WEBVTT - The BroadCast | From the Front Line to the Front Office 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.640 This podcast is part of the seventy sixers podcast network 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:16.280 Search seventy sixers podcast wherever you get your pods, clapping 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:25.439 and plenty of cheering noises you'd find perhaps in a 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:29.400 place like the locker room of an NBA arena, but 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:33.360 not these days, and not for over a month. Instead, 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.159 these are the sounds that greeted a couple dozen healthcare 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:38.839 workers from the Cleveland Clinic when they arrived at a 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:45.560 New York Presbyterian Hospital location last week. New York City, 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:49.040 of course, is the eye of COVID nineteen storm, and 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:51.960 earlier this month, as the forecast grew more and more 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.840 grim and a surgeon cases threatened to slam America's largest 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.880 metropolitan area, the faculty and residence of New York Presby's 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:04.520 Emergency Medicine Residency program took part in what else a 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:07.679 zoom call. So, without any more ado, this is Captain 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:11.440 Robert Nusson. Thanks. I appreciate your time. I appreciate everybody 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:14.240 being here, and it's truly an honor to me. What 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:18.000 a time of service for you guys, So thank you. 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:19.720 You'd only have to be paying a little bit of 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.959 attention to the news to begin to comprehend the kind 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:29.640 of massive pressure confronting hospital emergency impersonnel these days, a grueling, relentless, 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:35.240 exhausted gut punch packed with equal parts duty, defeat, and fear. 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:39.800 Grappling with these emotions was the focus of Rob Nuson's 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.959 talk with the New York Presbyterian staff. I hope my 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:47.319 lessons from seal training and war can help you in 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:51.680 this moment. For three decades, Rob Newson served and protected 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.800 this country on the front line of battles and behind 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:59.360 the scenes. His skills in crisis management strategy ultimately took 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:01.720 him as far as the White House until he decided 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.200 to return to civilian life within the past year. In 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:08.520 other words, he has the exact type of perspective that 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:12.840 any person, business, or government would benefit from in the 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:15.520 midst of a volable global pandemic. If you're an ear 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:18.120 resident or a doc, you're a little bit left to 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:22.120 center like me. I've spent thirty years in eighty seal, 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.080 almost three years of my life overseas in the fight. 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:29.119 I have feared for my life, and I've worried over 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:33.240 my family back home. I know what you were feeling. 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.959 I've been where you are. I want to do this. 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.640 I was made to do this, but I'd rather not 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.480 die doing it. So you see we have a lot 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:48.440 in common. How did Rob Newson, two months before the 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:51.919 COVID nineteen outbreak hit the United States wind up with 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:55.120 the seventy six Ers. I'm Brian Seltzer, and on this 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:57.760 episode of the broadcast, I talked with Newson about his 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:00.720 path and his new role as the Sixers vice president 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:09.600 of Strategy and Vision. Hey, out there, seventy six Ers 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:13.440 pod people, hope you and all your peeps are staying safe, 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:19.040 smart and healthy. Captain Rob Newson's resume, in short, is 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:23.359 totally ridiculous. Here are some of the highlights from his 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:27.320 bio on the website of the Honor Foundation. Thirty years 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:31.560 as a Navy seal, launched six new military organizations from scratch, 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.040 spent fourteen years as a strategist and was deployed to 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:39.360 fourteen different countries on five continents, led counter terrorism missions, 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:41.960 and was the director of the White House Military Office 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:44.960 and all he was responsible with the White House was 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.600 overseeing these things called Air Force one, Marine one, and 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.080 Camp David. Rob Newson also decorated with the Bronze Star 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:56.200 for acts of heroism, acts of merit, or meritorious service 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:59.840 in a combat zone. In review, you could say that 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:04.320 Rob is one accomplished dude. How the heck did Rob 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.720 Newson end up with a job in professional basketball? And 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.040 how the heck with the seventy six or so fortuitous 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:12.520 to bring them on board just as a global crisis 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.800 was beginning to emerge, Let's find out, Rob, before I 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:19.200 brought you on. I just finished reading through some of 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:23.200 the highlights of your career track record. I mean, I 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.360 gotta say, it seems like such a compelling and fascinating 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:30.039 and fulfilling journey. How would you describe kind of where 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:33.919 life has brought you up to this point. Yeah, so, 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.040 you know, it was an honor and a privilege to 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:40.440 serve as a Navy seal for almost thirty years and 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:47.200 then go into being a government senior executive for a 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.360 year working in the White House on the military side. 