E40. Wendell Olivier- Pain is Temporary

**Leadership Episode**

Everyone in the military has to go through basic training, And no one will forget their drill sergeant, or in the Air Force we say MTI meaning Military Training Instructor.  This interview is with my MTI.  He had quite a dynamic career with deployments, 4 years at Lackland molding new recruits, and retired after 20 years with the rank of Master Sergeant. 

In this interview we don’t talk extensively about his entire career, but focused on Basic training, what it is like to work with new recruits, his own leadership discoveries, and a bigger picture of all the effort, sacrifice, and structure that goes into development of the new recruits.  If you have been to basic, it might help you see a side of your MTI that you didn’t know, if you haven’t, it will help you understand all the work and effort and the bigger picture so you don’t fall into some of the mental traps that many recruits fall into.  Like believing their MTI hates them.

In this interview Wendell Olivier discusses:

Becoming an Air Force MTI

Discovering the challenge that it required

Why he became an MTI

The transition becoming an MTI

How the civilian world is similar to military

Parental love vs. MTI love

Types of pressures as an MTI

Learning to be a good leader

Learning to connect

The struggle of being away from family

When following someone else doesn’t work for you

The discovery process

Being an introvert

Why he joined the military

Having the support he needed to improve

Why people succeed at Basic

 

For more information please visit www.TAMFpodcast.com/MTI

 

Quotes:

“By the time you got to the point of success you were so far above the standard that your minimal effort was already superb.”

“You have the potential to be better, and I want you to be that.”

“A lot of people shy away from things that are difficult for them. They don’t take it head on. But I find that it’s not as bad as it seems…because regardless of how long it lasts, pain is always temporary.”

“a little bit of confidence goes a long way... Find the ones that are not afraid and see what they got afterwards”

“It depends on the person, if they are willing to change, if they want to do better, and they don’t have an avenue to get there, when they get to basic training they find that.”

“You cannot be your normal self when you are under a lot of pressure for the first time.”