll do that with honor and integrity and I'll support my team members along the way and help them to be their very best in so doing. That's a wonderful approach. Yeah. And if the inspiration towards leadership is to serve, if the character is this isn't about me, but rather about doing good with the time that we've got, then I think we're probably on the path to having some of that courage to include the fact that I'm willing to stand down.
[00:12:52] If I've lost the faith and confidence in the board of directors. I'm willing to do whatever is necessary within the bounds of what's legal, moral, ethical, and right. Because it's not about me. Yeah. And it's a freeing event. And so I think as the history is written about what it is that we're watching unfold every day, we're gonna see a roadmap towards who it is that we ought to aspire to become in being the courageous leaders that our teammates need of us to be. And that's not just in the business domain. That's also in the home domain. It's also, it's leading in the family environment appropriately.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:13:27] Indeed. Yeah. You think the family, the community, the business, the nation, the leader who emerges and who is inspired by other leaders who are showing the type of not only resolve, but focus and vision that ultimately is not only attractive, but worthwhile. Think about so much of the leadership literature that I've read vision and focus show up more than any other two components and all the leadership approaches and how we create a vision of the future and how we focus on achieving that vision are tantamount to how leadership gets done. And I think about even this example, Zelenskyy’s vision is this, every square, every place in Ukraine is freedom square, he said, this morning, you can bomb on every single one is freedom square. That sends a very clear message that you cannot destroy the heart, the desire, the plight for liberty. You cannot destroy it. You can try.
[00:14:42] And the second part, which was the focus on looking at your family, I mean, it was so incredibly resonant with me. I was that culmination this morning, I was in my closet getting ready this morning and my wife came in and, and she's like, what's going on? And I was like, I'm just moved by this four minute clip of this man who is so transparent and so incredibly driven that he's willing to pay the ultimate price. He doesn't have to. He can leave to be the individual who will galvanize his entire nation. And I look at the pictures of my loved ones and it reminds me to fight for them.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:15:33] Amen. You know, and I wonder what helps us along that path. And I think about the fact that to hold high office in whatever country you gotta swear an oath. And I wonder if through the decades, swearing an oath has just become part of the thing that you do here in our nation. You might put a hand in a Bible and in, in all cases you raise your right hand and you repeat some words, but do they actually mean anything to you? Because if they do, it ought to be a pretty frightening experience on one hand, as a member of the armed forces, uh, you swear an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That has implications. One of those implications is you don't make it out of whatever the engagement is that requires you to defend the constitution. It's easy to just repeat those words as a formality. It's really profound when you think on what the implications are to the oath that you're swearing and you gotta be able to look at yourself in the mirror, I think and say, yeah, I mean what I said and I'll do what it takes.
[00:16:36] And in his case, here's a gentleman who is doing what it was that he said that he was going to do. And I have no idea what the words were of the oath that he swore. My sense is, my guess is, is that they were similar to what it is that we do. And now he's out there doing it.
[00:16:53] And so, you know, maybe it causes us to all pause and asses, are we willing to step into what it is that's required of us? And if the answer is no, that's fine. Like totally get it. There's too big of a commitment, but then don't take on that particular role to do so it would be disingenuous yeah. To go into it, knowing that you're potentially gonna abdicate when the going gets tough, that's not right. And I think if we're people of integrity, then we are willing to live up to whatever it is that we've sworn in the oath that we've taken or whatever the measure is that we've signed up to. Maybe there's a dotted line that we've seen, however that comes across that we're actually gonna live it. Yeah. Cause it's too easy to not.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:17:33] Yeah. And even living it as you talking through it, it gets me to thinking about to what degree we even live it. And of course, in organizational context, especially in, uh, psychology of, uh, clinical organizational behavior, motivation has been considered the, the holy grail of leadership in, in organizational context. Right. If you can figure out what motivates people, right. Then you can certainly create quote unquote thriving organizations, right, more productive organizations and so on.
[00:18:05] And of course there's degrees of motivation. And Zelenskyy said in that address, just this morning, the Ukrainian people are motivated. And the way he said that, of course ah it was interpreted, but I suspect it was with vigor. And he said that motivation was based on survival. We wanna live, we wanna thrive. We wanna be free. And you know, at our very core, that's our base, our base need right is to survive. And of course, as leaders, when I was watching that, I thought about what people usually seek during election cycles in terms of voting for someone. And I've been asked before, what are some questions to ask when we're preparing to cast our vote and I'll tell people at least two questions, and maybe some of our listeners have heard this maybe on a different episode, but one is, does my leader, who I may be putting my vote behind, do they know where they're going? And two, do I want to go there? And of course, lots of other questions, but those are great base foundational questions. Mm-hmm and Zelenskyy’s approach here, he knows where he is going. He's going to a place to where freedom is the only answer. Do you want to go alongside of me? And not only his people, but you see nations beginning to rise to support that who some analyst said would've been unthinkable six days ago, Germany and others.