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.800 So it's it's been such a treat to you know, 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.360 where the nation's cloth and serve the nation. And really 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:01.320 I'm grateful not on only for that experience, but for 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:05.600 the skill set I think we've developed in the seal community, 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:09.800 and especially in my background, which is really about team's 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.080 leadership and culture, and so that that was the foundation 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.160 that I think brought me to the seventy six ers. 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.920 I certainly want to get into unpacking how your professional 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.960 and personal experiences have shaped the skill set that you 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:23.920 can now bring to the seventy six ers, But I'm 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:25.400 sure a lot of fans would love to know for 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:27.479 as much as you're able to bring us up to speed, 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:29.560 just on you know, how the people in the front 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:32.880 office are doing, how you guys are managing communicating these 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:36.400 days and staying on top of obviously overseeing what needs 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.000 to be overseen for a professional basketball team, but just 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.400 the day to day lives of people going through something 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:46.479 like this. Yeah it you know, right after I think 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:49.880 it was March eleventh when kind of the world blew 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:54.720 upright the season went into hiatus, and it was a 0:05:54.920 --> 0:06:00.480 NonStop kind of crisis management for the first week or so, Um, 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.840 what are we going to do from taking care of 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:07.800 the people's perspective who needed to be in self quarantine, 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:13.600 what was going to happen with work and coordination? And 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:18.080 so that turned into kind of marathon zoom sessions with 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:22.680 different executives and different meetings, and um, that lasted for 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:25.719 two or three weeks and it's settled down now to 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:32.200 a normal work rhythm. But it's it's and it's all virtual, so, 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:37.000 you know, executives pulled together and then we have meetings 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:41.479 with our folks throughout the week on Zoom and really 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:45.280 it's been fascinating to see the you know, the two 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:48.720 main themes from the organization have been how are we 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:52.039 getting better? And are we ready? And so it's all 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:57.080 been about taking this time to improve um processes and 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:02.960 product on the organizations side, and then supporting the players 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.520 so they can continue to stay in shape and prepare 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:08.479 and are we all going to be ready when whenever 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.440 the season starts up again. In some ways, it's so 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:16.760 fascinating because at least on our side, speaking to what's 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.320 been going on on the business side, it's like this 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.320 opportunity certainly would never want to see it come at 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.600 the expense of the health and well being of people 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:27.880 around the world, but it has lifted the curtain back 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:30.600 on how things are done, what's the most efficient way 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.560 to do things? How can we maximize every opportunity to 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:36.400 get the best possible output at whatever it is we're doing, 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:38.640 whether it's creating a piece of content or trying to 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.400 provide the best infrastructure possible for the most talented basketball 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:47.200 players in the planet. Yeah, this, you're right. We wouldn't 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:50.160 wish this on anybody, but you know, you find you 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.680 find your opportunities in crisis. And one of the opportunities 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:57.640 I think the organization is really grasp onto is is 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.520 how do we make improvements? And we have we have 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:06.360 this time where we're not constantly traveling for games or 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.440 preparing for the next game, and we've got time to 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:18.040 sit back and really be positively critical of how can 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:21.840 we get better? And I really enjoyed that aspect as 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:25.840 well as just watching leaders lead. They're taking care of 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:29.880 their people, they're engaging, they're trying to give a sense 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:34.880 of both purpose and safety in a time of uncertainty. 