Why Listen:
I just wrapped up recording this episode, and it will cost me about $60 in books, or maybe $5 in late fees from the library because there were so many great books that Joe recommended. Here's a couple of things that stood out to me from this interview.
And first of all, make sure you check out the show notes for this episode at beyond the uniform.org. In addition to a link to Joe's company, HigherEchelon, there's also links to all of the books he describes, as well as an interview we did with Taylor justice years ago, who you'll learn was one of the founding members of the HigherEchelon team and has gone on to found Unitas, which has exploded, absolutely exploded as a company.
So a couple of things that I really liked from this interview, the first one is that Joe has a great perspective on entrepreneurship. And he and his other two co-founders started by only investing $1,000 into this company, and they made the commitment that they would not join the company full time until it could pay their salary, you know, at a competitive rate. And it took three or four years to get there. And I feel like this is so contrary to the what I would call bad advice I so often see of burning bridges jumping off Carpe Diem, seize the moment to start the company, all of these things that I think are potentially really harmful for aspiring entrepreneurs. That's one thing that I think is great.
The second, though, is that HigherEchelon is a company that is all about enhancing company and individual performance. And Joe gives a lot of great frameworks that are applicable to your career in life, no matter what that lifestyle is, whatever that career path is. He talks about things like people process and technology and constantly learning about which one to focus on in your life or organization. He talks about the values that drive his companies, which I'm going to start boring, which is learn, grow, adapt, and lead, and why that's so important. He does a lot of work with transition assistance and talks about mindsets that he sees in military veterans. And I found that really helpful as well. There's a lot of goodness here. And so be sure to check out this episode.
About Joe:
Dr. Joe Ross is the President and Co-Founder of HigherEchelon, a service-disabled veteran-owned, human and organizational performance consulting firm that works with both public and private sector clients to enhance performance. HigherEchelon has over 150 employees in 25 different states with the corporate office in Arlington, VA, but Headquarters in Huntsville, AL. Joe started HigherEchelon over 10 years ago with his business partner, Paul Maggiano. Joe holds a B.S. from West Point, a Masters of Education in Psychology and Athletic Consulting from Springfield College, and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Walden University. Amidst all of this, he also found the time to serve as the Assistant Football Coach at West Point from 2009-2012.