[00:19:42] How do we create an environment then? Right. Let's just fast forward. How do we create environments? Well, before I ask that, let's pin that. In the military, I'm so fascinated with the military. I did not serve. I am blessed to be thankful for the service of you and many others who defend our freedom in the United States and give us the possibility of being able to sleep at night without tyranny and oppression at our doorstep. And for that, there's not enough words that can be said to show our gratitude, especially being the son of immigrants. My parents were Palestinian immigrants in a, at the time a war torn country. My mom was born in a refugee camp in 1948 on the east side of the Jordan river. And it was a tumultuous time and it still is there in the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
[00:20:38] And so I'm so thankful to be an American, not a Palestinian American, just an American. And they came here for a reason. They came here because of a better opportunity for a better future state. Let's just not make any mistake about that and your service and the military's ability to maintain that freedom give us the opportunity is remarkable. What is the culture of the military in terms of leadership serving that you mentioned earlier?
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:21:14] Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you for the kind words, Nate, for sure. And as the son of a immigrant, a war refugee in her own right. My mom and her sisters and her parents fled Zagreb Croatia as the Russians were making their way in, in the latter stages of World War II. My grandfather had no desire to be under Stalin's oppressive rule in those days. They gave up everything that they had. They made their way into war toward Germany. My mother and her family benefited from American GIs who handed out evaporated milk and chocolate to kids that they saw on the streets. They eventually made their way to Brazil and then finally to Chicago and St. Louis. My grandfather with two PhDs was working as a janitor in Cleveland for a while just to provide for the family. We've lived it.
[00:22:01] And I think part of the reason why I'm in the shoes that I'm in is because I saw, learned from my family's stories, just how bad the world can be and wanted to be on the front lines to ensure that we never lived in that kind of a world again. And so I consider my military service to have been a blessing. I'm, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to have been there for all of the good that it did for me, and for the ability that it gave me to contribute meaningfully as a way of saying thanks to a nation that gave us a home.
[00:22:33] And I think as we look to what's happening in Europe right now, while many of, I think, believe that such events as we're seeing unfolding right now could never again happen in the current age, we're faced with the harsh reality that our piece is so fragile. The benefits that we take for granted aren't necessarily always going to be there. You've gotta be prepared to fight for what's right and to do what's necessary to keep a the freedom's going that we have, and you can never, ever for a moment, let your guard down. The opportunity o this moment is sort of to recage and to recognize how fragile this beautiful world is that we live in and what it's gonna take for us to keep this experiment in democracy going forward, which is I think is a very, very important emphasis point for us as a nation right now, as we go forward.
[00:23:24] And as we look at culture implications, as we think about environments, where we can learn from in terms of leadership development, I would say in my experience, in the high performance team side of the military, we're so centered on the team. We learn to be selfless to the good of the team. We're so centered on the team's purpose. We learn to give our all towards the achievement of that purpose, that it creates a beautiful breeding ground for developing outstanding leaders and outputs of that background include the gentleman who's at the forefront of NATO right now, General Tod Wolters called sign Magoo, former F-15 and F-22 fighter pilot. One of my instructors as I was coming up through the ranks, now a four star general who's leading the first ever NATO response force grew up in the environment where culturally speaking the team was everything almost to the point of being actually yes, very much an extension of one's family. You spend time together, you get to know each other really well. You understand what makes each other tick and click looking into somebody's eyes. They're not ready to go fly today. There's something that's just a little bit off. Maybe it's time for a quick one on one. Hey, can you help me on this project? Let's take you off the flying schedule, cuz I need some help to help them out. You know, and there's something beautiful about that.
[00:24:47] And one of my reflections on a daily level is, is that most of the leaders that help me grow up were more interested in my development than their own personal advancement. And if you think about it that way you go, whoa, that's really special. I think in this world, that's shockingly unique and that's an example worth digging into, and potentially, it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I'm sure you go look in the newspaper today and find an example of a military leader who is taken outta their position because of a loss of faith and confidence in their leadership. At the end of the day, it's human teams led by human beings who were flawed.
[00:25:25] But by and large, and the thing that I missed so much about that background was the team was everything. And we learned to subordinate our self-interest to the good of the team, because we were so wedded to the team's purpose, that it trumped everything else that we did. And we're seeing echoes of that actually not echoes bold decides of action being taken along those same lines from the leadership in Ukraine, and then emulated by the people of Ukraine who said, we're staying behind, we're going to fight, hand me a weapon. I'm going into the streets to defend this freedom square, one of so many across the nation. And it, you know, you can't help, but be inspired by that
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:26:04] A hundred percent. Yeah. I mean, you think about providing a firearm for every man, woman and child 45 million people in Ukraine uh to defend their sovereign freedom and it is so incredibly inspiring.
[00:26:19] And I think you touched on something that was something we rarely think about in organizational context, especially in leadership context, because the traditional model of leadership is the leader is most important and the subordinates, whether it's in a business where you've got your frontline workers are the most expendable. And the leadership model for service, the servant leadership model actually flips that upside down and where the top, uh leader, if you will, is nourishing the individuals and look at it like it's, uh, instead of it being a, a pyramid shape, it's more like a tree. And so at the very roots of the tree is where the leaders is and providing the valued nourishment up through the branches so that each individual on the team can be a good fruit. And that is so much more inviting on many levels. Not only that, it's much more sustainable. What I see that it creates in an organizational environment, whether it's a military organization, a, a company, a house, a family, friendships, one aspect that comes, that hits me right at the beginning is the guards can come down because you are not necessarily an adversary. You're an ally because adversaries want to take from you. Allies want to give.