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.440 So it's that's been really enjoyable too. You lude to 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.160 some of the stops you've made of the course of 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.760 your career with your work with the Navy, Seals, Department 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:48.680 of Defense, fourteen countries in the White House, and that 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.840 phrase that you touched upon, crisis management, diving into that 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.760 immediately when the pandemic really erupted in the second week 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:59.080 of March. What have you learned throughout your life about 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:04.600 what's essential to managing a crisis. Yeah, I think there 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:08.360 are several aspects that I've been thinking about a lot lately. 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:15.520 In crisis. Is not to be consumed by just the 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.920 chaos of it all right, I mean, the noise can 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:24.000 get so loud, the confusion can be overwhelming, and part 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:27.320 of it is a two step process. One you have 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:29.600 to focus on the thing that's right in front of 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:34.240 you and really not get distracted by anything else that 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:37.160 you know, your task list can build and build and build, 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:39.760 and if you step back and look at it, it 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:44.000 can seem overwhelming. It's just eating the elephant one bite 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.560 of the time to stay in the moment and take 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:48.360 care of what you need to take care of. And 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:51.800 then the second piece of that is also lifting high 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.840 enough that you're not seeing the madness and you know, 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.880 just the crushing activity that you have to take care of, 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:01.800 and you're looking over over the next ridge line and saying, okay, 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.800 how do I as I'm taking care of the moment 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:09.080 and piece by piece moving forward where are we headed? 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:14.199 And again, the organization, I really enjoyed watching them tackle 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:19.760 both the immediacy of activity and thinking about what chart, 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:24.040 what course they're charting to get to the new normal, 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:25.560 because it's not going to We're not going to go 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:28.000 back to what we used to know. I think it's 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:31.040 going to be something else, and so that takes some 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:35.000 planning and vision to get there. Did you find yourself 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:37.719 having to walk a line or figuring out well, here, 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:40.320 I am. I would want to say at that point 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:42.640 in time, back in March, what about two months on 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:45.360 the job and trying to get a feel for brand 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.080 new people that you're working with while also trying to 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.800 lean on experience that I mean, listen, this is something 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:57.599 I was thinking about before doing this interview. Any person, company, organization, 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:01.319 country like could probably use someone Um with your experience 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:03.920 and perspective, let alone a professional basketball team. So how 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.000 did you try and pick and choose your spots or 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:11.040 get involved in some of these conversations. It was really funny, 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:16.679 Um we were you know, we're kind of feeling our 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:21.400 way through that and Elton. Elton brought me on because 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.680 he cared about teams, leadership and culture and thought it 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:27.840 was a great fit. But as you go into new organization, 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:32.160 a huge part of that is learning and you know, 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:38.280 not just because you understand leadership. Applying it an entirely 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:43.840 new arena is absolutely humbling and daunting, and so there's 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:47.840 there's an aspect of learning that for me in in 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.520 professional basketball, you know, is kind to go on forever 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:55.040 that it's amazing what what people are doing and how 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.800 much knowledge is out there. Really, the crisis opened up 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:02.360 that that window that I think I could jump in 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:06.160 a lot faster than I would have and kind of 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:10.040 thrown into the middle of working with our coronavirus task 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:13.600 Force and kind of pulling people together in a time 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:17.679 of uncertainty. That kind of I think accelerated my introduction 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:23.719 to the organization ROB before the coronavirus became a global pandemic. 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:26.760 What was your position supposed to entail with the seventy 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:31.959 six ers. It was really there's two parts of it. 