Justine and Jason are both former military officers, currently working within different teams at The McChrystal Group, an advisory services and leadership development firm with a unique and diverse group of professionals. Their networked “Team of Teams” approach enables clients to adapt to their complex operating environments.

In today’s conversation, we discuss their service as officers within the United States Marine Corps, Justine in Logistics having graduated from the US Naval Academy and Jason as an Infantry Officer via OCS after earning his undergrad at Boston College. Their transitions from active duty took place at different times in their lives, Jason having separated and attended graduate school to pursue a career in policy and Justine coming straight to the practice to work with a large multinational Oil and Gas corporation.

We talk about working with retired four-star general, Stan McChrystal and how his team of civilians and veterans perform their mission in corporate America. The context for the discussion is the release of Jason’s new book that he co-wrote with Stan McChrystal and Jeff Eggers, titled Leaders: Myth and Reality.

Jason shares his perspective getting to know the general, working on his team to research the book, and the fundamental questions they wanted to answer in creating this profile of different leaders throughout history.

If you are curious about writing a book as a co-author, working in an elite management and strategy consulting practice, or wondering about how to transition some of your skills and perspective from what you’re currently doing as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, don’t miss this episode!

1:58 – Justine’s introduction and background
6:16 – Jason’s introduction and background
8:39 – How did the team of co-authors come together?
10:27 – Justine, what’s your role on the advisory services team?
13:14 – How much interplay is there between thought leadership and client engagement?
16:32 – What was the process for selecting the leaders you profiled in the book?
21:52 – How is decision making reflected across the company based on the different perspectives on the teams at The McChrystal Group?
26:53 – Jason, how much was your input directly reflected in the work versus as a part of a 3 co-author team?
30:09 – How does the consulting practice within the group work with a client, how do you use questions as the starting point for the process?
32:47 – How do your teams address conflict?
38:24 – What are the biggest differences in your careers now versus when you were active duty?
44:48 – Final thoughts for our listeners, key takeaways