[00:27:51] And so even when we're talking about, I mean, I know this is a little bit of a tangent, but it's a great example selling versus serving or solving. I don't like to use the word selling. I like to use the word serving. I like to use the word solving because selling can be adversarial. You're attempting to take something from me, my time and or my money. And I'm not sure if that your value proposition is worthy of it. Now, if you simply change the framework of the conversation to, I don't, I'm not selling anything. What I'd like to do is solve problems by serving them in an area of expertise that I have. Do you have these kind of problem? Because if you do, then we may able to work together as long as we're a fit, I can help you solve those problems. You go from adversary to ally because now you have something you need and it goes right back to the same framework is serving. How can I help you to thrive in the military? Is that trained from day one?
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:28:59] Uh, I think on day one, the central focus is breaking you down, reshaping you in a new image. And I think basic training is a different, it's a step in the evolution. But day one, you don't see the kind of team that you're gonna eventually be part of necessarily. In my case, when I went to the United States Air Force Academy, I went through basic cadet training, which you're told what to do. You're always under the gun. You're being yelled at constantly. And you're forced into becoming a team with your teammates, which ends up being a really important milestone. Once you've learned how to be a team, it makes your life better. And you, you develop bonds with folks. I mean, some of my best friends on the planet are people that I went through basic cadet training with, and then graduated the academy from, but the leadership styles that are used there, if you, if you bring them forward into the force, you're gonna be universally hated. So you have to, you have to get away from that.
[00:29:54] I think starting day one of your life in a real fighter squad or a frontline unit, whatever that looks like. It's a different dynamic entirely. And what I loved about being a young Lieutenant and Captain in a fighter squad and was, was that I was empowered to make decisions at my level. I was trusted to make the right decision when I didn't, I wasn't crucified for having done. So I was coached up on how to make a better decision the next day. It was constant pouring into me to help me realize the full capability that I brought to the team. And as a result of that, I was willing to give everything to that team. I loved it. And as I moved up and ranked, and as I got further away from that central focus, it wasn't quite as enjoyable. You know, rank may have privileges, I suppose, but really the biggest limitation was it took me away from that empowered execution, which is what a team is given the authority to do in the military. And that, that is really what brings out our best and the origin story to that, by the way, a notion of centralized command, decentralized execution, we learned from the Prussian army. The Prussian general staff dissected, how come they lost a war to Napoleon. And what they found was as they had the wrong organizational construct, the headquarters was calling all the shots, the folks that were out there just saluted and did whatever they were told to do. And the headquarters was so far away from the battle space and they couldn't, there wasn't just based on technology of the early 1800s, couldn't respond effectively to a rapidly moving and agile adversary. And they said, well, how about this? Let's change this up. Let's give the decision making authority for certain decisions down to the lowest level of the organization. Let's equip them with the capability to take action at their level. And it proved to be shockingly remarkably effective. And it drove an engaged workforce that was fired up about utilizing this, this ability. And we've done it. We've actually made that the Prussian called the Auftragstaktik. We call it mission command. It's a poor translation of the term, and it's formally adopted as doctrine and the armed forces of the United States. And that idea translated down to the team level is what makes our teams so effective.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:32:05] You said some things that are just so important. I've never heard it said like this coach instead of crucify. Boy, how many members in organization feel it'll be crucified for a poor decision and how many maybe handcuffed from making decisions that actually may help an organization because of that fear rather than a mindset of coaching up. But also the other factor is equipping in advance and preparing.
[00:32:34] You probably heard this saying where the CEO and the CFO are in a board meeting and the CFO is having an issue with all the money that's being spent on training education and says, what if we train them up and they leave. And of course the CEO is much more vision oriented and say, what if we don't and they stay. So this mindset of equipping no matter what, also, rather than chastising or creating coercive power, i.e. demotion, firing, of course, you know, we get that terminology. I've heard from the French firing squad. So, I mean, it's really very negative and I've even heard organizations who refuse to terminate anyone for performance issues. They have the mindset and the protocol to train through the challenges. And because the tendency, the natural inclination is to punish, and it's generally probably the easiest of all types of social basis of power. Right? Absolutely. Yep. But is it the most effective?
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:33:48] We find that organizations that live in fear can have performance for a short period of time before the entire experiment collapses. If we're in constant fear of being punished, it's not gonna elicit our best. We're certainly never gonna give our heart, you know, our full. We're gonna give enough to maybe not bring that punishment, you know, honest, but we're looking at the clock going I only have three and a half more hours until I'm released from this prison. And I cannot wait to get out of here, which is not, I think we're our organizations do their best.
[00:34:23] And I think in an environment of a great resignation where so many people are choosing with their feet to leave, it's up to us to create a culture that says you can be your best here. And we've gotta be very active on removing fear from the organization and create an environment where people can afford to be vulnerable without fear of consequences, without taking any personal attacks for doing so. That's where we start to come into our own. It's also the environment that we have in a fighter squad.
[00:34:52] You watch movies like top gun and you see a bunch of egos and you see a lot of pride and you see folks who attack one another and they're all vying for being the numero uno as it were. But though there is a degree of competition, always, and there needs to be in a fighter squad and behind closed doors, we're actually spending the bulk of our time coaching each other's up. Cuz we know that the people that we're flying with today could be our teammates on night one of whatever war to defend freedom and goodness. And you don't want to be in conflict with the person who you hope has your back. You want to be in alignment with that person. You want to be able to forecast what that person is thinking, what they're gonna do so that in the midst of execution, it's a beautiful ballet of correctness and goodness that's happening. And that takes a special environment. Fear does not get us there.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:35:42] Mm-hmm man. Well said. Have you ever been in a situation in a potential combat situation where you've had to take that corrective action?