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:36.360 My title is vice president of Strategy and Vision, and 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:44.640 so in that part, it's it's related to leadership, innovation, culture, 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:50.440 and providing structure around that. So I'm responsible for a 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.360 culture initiative we're calling Championship DNA, but it's it's really 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:59.120 about being intentful about building the right kind of culture 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:04.720 that will support winning multiple championships UM. The other piece 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:11.600 is integrating the best ball operations innovation efforts. M seventy 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:15.960 six ers is known as an innovative organization from so 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:20.440 many aspects, but it's it's providing structure and attempting to 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:25.600 maximize innovations across the organization. And then the third piece 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.520 is about leadership development and decision making and how I 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.560 can support the senior leaders in the organizations as they 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.319 lead and they're doing a great job of that. And 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.560 then that's so that's one side that really fits under 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.720 that that strategy and vision bucket. And then the other 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:47.000 side is leading the Athlete Care department, which consists of 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:53.480 medical and performance UM. Great great leadership there with Scott 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:58.079 Epsley and Lorna Torres, and I'm I'm learning from them 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:01.800 on what their business is about and just providing a 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:05.960 little bit of structure and organizational leadership on top of 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.200 that so that they can focus downward on all the 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:12.000 great stuff they're doing. I don't know if this is 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:14.680 an appropriate type question to ask, but was you thinking 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:18.200 immediately when you could see perhaps on the horizon that 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:23.120 this outbreak was making Twitter United States? Were you saying, man, 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.960 I just left thirty years of service, putting my life 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:30.760 in danger. I'm looking forward to this new civilian lifestyle 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.280 professional basketball team, and I just can't escape this whole 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:37.520 crisis thing like it keeps following me. Or on the 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.280 other side, were you kind of energized by it in 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:44.359 some way? Yeah, it was both. It's a great observation 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.040 on your part because it was. It was truly both. 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:51.040 You know, I thought I'd left that behind, whether it 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:55.080 was kind of terrorism or kind of managing daily christ 0:14:55.520 --> 0:15:00.760 in DD and really excited for some new and then 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:05.560 the crisis hits. But you know, there's muscle memory and 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:10.040 the fire that that you've built up over managing a 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.880 career that and so it just clicks in. It was 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.880 so familiar and so natural to be in that spot. 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.120 But I'll tell you, I'll be happy to return back 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:26.400 to a different world of professional sports and me learning 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:28.920 at the at the knee of people who really know 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.440 the business. Amen to that. Why don't we get into 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:36.920 your path? How did you end up on and this 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:39.320 is probably something you could talk about for a long 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.360 period of time, but how did you end up getting 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:49.200 involved with serving the country? I um, I was fortunate 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:54.800 enough to receive a Naval ROTC scholarship the University of Kansas, 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:59.080 and really my motivation was I would pay for college, 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:03.560 and you know, I didn't want to to ask my 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.160 parents to help out too much. And so, you know, 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:09.080 the nation stepped forward and said, sure, we'll pay for 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:11.600 your college and it you know, in return, you uh, 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:14.560 you spend four years in the military. And so that's 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.640 that's kind of the path I started. And then as 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:20.240 I looked at what was available in the Navy, I 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:24.400 was a little bit concerned because nothing would really lit 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:29.040 my fire. And then I discovered the Navy seal community 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.840 and was fortunate enough to get selected and go to 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:36.520 seal training and get through and you know that that 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:41.040 just started one great assignment after another for almost thirty years. 