Leadership Secrets of the Elite Special Forces | Mike Sarraille

In this episode of the Millionaire Mindcast, we have a wonderful guest Mike Sarraille, who shares his military journey, how his life was saved by a comrade during a combat mission, leaderships, why self-preservation is vital for being a leader, the significance of training and managing talent, feedback loop and self-assessment, and the secrets on how to be a millionaire!

Mike Sarraille is an entrepreneur, a keynote speaker, an expert in leadership development, talent acquisition, and talent management, a retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer and a former enlisted Recon Marine and Scout-Sniper, a former principal at Echelon Front, a management consulting firm alongside the co-authors of Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink, and Leif Babin.

He is the founder, managing partner, and CEO of EF Overwatch, a specialized executive search firm, and talent advisory that finds high-performing business leaders for senior, executive, or other critical leadership positions. Also, he co-authored the book, ‘The Talent War: How Special Operations and Great Organizations Win on Talent’ and a columnist for Men’s Journal and Men’s Fitness under ‘The Everyday Warrior’ column.

When Mike retires from the military after 20 years of service, that's when he starts having self-reflection, conceptualizing things, and learning from his experiences. He realized that leadership, skills, and characteristics evolved during those dark times in the military field. Thus, he let himself grow and learn the things he must know and use this to make a new career in entrepreneurship. Now, he has become one of the experts in this field.

Prior to that, he experiences ups and downs. But even with having that tough-guy persona, he believes that in order to stay in the game, you should not be afraid to talk to people when you’re feeling off, and ultimately seek God’s help. One thing that he encourages young people to do!

Some Questions I Ask:

• For those who don’t know who Mike is, and what EF Overwatch is, give us a little bit of a background, and history real quick? (00:52)
• Being able to humanize such a dark part of the military, and still be able to perform and function insanely, where do those that come from? (02:58)
• Going back to your own journey, what were some of those moments that you felt like you wanted to quit, and what got you pushing through? (05:33)
• You mentioned, leadership, skills, and characteristics evolved during some of those dark times, what does your reflective process look like? How should people who want to be great leaders deal with trauma or challenges, process some of these things, and use them as weapons instead of hiding them out and being ashamed of them? (08:10)
• How did you have this patience and persistence to keep pushing every day no matter what was in front of you? (14:03)
• You talk about recharge, what do you do to refill the cup? (16:59)
• If you were to give yourself an award for quality or characteristic that you’re at least led to that you felt was your superpower that you had a little bit of an edge on your brothers and sisters, what would that be and why? (19:05)
• How do you unplug and come home and still live intentionally with your wife, your family, and your health beyond just the “job or the career that you’ve chosen for yourself”? (20:42)
• With the people around you that you give permission to kind of hold you accountable, how critical is that not only in the team and in the organizational environment but in the personal environment for people to really achieve optimum and peak performance and just get the most out of themselves in life? (23:23)
• It takes time to be an expert in a particular field, how do you communicate that to the young hustler? (33:27)
• What are some of the best organizations doing in terms of motivating, inspiring, empowering, and really equipping their people? How are they helping them sharpen their axes, and what does that look like in today’s landscape? (37:29)
• How does preparation tie into this civilian and entrepreneurial world? (44:51)
• Just give us a broad spectrum on what the Talent War Group has to offer for the individuals that want to engage with you guys? (47:33)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Feedback loop: Why you need to slow down when bad things happen (09:30)
• Mike’s definition of courage (12:04)
• The 4 must-characteristics on to be a high performer in the operation (24:36)
• The steps on how to get more money (31:35)

Quotes:

• “It’s okay to talk to people when you’re feeling off.”
• “Impact into others in a life of constant achievement.”
• “The greatest currency in life is not money, it impacts other people.”
• “As a leader, you wait for the last.”
• “If you’re completely selfless, and you’re giving to others, there’s a point to where you can’t give anymore.”
• “It’s the small little things that indirect approach that ultimately leads you to make more money or whatever goal you want to reach.”
• “Good things take time.”
• “There is an infinite return on investing in people.”
• “If you don’t manage your talent, your talent will leave you.”
• “You can never eliminate risks but you can mitigate it through preparation.”
• “Fortune actually favors the prepared.”
• “The people that are victims in life are the ones that were ill-prepared.”
• “People don’t rise to the occasion at the end of the day, they fall to the rebel of training.”

Connect with Mike Sarraile on:

The Talent War Group

The Talent War book by Mike Sarraile