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:35:51] Absolutely. Yeah, for sure. And when we're talking about corrective action, if a fundamental point of conversation here is, is that in our organizations, we're not talking about a group of criminals that's actively trying to hijack our ability to get a job there. Right? So if we're saying that those people are not part of the conversation right now, and we're assuming positive intent from everybody on the team, there's still gonna be folks who don't quite have what it takes to perform. But in those cases, if the intent is to actively coach each other up. After enough coaching, we recognize that the person's not the right person for the job. It's a very easy conversation to have because they know that it's coming. And if they're so inclined, they probably beat you to the punch and say, you know what? I don't think that this is the right place for me. You're giving me so much of your time, so much of your attention. You're coaching me up constantly. And I still can't perform. I don't know if I'm a right fit, such an awesome conversation to be had in those cases with let's find a better fit for you. Mm. If that makes sense.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:36:47] It makes sense. And then it gets me thinking about, you talked about the great resignation, which I think is really applicable. And I also think about the generation of individuals who are say 18 to 22 coming into the workplace. And I reject solidly that these individuals cannot be given high value responsibilities. And I'd like to defer to you at the military, because if you can train an 18 year old to be responsible for some aspect of a nuclear submarine, then you can train an 18 year old to work in an organization and industry. Is it a secret?
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:37:35] Here's the secret. Empower them to do what's necessary. Trust them to make the right call and let them go forth and do it. There's a, I wanna say it was Major General John Schofield and it was one of the quotes that I had to memorize during basic cadet training in 1991 of the Air Force Academy. So, you know, if anybody's had that experience, they’ll chuckle as I share this, but I think he's the one that said, don't tell your people how to do things, tell them what to do, and they'll surprise you with their ingenuity. And it wasn't the, I want you to do this, this, this, this, this to every level of micro detail, but rather, Hey, here in the big picture, here's your purpose. Here are the key tasks. Here's the endstate. Go forth and dominate. And folks rise to the occasion with a little bit of nurturing. They rise to that occasion.
[00:38:18] I think some of the most beautiful moments that I had in my military career, reflecting back on it was walking out to my airplane, you know, in a crisp early morning. A lot of times take off times were just at sunrise. You know? So you're coming out there while it's still dark, which means that maintenance has been out there through the night to get your jet ready. And the person who salutes you as you're walking up to the airplane is a 19 year old kid, essentially, who says good morning Sir. She's all ready for you. And you trust that no kidding that airplane is a hundred percent ready to go. I've got a buddy. He ejected out of an F-16, several hundreds of a second before it impacted at an air show in Idaho. I mean, amazing that everything worked and he's alive today. He got one swing in the shoot and then touchdown in the ground and it's good to go. And that ejection seat worked because some young kids took care of it, made sure that everything was packed. Done right and in a moment of need, it came through in spectacular fashion. Nobody knows their names. Nobody knows who it was that made sure that that ejection seat was ready to go but it was. And what a remarkable achievement that was.
[00:39:26] I think to my last time crossing the Pacific ocean, we had 19 air refuelings going out of Honolulu into Okinawa, Japan. And my guess is, though I didn't say, Hey, how old are you? It was very likely a teenager who was flying the boom into a receptacle behind my cockpit to give me the lifesaving fuel that my airplane needed. And the rest of the members of my team needed to get across the way unsung heroes who are doing a really complicated, difficult job without any glory and doing it right consistently. How is that possible? Yeah, they've, they've been trained, but you know what? Training only gets you so far. They've been given trust. I trust that you're gonna get this thing that you've met the qualification standards. We trust that you're gonna get this thing done and that in short order, you're gonna be the person teaching the next generation of kids to go do the exact same thing. It's remarkable how fast we learned to thrive in that kind of an environment. And I think going the opposite route and saying, oh, you know, you need a couple of decades of experience underneath your belt before we're ever gonna trust you to make a decision at, at your level. That's, you're just squashing the team.
[00:40:32] Yeah. And by the way, one additional thought that I reflect on from time to time, I listened to a Vietnam POW, a gentleman who spent, I think, six and a half years in the Hanoi Hilton, as it was affectionately known by its residents. Horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible place. During a question and answer session after giving a talk, somebody lamented the state of millennials. So this was maybe a decade ago, you know, Hey, with millennials being what they are and with the greatest generation of Americans dying off, what hoped you have for our future essentially was kind of the summary question. And this gentleman who'd been through hell and back. So wait a second, time out. Greatest generation dying off. What are you talking about? I firmly believe the greatest generation of Americans has yet to be born. If the greatest generation of our country is dying off, there is no hope. And I'm a man of hope. I believe the greatest generation is yet to be born and I'm excited to see what the future holds. Now that's an awesome statement. I think he meant it. And I think we get to where it is that we'd like to go is by saying, all right team, you know, we've given you the training, we've given you the bumpers to help keep things, you know, in check, but now it's up to you to go forth and deliver. And I believe that you can and will, you know, and help nurture them along. Coach them up. Guide them daily to be better at this, that would make an organization decidedly different from most. And it would probably draw folks in the midst of such a tremendous resignation to say, I don't know any place else where I'm given this kind of an environment in which to thrive. I'm staying here. Yeah, man, maybe my suspicion.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:42:09] Wow.What it starts with is purpose. This idea of a cause that is greater than any one individual. Same thing as what Zelenskyy at this very hour is calling. Not only is people toward, but the globe and this cause of liberty is universal and it doesn't necessarily only exist at a national level when it comes to national sovereignty and the tearing off of oppression and tyranny. Liberty is effectively essential in any context, whether it's the family we discussed, whether it's the community, whether it's the organization and the draw to an organization that shares a cause with the individual, whether it's a Y gen or I gen or millennial or gen X or so on, is there's an appeal to that that I believe that as we're touching on this nerve of how organizationally the military can function so effectively with any generation, some of that same application is an opportunity for industry. And some listening may say that can't work in a company. This is the military. You've already talked about basic training, breaking people down. It's a different type of environment, a different type of collective. What would you say to that?