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.160 As you retrace your steps, do you always feel like 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:48.360 you've had a sense of obligation service due to the 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:53.640 country those types of things. No, you know, as I said, 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.520 it started out as I wanted to pay for college, 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:59.760 and so those first four to seven years I kind 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.440 of expected, Okay, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna do my 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:06.919 part and then I'll see what else is available. And 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.359 I think most guys going into the military kind of 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:11.440 kind of think that way. I don't think too many 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:14.040 people come in thinking I'm going to do twenty or 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:17.720 thirty years of service, um. But somewhere around the seven 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.680 to eleven year point, UM, you know, it struck me 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:26.159 that um, I was called to serve and that was 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:30.560 incredibly important to me. And the type of service, you know, 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:34.680 changes from being in a in a frontline operational unit 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:38.240 to to being a kind of an operations guy that 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.280 helps those guys and then moving up the leadership chain. 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:45.520 But it was it was always about both serving the 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:50.440 nation and as as importantly serving those around you to 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.280 help the team move forward. Well if one with Rob 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:56.119 Newson in just a moment, but we all know that 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:00.800 life these days is anything but normal or conventional. We 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.480 see so many businesses, companies and services out there trying 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:06.440 to do just a little bit more to make your 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.760 life a little bit easier. At Wendy's, they've got you 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:13.280 for breakfast, lunch, at dinner, and everything in between. Whether 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:16.000 it's starting your day with their new delicious breakfast menu 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.359 or ending it with a cool frosty Wendy's are open 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:22.240 to serve you. Swing by the drive through or get 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:26.920 your go to meal delivered today. Back to my chat 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:31.040 with Rob Newson, I saw the link to a video 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:34.280 conference you did back on April the first, or sometime 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:37.320 at the beginning of April, end of March with faculty 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:41.359 at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia Cornell, obviously right at 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:45.800 the epicenter of our nation's coronavirus outbreak. And I'm probably 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:47.399 gonna get this wrong. I thought I wrote it down 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:49.720 the exact wording, but I didn't. But at some point 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:52.760 during your introduction, you said, you know, whether it's being 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:55.639 a Navy seal or being an ear doc on the 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:58.480 front line of something like trying to contain COVID nineteen, 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:00.960 there's a little bit of cow boy that we have 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:04.399 in ourselves, where you're drawn and you feel this calling 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:07.440 to selfless acts that you're being asked to you to serve, 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.120 but at the same time, you don't want to die 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:13.160 doing it. And I thought that was a really interesting 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:16.840 way to put into context what people who are working 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:19.720 their way through this crisis right now have in relation 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:26.040 to military service women and men. Yeah, I had it 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:27.840 was fortunate enough to be asked to talk to the 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:32.920 EUR residents and faculty and the reason why they wanted 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.680 to talk to somebody like me was they're thrown into 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:40.960 the breach, and it was it was a little bit 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:44.359 new to be both at not only to save lives, 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:47.240 to put your life at risk as well. And you know, 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:50.399 I've been thinking about this. Of course it applies to 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:54.280 our amazing health workers across the nation, but I think 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:57.920 it applies to almost all of us where we've we're 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:02.960 faced with a broader per to protect ourselves and to 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.840 protect others, right, and so we're doing things that that 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:08.520 you'd rather not do. You know, people don't wear a 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:12.679 mask on their face to protect themselves. That's to protect others. 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:17.120 And it's heartening to see people UM kind of embrace 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.760 this broader service and responsibility to to the rest of 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:24.960 the world to to try to you know, defeat this 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.960 this virus in a in a timely and efficient way. 