Today we hear the Combat Story of Mike Hayes, a retired Navy SEAL Team and Special Operations Task Force Commander who fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Bosnia over a 20 year career.

His time in uniform brought to key points in U.S. military and diplomatic history, including intersections with Operation Red Wings, the Mersk Somali pirate kidnapping, and an international treaty negotiation with Russia.

While in the Navy, Mike was one of the very few selected as a White House fellow, where he served under both Republican and Democrat administrations and as the Director for Defense Policy and Strategy at the National Security Council.

Since leaving the military, Mike has gone on to senior roles at Bridgewater Associates, Cognizant, and VM Ware.

He’s written a fantastic book, Never Enough, that we’ll discuss during this interview and for which all proceeds go to Gold Star families.

Mike is a model leader and giver and I hope you enjoy his Combat Story as much as I did.

Find Mike Online

  • Instagram @thisis.mikehayes https://www.instagram.com/thisis.mikehayes/
  • Twitter @thisismikehayes https://twitter.com/thisismikehayes
  • LinkedIN Mike Hayes https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-hayes-733688/
  • Book Never Enough https://tinyurl.com/ybv89rdh

Find Ryan Online

  • Instagram @combat_stories https://www.instagram.com/combat_stories/
  • More about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus
  • Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

Show Notes

  • 0:00 - Intro
  • 1:10 - Bio on Mike Hayes
  • 2:10 - Interview begins
  • 2:53 - Gold Star Families
  • 4:35 - Guam and Science Fairs
  • 9:00 - Others Before Self
  • 16:22 - Telling a General ‘No’
  • 22:50 - What to do when you’re kidnapped
  • 33:58 - Operation Red Wings
  • 38:02 - When to pull the trigger and when to hold
  • 46:55 - Holding people accountable
  • 55:08 - The White House Fellow Program
  • 1:00:20 - Working at Bridgewater Associates for Ray Dalio
  • 1:07:50 - Building egalitarian teams in business
  • 1:15:00 - What did you carry with you into combat?
  • 1:16:45 - Would you do it all again?
  • 1:20:10 - Comments from listeners (THANK YOU!)

See All 95 Episodes of "Combat Story"