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:43:54] Yeah, I'd say that's a self-limiting belief and probably one of the worst self-limiting beliefs that somebody can bring into this conversation. Look, I spend most every week on the road, these days, teaching team principles to business leaders, and I've heard most objections. Similar to what it is that you just voiced from leaders who tell me in front of their peers and sometimes in front of their teammates at Cujo, you know, the easy thing for you was it was life and death. It was defending the nation, it was defending freedom and democracy. And so therefore, you know, you could rally around that. Around here, all we do, and that's a warning signal, all we do is, and then fill in the blank, make a screw, haul trash, design this widget. And I'm like, man, if you're the chief executive or a key leader of an organization that's convinced that all you do is, and you downplay it so significantly, then you've completely missed the mark. And of course nobody's gonna wanna work there. Of course, if the message that they're hearing from you, it's almost an embarrassment what it is that we do around here, then nobody is gonna be committed to that.
[00:44:57] You know, and my journey to this booth today, wasn't directly from the military into phase two. I was part of a couple of different small businesses before I founded my own one of which as a result of colorectal cancer and the fact that I had a nonfunctioning body. I worked as a mortgage loan originator for a small company here in St. Louis for about a year and a half. And my job was to sell mortgage loans. And I did so over the phone did not meet most of our clients because they were geographically separated from it. And, you know, it was one thing, I mean, a lot of the discussion that we had with centered around revenue goals and achieving, you know, this many sales and doing whatever. And I got it. It made sense who metrics are important. Tracking metrics is one way of determining how we're doing but I felt in the moment that that was grossly insufficient to keep me fired up about coming back to work every day, especially on the heels of what it is that I used to do. And so I spent a lot of time thinking about like, why am I here? I mean, besides the obvious, like I've got a broken body, can't function the way that I, I need to be close to a restroom. This is a place where I can heal and hopefully provide for my family, like why this? And I closed a mortgage loan for a family, a couple had no discretionary income took months to close this thing. It was so complicated cuz there's so many issues, so many hurdles, so many obstacles with the regulatory environment that we were in almost impossible. And at the end of the day, I think I took home a couple of hundred bucks for the work that went into this thing. But the meaning of that work and the impact of that work on that couple's life, an elderly couple that had no discretionary income that could now actually on the heels of this refinance, go out to dinner together and do things together.
[00:46:36] That was some of the most meaningful work that I've done on this side of the military civilian divide. And it's not something that you necessarily go on Facebook and announce to the world or LinkedIn. You just, you, you were part of that journey, you know, what's happened and you realize that the mortgage loan is a tool that can be used, an instrument that can be used to do tremendous good if the focus isn't on accumulating wealth on only serving people with large volume loans or whatnot, it's a totally different experience. And I think if that's the central focus, if it's, if it's to discover the good that we're doing in the're assuming that we're doing good fundamental assumption, right, then it's a totally different ballgame. And it, it inspires you to want to give your all towards that worthy cause.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:47:22] Indeed. You know, it reminds me of the saying, people will fight for money, but they'll die for a cause. And of course, this is clear in the world conflict today with conscripts coming in that are fighting, of course, those who will die for the cause in the Ukrainian, but it's also relevant in other environments in a common leadership environment. And not necessarily that someone will die for a mortgage loan, but I think the point is the analogy states that there's something much more attractive and worthwhile when there's a deeper meaning and a cause behind it. And there's a deeper meaning and cause behind any organization. I reject that a widget is a widget because if it affects people, then there's a value. Amen. I even think about my accounting and advisory practice. It's such a wild haired mission statement, to satisfy your tax and accounting needs so outstandingly that your joy becomes infectious. Now who in the right mind puts the words, joy and taxes in the same sentence. No one mm-hmm, but it's not the widget that brings joy, it's the relationship. Look, if you got a bill for $50,000 for a tax bill, you're probably not gonna be too joyous about writing that check. But to know that you've got people surrounding you who have done the very best possible work that can be done, that empathize with your situation, that will continue to walk alongside of you down this particular widgets road. Right? I tell my staff all the time, we're not in the tax business. We're not in the accounting business. We're in the love business. That's the business we're in. Cuz people need love. Outstanding. And it changes the, like you said, the culture. The culture changes and it, the relationships change and how people speak to one another change. And let me tell you, accountants are unique breed brother.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:49:19] I'm married to one.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:49:20] Okay. You know, you know, and so to see transformations in individuals over the course of the last 27 years, that I've embraced this philosophy of serving in a cause-based environment have been transformational for me as well. And they're available for any organization as you state. Right? And part of the beauty of that is they are not generationally mutually exclusive because the end goal is the ideal fit for your organization. And once we are able to not only accurately, but with conviction, state a vision, a mission and a set of core values that not only that we speak, but we aspire to exemplify as individual leaders, because people are watching us as leaders. They're watching to see if we live what we speak. Yes. And as soon as there's a kink in that armor, then people say, you know what? This person isn’t authentic and authenticity is relational currency. It is social capital. And so me, I love to be in the trenches with my troops, every single tax season. We are fighting the good fight together to liberate people from these burdens. I mean, it's a whole different environment, man, and it works.