What does it really take to build great leaders? In this episode of the Inspire Podcast, Bart Egnal sits down with Rob Buckingham, Executive VP at Quest Window Systems Inc and retired Canadian Forces Captain, to unpack how leadership is intentionally developed in both the military and business.Rob shares powerful lessons from his time in uniform when he was first exposed to foundational leadership and how the Canadian Forces empowers junior leaders to step up from day one. He explains how that experience taught him the value of feedback, the importance of resilience under pressure, and why empowering people early creates lasting strength in any organization.He then reveals how those same principles shaped his corporate career and what he learned as a management consultant and, more recently, in his current role as Executive VP of a global manufacturing company. He closes by sharing perspectives from his work with Treble Victor, an organization that matches veterans with civilian organizations, and shows why companies that tap into military leadership talent gain a powerful edge.If you’ve ever wondered what foundational leadership looks like in practice and how you can cultivate it in your own organization, this conversation is for you. Show Notes00:15 Show intro00:52 Introducing Robert Buckingham03:12 What is foundational leadership and why is it important?03:18 Fostering a leadership culture 03:42 Empower junior leaders04:07 What orgs get right and wrong about leadership development04:53 Military officers have responsibility right away06:12 Give junior leaders tools to lead early on 07:00 Why did you enlist in the army09:42 What is Mission-command10:28 Military gets planning and execution of tasks12:57 Forecast Plan Control Review13:29 Resilience13:33 Key values: loyalty, integrity, mission first13:49 Can you teach these leadership traits or are they innate?15:09 High fallout rate in the military18:35 Continuous training19:41 Instantaneous coaching feedback20:06 Growing a culture of feedback20:18 What's the toughest feedback you got in your career?21:19 Like sports team culture21:35 The worst thing is complacency24:04 One of my proudest achievements in the military24:43 Transitioning from military to the corporate world, was it a shock?25:59 Translating to civilian speak28:01 What maps and what doesn't?29:11 Put things in place, succeeded!30:47 Span of control32:35 Corporate environment never plan33:29 50 50 leadership vs tasks34:00 Joined Quest35:01 Set your team up with a structure where information flows up and down36:15 How to know how an org is doing with leadership?36:49 Does the front line mission line up with the org's mission?38:18 The Back Brief 39:55 Treble Victor45:38 Thank yous46:00 Outro