#51 Allen West | Our P&L Statement Was in Lives

About the episode

“In the military, our P&L statement is in lives. It’s not in dollars and cents.”

Allen West spent 22 years in the Army, commanded an artillery battalion out of Fort Hood, and led 650 soldiers in Iraq before representing Florida’s 22nd district in Congress on the Armed Services and Small Business committees.

This is a business conversation, and he spends most of it teaching. The five C’s of leadership. Commander’s intent broken into purpose, method and end state. Why the 100 percent plan always gets beat and the 65 to 70 percent plan wins. Why every company should run a weekly after action review, good, bad and ugly. Why the leader’s job is to get off the X and decide, and why refusing to decide is the worst option available in an ambush or a quarter.

He still carries the worn 3×5 cards he carried as a battalion commander. Cool heads always prevail. Soldiers don’t care what you know, they want to know that you care. Leaders take responsibility, never credit.