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:50:43] Absolutely it works. And as you said that hearing you talk about the experience that we're witnessing unfold in Ukraine again, I mean, president Zelenskyy is out there with his troops in the Donbas region. He's wearing a helmet, he's wearing the protective gear. He's wearing olive drab uniform clothing in all of his addresses now because his nation is at war and he's there with his nation and he's authentic. I mean, he had a free ticket to the United States of America for he and his family, probably for other members of, of his cabinet, whatever needed to happen, the United States was willing to provide because it's the right thing to do. And he said, that's not the right thing to do at all. Take it back, give me some bullets and now we're talking and I mean, that inspires me. There are people that are coming to Ukraine now to say, I'm standing with you and they may not even be Ukrainian. I'm standing with you. Because I believe in your cause. And I see that you're genuine and I'm willing to go to the, whatever the, the end state's gonna be here with you
[00:51:47] And you think about the great stories that came out of world war II. I mean, just in the world of fiction, you know, CS Lewis with the Chronicles of Narnia, JR Tolkien with the Lord of the Rings trilogy inspired by overwhelming odds. The defeat was certain. There's no way that the good guys could win this thing. And yet they do. I mean, people are drawn to that. And that was the experience in World War II that that generation knows. Yeah. And that drew them. And now we're watching that same story unfold and I mean, it resonates.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:52:19] And I'm a huge fan of those series for that same reason. And if we could just talk about that for a moment, and if you haven't seen the Lord of the Rings series, this will be a spoiler alert. So, but of course the trilogy, uh, there's a, there's an emerging king in this trilogy, but it's never really about the king. And what is so incredibly touching at the end of the movie where the king comes out with his crown and everyone bows. And of course, these characters who were these humble hobbits, who were an essential part of this journey, and the king says, you bow to know one my friends, and then they bow to these just tiny little creatures who were in awe of the honor that was bestowed upon them. What a beautiful picture in relationship to what's happening right now with Zelenskyy. Don't bow to me. Let us serve together.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:53:22] Exactly. And what's ended up happening is, is that an entire globe has been inspired. I mean, this is the story everywhere. I mean, in most cases, the only story that you're witnessing unfold 24 hours a day, and what's happening is, is that the, the world is rallying around this small country that's being, you know, bombarded by a much, much larger one with much more military might. And those that are on the side of, you know, the Russian side that they don't have a very, the prospects aren't good for the way that the world views this whole thing in the future. And it's sad for the conscripts who in large cases don't even know exactly what's going on.What's really the truth behind this. What's actually unfolding. They're doing what they're told. They don't have connection to the full truth of what it is that the participating and what a horrible situation that is. But at the end of the day, the world's rallying behind Ukraine as it should courtesy of outstanding leadership by, by president Zelenskyy and his team. And that's, I mean, we can look at this as an example to help guide us forward in the organizations that were privileged to lead period dot. Yes. And we ought to
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:54:37] Indeed, at which brings us full circle to this conversation around motivation. Our motivation is contagious as leaders. And I don't wanna gloss over because I really wanna make sure we cover and talk a little bit about your health motivations. How bad was it?
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:55:00] Yeah, I mean, when I woke up from, uh, my colonoscopy in 2014, uh, February, I was anticipating being able to tell my wife I told you this was a complete waste of our time. I know myself. I'm just fine. Let's never do this again. And instead the doctor said, I'm very sorry to share with you, but I think the tumor's been growing for a decade and we need to biopsy this thing immediately and figure out what we're gonna do and probably go to surgery as soon as possible.
[00:55:29] And we didn't know if it was days, weeks or months left to live. And in those initial days with all the uncertainty, my wife was pregnant with our fourth child, six months pregnancy history of miscarriages, you know. Does the pregnancy continue on, what do we do? We're overseas so much, so many questions, so much turbulence. We fell back to this, you know, the world's always gonna be full of nastiness. There's always gonna be disruptions, period, thats how we respond to it. That really matters. And one of the things that I was blessed with living through as a fighter pilot was constant disruptions. Like things never went according to plan. You know, we planned on having four airplanes out there. We only had two cuz flight leads airplane, the gear didn't come up on takeoff and number two's airplane, the afterburner didn't light, whatever. So now the four shifts down to a two. The mission still goes on though. And aside of the unwritten ethic in a fighter squadron as the story just got better because we're still gonna win. We're gonna find a way to win with that much more outnumbered odds. And the story that we tell Friday at, uh, at roll call is gonna be awesome. You know, of how we persevered. We adopted that same approach in our family. We said we could sit here and live and regret, talk about what could have been, or we can just acknowledge the fact that our story just got better. Even if we don't know what that story's going to eventually look like, we're gonna do our darnest to make it so.