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:33.359 But yeah, it was interesting to and again, my better 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:37.000 half's ear docs, so we talk a lot about the 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:41.479 similarities between UM seals and ear docs. We are we 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.520 are a bit of cowboy and buccaneer in us that uh, 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.960 that are drawn to UM the close end fight and 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:50.359 you know, running to the sound of the guns or 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.880 the accident for as many details as you're able to offer, 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:56.439 Would you mind giving an overview of the tours and 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:58.360 perhaps some of the missions that you were part of 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:00.479 where you had to serve, what you might have been 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:05.040 involved with, for again as much as you're able to share. Yeah. So, UM, 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:09.200 my early career is kind of focused on the Pacific. 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:13.440 UM mostly a West Coast Navy Seals, so deploying to 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:17.719 Guam and the Philippines and then UM after nine to eleven, 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:24.639 it was a lot of deployments. I went to to 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:29.600 Bosnia and then Kenya, Iraq, Afghanistan almost two years and 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.320 Yem and all of that was kind of focused on 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:38.200 counter terrorism and hunting terrorists. A lot of my background 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:43.520 is in strategy and UM designing kind of the hunt. 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:47.359 I was fortunate enough to be UM to help start 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:50.960 one of our our premier seal organizations that is the 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:54.000 targeting engine for the Seals, and so we put all 0:21:54.000 --> 0:22:00.359 our intelligence capabilities together to help UM fine and point 0:22:00.400 --> 0:22:03.720 the Seals in the right direction for their missions. And 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:08.320 so that that was unique and special and I think 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:11.600 helped me throughout my career because it was really about 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:16.760 working with subject matter experts where I'm not the expert 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:19.080 in any of these areas, but it's how do I 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:22.080 help lead and pull them together? And that's been very 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:25.760 useful as I've worked with athlete care and amazing people 0:22:25.800 --> 0:22:30.280 with medical and performance that are the experts, and I'm 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:33.640 just trying to provide communication and leadership so that they 0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:37.879 are better able to do their great work on a 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:41.480 way smaller and certainly far less significant scale. I felt 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:43.679 that when I first started traveling in my job with 0:22:43.760 --> 0:22:45.800 the seventy six ers. You know, you get to go 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:51.080 to twenty seven, if I'm not mistaken, other cities in 0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:54.560 the country, and you just get a better feel for 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:58.200 what's out there, and how did your tours and seeing 0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:00.840 the world better inform the way you view things and 0:23:00.840 --> 0:23:05.800 look at things? Um well, certainly I think you know, 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:11.239 going into the developing world a lot you you you 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:16.520 have an appreciation for how wonderful America has it, and 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:20.720 the United States is truly blessed in so many levels. 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:25.560 So you get to see a level of um suffering 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:30.560 in humanity that that is daunting at times, but you 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:34.399 also get to see a great human spirit in people 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:39.439 who are fighting and overcoming those circumstances and it. You know, 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:44.360 we've worked with partners around the world, and so some 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:51.919 things transcend cultures and ethnicity and it's just about you know, 0:23:52.320 --> 0:23:55.919 trying trying to do the right thing and work with 0:23:55.960 --> 0:23:58.960 a group of people to to move things forward. So 0:23:59.400 --> 0:24:04.400 it you know, teamwork and um leadership I think kind 0:24:04.400 --> 0:24:08.399 of transcend. Thats another lesson that that around the world 0:24:08.480 --> 0:24:11.560 people want a place to belong that they want to 0:24:11.880 --> 0:24:14.880 they want to be able to take ownership and lead 0:24:14.880 --> 0:24:18.439 and follow as as best they can. One of the 0:24:18.440 --> 0:24:21.960 positions that you previously held was the director of the 0:24:21.960 --> 0:24:27.000 White House Military Office. I mean, listen, I'm posing for 0:24:27.000 --> 0:24:28.520 saying is I'm trying to think of how to articulately 0:24:28.520 --> 0:24:30.520 the question. I mean this is it's it's the White House. 0:24:30.720 --> 0:24:36.160 I mean, it's almost like a part of someone's imagination 0:24:36.200 --> 0:24:40.960 at times. There's this, uh certainly just the stature of it, um, 0:24:41.000 --> 0:24:43.160 the importance of it that you think of growing up 0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:45.920 as a kid. And then you know, if you visit Washington, 0:24:46.000 --> 0:24:48.760 d C. You walk past and like your mind kind 0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:51.760 at least for me, runs wild about the the importance 0:24:51.880 --> 0:24:55.440 of that institution. What was it like for you being 0:24:55.520 --> 0:24:58.840 such a career military service person to be presented with 0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:02.680 the chance to serve in the White House. Well, there's 0:25:02.680 --> 0:25:05.240 so there are several aspects of that. One is just 0:25:05.280 --> 0:25:09.200 the gravitas of the building, you know, what an honor. 0:25:09.320 --> 0:25:13.800 And every day I walked around there, I try to 0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:16.760 remind myself that, you know, not too many people get 0:25:16.800 --> 0:25:20.879 to be on the inside walking around the White House, 0:25:20.920 --> 0:25:25.160 and so you stopped to take it all in, every 0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:30.080 every step I took. It's amazing place. You know, um, 0:25:30.800 --> 0:25:35.880 Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, you know, a Roosevelt, all 0:25:35.920 --> 0:25:39.200