Based on the book "Orders from the General: Leadership Advice from a Two Star General".

Let’s travel down the path of Self-Improvement today. On our virtual stroll we’re also going to talk about leadership. Now, if you listen to Newsgram, then you know it’s not going to be a traditional path but I believe we should never stop learning and we should never stop trying to better ourselves. I also think that leadership takes on various forms. It’s all about where you are in your life and what you choose as your particular destiny. 

You clicked on this episode and probably had no idea how enlightened you were about to become but today is a very special day because you are about to hear from General Brent Baker. He spent 37 years in the United States Air force. The first six were as an enlisted man. Then he transferred over to officer training. 

General Baker - That’s what they call a Mustang.

You know how many people do that? Become what’s called a Mustang by transitioning from enlisted man to officer and then General officer. Not many. It’s less than one percent. 

General Baker - A lot of officers go like from the Airforce academy, they go to the ROTC program. R.O.T.C. a lot of people know that. I went from  the enlisted side to the officer side and that’s where the name Mustang comes from. I am very proud I was a mustang. 

He retired as a Major General which means there were two stars on each shoulder and the reason I’m sharing all this background with you is because you need to know who is giving you advice today. It’s someone you can respect because in the military leadership is something that is very important. He explains all this in his new book Orders from the General: Leadership Advice from a Two-Star General. 

General Baker - That’s part of the inspiration for writing my book is I’ve kind of always been a lifelong student of leadership and I wanted to make sure I kind of offered all my experiences to folks as well. 

The subtitle is RISE ABOVE . . . Use a military mindset for success in any field and this is what drew me to the book. I just love this kind of advice because we aren’t all taught the same way. We all have different backgrounds and grow up in different ways but when you join the military there is a very specific type of training. Whether or not that style is for you is a personal decision but there is a great deal of wisdom to be gained from the men and women who served. 

Have you read the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World. You’ve probably heard of it. Admiral McRaven did the Commencement speech in 2014 for the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin. It went viral, got something like 10 Million views and then became a book. The point is he offered timeless wisdom that we can all use in our daily lives. General Baker has taken it a step further. 

General Baker - It’s written I think in kind of an easy to read style and it’s built around what I call leadership advice or leadership examples. I think a lot of people will be able to read that and understand it, it’ll resonate with them and the other thing too, is I’ve written it to try to be timeless. These leadership principles or pieces of advice I offer are kind of timeless leadership traits that I’ve observed and picked up through the years so those are a couple of things that I makes it really unique and the other thing, I really try, I know a lot of it is based on my time in the military, I try to write it in such a fashion so that regardless of what walk of life you’re in you would be able to use these principles. 

In the book he asks some important questions that cause you to look inside yourself. Like for example, What is your particular leadership style. Write it down and then ask a few others what they think your leadership style is and see if they match. Maybe they will. Maybe they won’t but you’ll learn something.