[00:56:52] In those first hours after the initial diagnosis, I think my wife and I had a deepening of our relationship. I think we, it was a gorgeous day, but it was just like today here in St. Louis, as we're recording this, it's beautiful outside. It's gonna be 70 degrees here on the 1st of March. It was similar in downtown Stuttgart that particular day. And we saw that there was opportunity in the future. Did not know what that future was gonna look like, but we were gonna make the most of it cuz we chose, we chose to do so. And we made a commitment to take whatever amount of time it was that the good Lord was gonna give me and to us and use it for good. So that was our driving force. And I found that the closer I was to those most harrowing days of pain and surgery, suffering, loneliness, whatever else, the more inspired I was. I mean, it's almost like we're coming up on the eighth anniversary of the excision of the cancerous tumor here, in just a couple of weeks.
[00:57:47] That's almost like life, oh, I shouldn't say this, I mean, it's gotten easier over time. And so therefore, because you're further away from the struggle, maybe you forget some of it, which isn't a good place to be. And so it's good that we have yearly anniversaries to remind ourselves of where we've been so that we never forget, and we always take whatever it is we're dealing with right now in the proper context in light, take nothing for granted. Sitting here today is a tremendous gift. I'm blessed beyond measure to be able to exercise this gift. And that's all courtesy of the great surgeons in Germany, who, who took me apart and put me back together again and removed this nastiness from me, you know? And if the motivation is to take and do good in the world as a result of this, then I think we're onto something.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:58:34] Yeah. I wonder how you wake up every morning differently now than before that situation, of course you faced life and death situations in the military as well. I'm sure every time you got in that fighter jet, there was a possibility you weren't coming back.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[00:58:54] But that wasn't gonna happen to me, Nate. You see, there was a degree of, and I think for good, actually there was a degree of arrogance that said, all right, you can't take me down driven by years of training and a certain self-confidence that you need to have in that kind of an environment. But in this case, I think one of the, there's a couple of huge benefits to getting sick like this one of which was empathy. I am empathetic now with folks who have difficult life experiences because I've had my own, whereas previously I hadn't. And so when I was sitting there with somebody that had been wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, I couldn't understand their sense of loss. I couldn't understand what it is that they've been through. Now I've gotten the glimpse of that and I'm very, very grateful for it. The other thing is, is that the invincibility complex that I might have had at one point that went out the door. And so I treasure the days that much more.
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:59:43] Yeah. I think that there's something to the. No surrender Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about, he never had a plan B. And when he first had his mindset, the vision to become the Mr. uh, was it Olympia? Yeah, he set out to do that. He said he had no plan B when he wanted to be an actor and star in a list of blockbuster movies, there was no plan B. When he wanted to get into government serve as a governor, there was no plan B. Each one of those in its own right in a lifetime is remarkable. And sometimes we look at Arnold Schwarzenegger and people scoff him off. But when you actually list his accomplishments, many people will never even understand the level of dedication and discipline and focus and perhaps a little bit of bravado that goes along with that. And you can say, of course, in some ways, what would plan B look like? I mean, not necessarily that there's a, that I will quit, but there are contingencies and I may have to shift or pivot. Right. That's not necessarily a plan B.
[01:00:58] But I think the takeaway is in a bit of a, Hernan Cortes is I don't even like to use the analogy because of course it is conquest of a, in a certain way. But to, you know, there's the old saying that Cortes burned the boats and so on. Of course he scuttled the ships. It sounds better to burn the boats. But the point is is that there was no turning back, right? I mean, certainly if we can eliminate the conquest piece, the moral, if there could be a moral of any story is keep moving forward, keep pressing on, keep working toward the vision. And rather than consider that I'll have all the resources, be resourceful. I mean that's exactly I think in some ways what you're talking about, when you go up in that fighter jet, I may not have all the resources available, but I will be resourceful because I will emerge victorious.I think that's the only approach.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[01:01:50] That's right. You have to have that kind of a mentality. You can't go in there questioning. You can't go in there and say, oh, I hope it all turns out okay. No, it's a it's we're gonna dominate. There's no doubt in my mind we're gonna come back. It's gonna be glorious. And if it doesn't happen well, then I guess your theory was proven to be incorrect, but you're not gonna accept that stepping out the door. In fact, you know, we had to, on the heels of that diagnosis immediately figure out where are we gonna do the surgery, like where we have to excise most of my lower colon, who's gonna do it. Where's that gonna happen? And in the scramble craziness of that type of a world, you gotta go do some interviews. You meet with some surgeons, the gentleman who performed the surgeries, plural on me, remember sitting down, across from a German surgeon, said look, you've got the perfect mix of competence and arrogance. I believe that you're the best on the planet to do this. And I'd be honored if you'd work on me. And yeah, I think in that kind of an environment, you need somebody that believes that it's gonna turn out okay. Yeah. No plan B is a good way of looking at it.
Dr. Nate Salah
[01:02:50] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Mm-hmm because you don't want someone to say, well, plan B is, you know. No, no, no. Right. We're gonna get this done.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[01:02:58] That's exactly right.
Dr. Nate Salah
[01:03:00] We're gonna get this done a hundred percent.
