May 11, 2026 • 32 mins
Cut the Tie Podcast with John Teichert, Brigadier General (ret)
What happens when a lifetime of structure, service, and leadership gives way to the question, “What comes next?”
In this episode of Cut The Tie, Thomas Helfrich welcomes back John “The Dragon” Teichert, a retired Air Force leader, former fighter pilot, test pilot, speaker, author, and national security expert. Together, they explore what success looks like after military service, and why true success is not only measured by money, titles, or accomplishments.
John shares how faith, family, focus, and purpose have shaped his next chapter after retiring from the Air Force. From commanding major military installations to writing about America’s spiritual foundation, John brings a grounded perspective on leadership, legacy, resilience, and learning how to stay committed to the work in front of you while preparing for what may come next.
About John Teichert:
John Teichert is a retired United States Air Force leader, former F-15E fighter pilot, F-22 test pilot, speaker, author, and national security expert. Over his career, he commanded Joint Base Andrews, commanded Edwards Air Force Base, served as the senior defense official in Iraq, and led international affairs for the Air Force and Space Force. Today, John speaks, writes, consults, and provides commentary on leadership, innovation, national security, international affairs, and advanced technology. His latest work focuses on faith, purpose, and helping Americans reconnect with the meaning behind “In God We Trust.”
In this episode, Thomas and John discuss:
- Success beyond money
Why real success includes faith, relationships, wellness, purpose, and finances working together. - Life after the uniform
How John thinks about impact, identity, and purpose after retiring from the Air Force. - Faith as a foundation for resilience
Why believing in something greater than yourself can help you stay grounded through uncertainty. - The discipline of feedback loops
How John uses regular self-assessment to stay aligned with his priorities instead of drifting. - Being tactically content and strategically restless
How to focus on today’s responsibilities while still preparing for the bigger opportunities ahead.
Key Takeaways:
- Success is not a finish line
It is a direction you keep choosing through your faith, family, health, relationships, and work. - Purpose can continue after a title ends
Leaving a role does not mean losing your mission. It can create space for a new kind of impact. - Your calendar tells the truth
The way you spend your time reveals what you actually value. - Growth requires honest reflection
Regular feedback helps you correct course before small misalignments become major problems. - You have to put your mask on first
You cannot sustainably lead, serve, or support others if your own foundation is falling apart.
Connect with John Teichert:
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnteichert/
🌐 Website: https://johnteichert.com
Connect with Thomas Helfrich:
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thelfrich/
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
Serious about LinkedIn Lead Generation? Stop Guessing what to do on LinkedIn and ignite revenue from relevance with Instantly Relevant Lead System
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome to Cut the Tie.
It's 2026, and I'm excited tohave my first guest of the year,
a repeat offender, John Tiger,John the Dragon Tiger.
And he's going to reintroducehimself.
But we're going to open up theyear here with the new format,
the new style for Cut the Tie onyour success.
And the idea is we're going tobe exploring how people are
successful and success beyondfinances.
(00:22):
You know, where we're going tolook at faith.
We're going to look at how therelationships and wellness.
Because for you to truly besuccessful, what over a thousand
interviews has shown me that thepeople who are truly successful
have almost all four of thosegoing in some fashion, in some
direction.
And they don't look at theirsuccess as a destination.
They look at it as a way they'regoing.
And every step is a successtowards that direction.
(00:43):
So, John, uh, welcome back tothe show.
You rock, man.
I appreciate you giving me yourtime.
I know, you know, as a as aformer, former person running
from Senate, I'll take anybodywho uh I'll take all the losers
from Senate.
I'll tell you that.
SPEAKER_00 (00:54):
Like, well, I am a loser, but maybe the chief
loser, and I love being on yourshow.
We had a blast the first timearound, and thanks for inviting
me back.
SPEAKER_01 (01:02):
I appreciate it.
So uh for those who didn't maybecatch the first one or don't
know you, uh introduce yourself,your creds, you know, just brag
away.
SPEAKER_00 (01:10):
No, got it.
So I grew up, I was a fighterpilot in the United States Air
Force, flying F-15Es in combat.
I became a test pilot,specifically an F-22 test pilot.
And then my last fourassignments in the military, I
commanded the president'sairfield outside of Washington,
D.C.
That's Joint Base Andrews.
I commanded Edwards Air ForceBase, which is a place that I
(01:31):
call the center of the aerospacetesting universe.
It's where Chuck Yeager brokethe sound barrier in 1947, and
it's been at the nexus of everyaerospace first since then.
I was our nation's seniordefense official in Iraq,
deployed for 14 months duringCOVID.
