BTU #367 - Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (John Troxell)
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Why Listen:
I just wrapped up my conversation with John and I put this in a rare category of interviews where I started taking notes for myself during the conversation. John is such a wealth of wisdom about career success in in any arena. I took a page of notes for my own career about achieving what you want to achieve in your professional life. John worked his way up to the pinnacle of service in the military. I appreciated John's example not only in terms of what an extremely high achieving individual looks like and and what it takes to do that, but also someone who continues to redefine purpose in his life.
Of course, this interview was only made possible due to the financial support of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. Back when I interviewed Matt Hesse in Episode 358, that was a similarly energizing conversation. And what I said to Matt was we were fortunate enough to receive sponsorship from the Carlson School of Management. We've got a few more interviews we can do. I'll talk to anyone you would recommend. And John is who he recommended. And so thank you to the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management for making this possible.
About John Wayne Troxell
Before his retirement in December 2019, Troxell advised the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense for four years on all matters involving joint and combined total force integration, utilization, health of the force and joint development for enlisted personnel. Troxell enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1982.
By 2020, Troxell joined forces with FitOps to lead the Foundation’s strategic advisory board, working closely with Matt Hesse and the team to help prevent and end veteran suicide. Troxell’s primary focus will be helping FitOps reach service members who plan to separate from the military and equip them with training prior, so that when they hit the ground as a civilian, they are equipped to immediately serve their communities again, this time as personal trainers and coaches.
Our Sponsor:
This episode is sponsored by the Carlson School of Management. Whether you're transitioning to a civilian career or continuing military service, an MBA from Carlson at the University of Minnesota prepares you for a high-impact career in business. Carlson is committed to the veteran community and provides the benefits, experiential learning, and network to accelerate your career. In addition to a resident tuition waiver, all admitted full-time MBA military candidates receive generous scholarships and stipends to cover expenses that may not be eligible for the GI Bill.
E-mail mba@umn.edu to learn more. That's mba@umn.edu.
Selected Resources:
Transcript & Time Stamps:
4:50
Joining me today from Lakewood, WA is John Wayne Troxell. Anything you’d like to add to the biography I just shared?
I spent over 37 years in the Army which culminated in the senior enlisted role in the Department. I was responsible for gauging the pulse of the entire enlisted force. It was a phenomenal role and I deeply enjoyed.
7:40
What are the challenges members of the military typically face when they transition out?
The greatest competitive advantage our military has is in our people. No country trains, educations, and empowers its people to the extent that the United States does. That means that when people leave the military, they are highly qualified to succeed in almost any role.
Particularly if someone is retiring from the military and moving into the civilian workforce, it can be difficult to know where you fit in. The bottom line is that all branches of military service need to do a better job of preparing our members to leave the military and succeed in their second career. A lot of times, people leaving the military will sell themselves short because they don’t understand the value they bring to a company or organization.
11:05
What was your transition out of the Army like?
I knew in November of 2015 that I had been selected to be the advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I knew that the role would be for four years. I also knew that it would be my final tour. Even though I knew that, I didn’t prepare myself as much as I could have for the transition. I started really preparing about 90 days prior to my retirement. At one point, I was 10 days out from retirement. I was in Afghanistan, serving Thanksgiving dinner to our troops.
When I took off the uniform, I had been emotionally preparing myself for several years. So it wasn’t that hard for me. I was ready for the next step in my life. In my current role at FitOps, I still feel like i”m giving back to our military community just in a little bit of a different way.
14:35
In your role as the advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, what was your day-to-day life like?
In that role, I was the eyes and ears for the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. My job was to get the pulse of the troops for them. I was on the road 270 days a year visiting troops all around the world. When I was back at the Pentagon, I made sure I was very familiar with our national security and national defense strategy. I wanted to be able answer our troops questions about what our military was doing and why.
It was great that I cold go wherever I needed to go to visit troops stationed around the world. I was able to act as a bridge between the highest ranking members of the military and our troops on the ground.
19:30
What did it feel like to hold the highest enlisted military position?
It was truly humbling. I joined the Army as an E-1 out of Davenport, Iowa - my hometown. I married my wife a couple years later. We’ve now been married over 37 years.
When I first joined the military, I thought I would only be in for a few years. But that changed as time went on. Things in the military came easy to me. It made sense to me so I decided to make a career out of it.
As I progressed through the military, I wanted to continue to challenge myself to take on new challenges and more responsibilities. I never envisioned myself as an E-9 but I just tried to do my job to the best of my ability throughout my career.
I do a lot of public speaking with different military organizations. When I talk to people when they’re getting to transfer that their reputation is the most important thing you have. As you move up in organizations, what people think of you is very important. People need to know that they can depend on you.
As you transition into corporate America, you have to think about how to create a personal brand for yourself that will be attractive to an organization. For me, I’ve built my brand around being a good teammate. Whether in the military or in civilian, life, I’m cognizant of I can best support the people around me.
28:50
What is your best career advice?
Dream big. Think about what you want to do. You want to maximize your potential. Then set lofty but attainable goals.
Then you need to put in the work and effort to reach those goals. Do not get lost in your own museum. What I mean by that is that we’ve all accomplished big things in the past. That’s all fine and dandy but we can’t be stuck in the past. We need to focus on the present and future in order to achieve our goals.
An analogy I share with people is, “Dream of taking over the world but be willing to settle for Australia.” You have to dream big, lofty goals and then be willing to just see where that takes you.
If you don’t dream big, you won’t end up reaching your full potential.
40:20
How did your current role with FitOps come about?
An acronym I often use is PMER - Physically, Mentally, Emotionally Ready. I first came up with the phrase in 2006 and shared it as a talking point when I was speaking to soldiers.
At the pinnacle of my career, I was responsible for making sure that all services were fit and ready for all operations. I also worked with military families to make sure that they were being supported in their PMER goals as well.
So when I retired, I knew that I wanted to continue helping people reach their full potential. I was introduced to FitOps. What we do at FitOps is to end veteran suicide. By providing personal training certifications to veterans, we give them purpose after service. We believe that through programs like this, we’ll be able to reduce veterans suicide.
44:30
How can people get involved with FitOps?
Our website is the best source of information. Veterans that are interested in personal fitness certifications can apply through our website.
48:10
What else are you up to?
There’s a stigma specifically around enlisted members that transition into the civilian workforce. The value proposition of a military officer is clear to most civilians. But enlisted members sometimes have a stigma about what they can contribute on the civilian side. The truth is that our enlisted members offer an incredible amount of value to any company.
When I left the military, I started a leadership consulting firm. I felt like I could offer expertise to companies and also work with these organizations to break down the stigma surrounding transitioning enlisted military members.
In our military today, leadership isn’t just found in our officer but in our enlisted members as well. Enlisted men and women are the backbone of our military and they offer an incredibly valuable skillset after they leave the service.