[01:03:02] So you work with organizations. You have brought me a copy of your book, Debrief to Win. I'm so thankful. I can't wait to read it. What will people expect to learn from you?
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[01:03:15] Yeah, part of my ambition in writing this book, when I did a couple of years ago is to sort of help reverse engineer what it is that allows a fighter squadron to consistently go forth in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world with a stunningly young workforce that's constantly turning over and it consistently gets the job done well. I mean, it, like I took for granted the fact that we got the job done well. Looking back on it, it's kind of remarkable, especially with the youth and the fact that we're just always churning through personnel and writing that helped introduce me to things that I lived, but was unconscious of. And now we can go in and help organizations to embrace and apply.
[01:03:58] And so we teach at VMax Group, my company, how you adopt the teamwork and leadership principles that allow us in the fighter business to dominate in a really turbulent world to do so in the turbulence of business. Last time I checked business was volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous as well. So it seems like this is a good fit.
Dr. Nate Salah
[01:04:15] Indeed. Yeah. I think you're right on the money with that. It's definitely a good fit plus there's a passion in you that I see that I noticed from the first moment we met to help organizations become impactful. And it's not just, I can be your consultant, but you're bought in and that's in and of itself a differentiation strategy, if you will.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[01:04:40] Well, Nate, you mentioned purpose before you shared yours. I had a couple of years to really agonize were like, why am I still here? I mean the cancer could have taken me out. It had been growing for so long. I, I don't have to be at this surgery. It could have gone poorly. Any number of things could have taken place that didn't. Was still here. Can't do the things that I used to love doing so then what? And I realized that American small business success isn't a guarantee like, just because you have a vision for creating this company doesn't mean that the company's going to survive the first year, the second year, the third year. Our economy only exists because of the strength of American small business. So what can I do to justify still being here? What for my background can still serve, which led to our purpose statement of VMax Group. Why do we exist is to teach inspire real teamwork so that business teams like yours can thrive in disruption to keep America's economy strong. And why does that matter? We need a strong economy to afford the defense that we have.
[01:05:42] And so my teammates that are still out there on the front lines guarding us forward and folks that are out there ready to help defend Europe, Native Alliance, Asia, wherever it needs to be. They require training and equipment. That only happens if our economy's strong, that's why we exist.
Dr. Nate Salah
[01:05:57] Hmm. I've never heard it said like that. And it actually creates even more of a cause for small business America, mm-hmm because of that support. I was asked by my father-in-law recently, which it took him, I've been married for almost 21 years now. It took him a long time to ask, but he asked me, he said, Nate, you're a pretty driven guy. What motivates you? And I said, well, it's real simple. It's one word. It's mortality. Only this moment's guaranteed. The next moment, it's not. Someone is having their unexpected last moment each moment of every day. That's right. And so if that's my only guarantee. I wanna make the most out of every moment I have. And that is through the relationships that are laid at in front of me and whatever it is that my giftings are, I can use those and multiply 'em and increase 'em and so that they do affect good in this world. And I think once we can start getting to the core of our purpose back to the opening statements we made about Liberty, freedom. It allows us to really spread our wings and do something good for the moments that we have, whether they're this only one or the next 40 years,
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[01:07:14] Amen.A hundred percent agreed. You inspire me as you share that. And I'm reminded that, yeah, that's really what drew me into this life as well. And so let's make the most of it. Absolutely constantly. Yeah. And I'm sure that everybody that's listening just got a reminder of why they're still here and what it is that they're gonna do with the time that they've got left.
Dr. Nate Salah
[01:07:36] How can people find you?
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[01:07:38] That part's very, very easy. Our website vmaxgroupllc.com. vmaxgroup.com or llc.com. We've got ways, click on a button, schedule an appointment, reach out, set up a call and we'll talk about whatever's on your mind. And we're always honored to be able to do that.
Dr. Nate Salah
[01:07:59] Mm. Cujo, man.I am so glad we've had time to spend together. You gotta come back because we're gonna have to hear some more stories, at least, least some stuff that sounds good. On the heels and on the backside of what's happening in Ukraine, let's have another conversation. And with the vision that the individuals who are fighting will ultimately have the reward, Liberty.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[01:08:24] Amen. I mean, what a powerful, powerful example and a reminder to us how fragile it is, this piece that we enjoy. May the people of Ukraine stay strong, may their leadership remain committed to living their principles and core values the way that they're doing to be that beacon of light in a really tough world. And may they ultimately prevail.
Dr. Nate Salah
[01:08:44] Amen. Good seeing you my friend.
Robert “Cujo” Teschner
[01:08:46] Good seeing you too, Nate.
Dr. Nate Salah
[01:08:48] Well, my friend, we did it. I'm so honored you were able to join me on this episode of A Call to Leadership. Now this might not be for everyone because you really have to be in a certain place in order to take the kind of steps to level up your leadership. And I want you to be taking steps. And for those of you who feel like you're ready for something like this, there's a place you can go. You can go to our website, greatsummit.com. I'll make sure that's in the show notes, but here's the cool thing that we have. We've got a masterclass. We have all different kinds of events. We even have our leadership club where you can meet other people just like you. To go deeper in your leadership journey, you and I all get to spend some time together and really focus on aiming for greatness. I can't wait to see you there. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, and this is A Call to Leadership.