And then I ran internationalaffairs for the Air Force and
the Space Force.
I retired from the militarythree years ago because I firmly
(01:51):
believe that there's somethingmore impactful I can do for my
country by being out thanstaying in.
And right now I do a lot ofkeynote speaking, a lot of
writing, a lot of nationalsecurity interviews on place
like Fox News and a little bitof consulting, all revolving
around national security,international affairs,
leadership, innovation, oradvanced technology.
SPEAKER_01 (02:12):
And it's amazing, career.
And in uh I've said this before.
Anybody who has a call sign ofthe dragon has done something
pretty damn cool because theydon't they don't hand out the
cool ones to anybody.
SPEAKER_00 (02:21):
Well, so I don't know.
I got really lucky in mysquadron in 1998.
It's where I got my call sign.
They tried to give cool soundingnames based on something stupid
you did.
And so mine is a really coolsounding name, but it's based on
something stupid.
And all I will tell you is thatit has to do with Zirgo Spain
and nuclear weapons, and I'llleave it at that.
SPEAKER_01 (02:41):
That's gonna be a headline for one of the posts
for sure.
Some guy nuclear weapons andwhat he blew up.
What?
It has to be fire involved,people.
I mean, there's the only way,unless it's gold, different kind
of dragon, or Lord of the Rings.
But anyway, we'll we'll checkthat for now.
Um, your new focus, or not newfocus, but something you've
really become really active andpassionate about is is this idea
(03:02):
of in God we trust, this idea offaith, and as not just a
national kind of cliche, but aslike an everyday American belief
system that you deliver.
Is I know I'm probably wayshortening that, but this is
where you're going in 2026, howyou're defining success on that
path of faith, relationships,and you're gonna make money on
it.
So it ties it kind of alltogether.
(03:22):
Is tell me about this a littlebit, what you're doing with it.
SPEAKER_00 (03:25):
Yeah, well, Thomas, first of all, I think that
everyone should define successby doing what you're designed or
supposed to do, and doing sorelentlessly, pursue it without
holding back.
And so right now I feel like asI balance my life in a variety
of ways, that the first bigproject for this year, something
(03:45):
that we've been working on now,my pastor and I in Washington,
D.C.
for the last several months, ispublishing this book for our
nation's 250th birthday.
This is our nation's 250thbirthday, and we're excited
about that.
And in about a month, we arepublishing a book that's
entitled, In God I Trust, makingour national motto my personal
(04:07):
declaration.
And so it's going to be acombination American history
book because there's a lot ofAmerican history that gets lost
somewhere and that Americansneed to know about.
But also, how do we make surethat we as individuals are
trusting our Lord and God likeour nation was founded on based
on our principles?
(04:28):
And I'm excited to see that workroll out and how that makes an
impact as a birthday presentback to the citizens of this
great nation during thisimportant 250th year.
SPEAKER_01 (04:38):
You know, when people hear these ideas of God
or faith or whatever else, andyou know, as I'm writing a book
in the chapter, I struggle withdo I just make it a Christian
book or do I say, hey, faith isjust a higher power, something
bigger you believe in?
Likely, you know, my opinion,we're probably all praying to
some same God.
But the the idea is how do youapproach that uh the idea of God
in the in in in the stroke ofevery American?
SPEAKER_00 (05:01):
So, Thomas, I don't mind that this is an explicitly
Christian book.
The worldview of our founderswas biblically based.
And so we don't mind or shy awayfrom the fact that this is
fundamentally a book about theChristian foundation of this
nation, which is trusting in Godand how we should apply that as
Christians in our own life.
(05:22):
But I do think that there's aninteresting nuance here.
And one of the four pillars ofresilience in the United States
Air Force is a spiritual pillarof resilience.
In fact, I think I can name allfour of them.
It is physical, social,spiritual, and mental.
And the idea is that if youshore up every one of those four
areas, then now you're on asolid foundation so you can be
(05:45):
resilient when the challengescome your way.
But that spiritual pillar ofresilience isn't necessarily
explicitly religious.
The idea is that everybody needsto have a higher purpose.
There needs to be somethinggreater than yourself that you
are here to serve.
In part in the military, that'seasy.
(06:05):
It's important and defend theConstitution of the United
States and our great nation.
But I think spiritual, in myparticular case, certainly
revolves around my belief inChrist.
But I think in general, it helpsme understand that I am here
serving something far greaterthan myself.
And everybody, regardless ofyour religious affiliation or
(06:26):
whether you have one or not,needs to understand that we
should be motivated by a higherpurpose or set of values or
something that is greater thanourselves.
SPEAKER_01 (06:36):
I agree with the uh context that definitely higher
value.
And I think when when as I'mwriting my own book here, I'm
thinking, do I do I make itspecifically like, hey, I not so
much it should be Christian, butI take that foundations of just
kindness, love, things likethis.
And and to me, that's just kindof applies everywhere.
So I applaud that you were like,hey, I'm I'm non unapologetic
(06:57):
about it.
I'm trying to figure it out.
So I always ask people thesequestions of how they kind of
deal with that piece, but foryours, it's specifically, you're
right, you're tying it back to afoundation and that was
definitely around Christ.
It was a Christian-based piecethat accepted every other
religion.
That's the other thing with it.
So that's that's the amazing uhversion of Christianity that the
United States came came with.
Because I don't think that wasalways everywhere.
SPEAKER_00 (07:19):
No, in fact, it certainly wasn't.
And the idea that our religiousbeliefs as Christians created a
nation that respected andprovided dignity to everybody,
whoever you were, and whateveryou believed.
And I think that is somethingthat is extra special about this
great nation.
And I'm excited that some ofthat comes out in this book in
(07:40):
God I Trust.
SPEAKER_01 (07:41):
I mean, if you if just to dive into a little, so
if you look at the teachings ofJesus, right?
You were supposed to, you know,make a plate for your enemy and
wash feet.
And if you look at otherreligions as an enemy, then
you're supposed to act asChrist, and then that's great.
So accept it and and help, youknow, which is interesting
because you're in the military.
So how do you get a crack?
We'll go down that route.
How you like, you know, I'mgonna blow these guys up.
Now I love them.
SPEAKER_00 (08:02):
I'm afraid now, now I will tell you there's an
interesting nuance here, and Iwould uh encourage your
listeners to read Matthew 5, 44.
Uh, it's a verse that tells usthat for our enemies, we should
do four things.
We should love them, pray forthem, do good to them, and bless
them.
(08:22):
And I actually got very publiclyattacked for my faith in 2018,
right after I pinned on One StarGeneral.
And this particular individualthat published in Newsweek and
made a big deal out of a smallministry that I had, encouraging
Christians to pray for ournation and our leaders.
But the thing that God impressedupon my heart the first day
after this very public attackwas that this individual, even
(08:46):
though he may hate me, I need toactively pray for.
And in fact, this morning, as apart of my daily prayer list, I
pray for that individual byname.
And I did so this morningbecause it's part of the command
that we are given in that verse,Matthew 5, 44.
SPEAKER_01 (09:01):
That's impressive.
I will I will give it to you.
Not everyone's going to takethat route in life for sure.
But I think, I think, you know,as part of your book, are you
taking some of the history as itties to is the through line the
biblical ties and the historycomponents that maybe have been
lost because of just modern-daysociety not wanting to talk
about those things?
Or tell me about that.
(09:22):
Tell me how you may actuallydifferently asked, how does the
history tie to that throughline?
SPEAKER_00 (09:26):
Yeah, and and I'm excited because I wrote it as a
co-author with my pastor.
And so I am uniquely qualifiedto talk about some of these
patriotic elements of UShistory.
And he is certainly qualified totalk about the spiritual
application of those broaderprinciples.
But maybe just one story that Ithink people don't know about,
(09:48):
which was something thathappened on July 4th, 1776, in
addition to signing theDeclaration of Independence,
that the first ContinentalCongress established a
three-person committee to createour first national seal.
And those three people wereThomas Jefferson, Benjamin
Franklin, and John Adams.
(10:09):
And they independently wentabout their design of our
national seal.
And Thomas Jefferson andBenjamin Franklin, as recorded
in Adams' letters to his wife,created signals or signs as a
part of the motto that wereequivalent to the Israelites
escaping captivity in Egypt.
And they were following thepillar of cloud by day and the
(10:31):
pillar of fire by night, andthey had gotten across the Red
Sea.
And I love the idea that ourfounders, even those that
sometimes we consider secular ormore secular, like Jefferson and
Franklin, understood the Biblewell enough to see that our
nation was an analog toIsraelites escaping from slavery
(10:52):
and making their way to thepromised land.
And our promised land isliberty.
And I love the idea that on July4th, 1776, our founders had the
vision that we were in some waysequivalent to God's promise to
the Israelites that if we followhis pillar of cloud by day and
fire by night, we'll findourselves in the promised land.
SPEAKER_01 (11:18):
I look back on those times and I'd be like, man, they
got a lot of stuff done for nothaving a lot of attack.
Like, you know, if you need tosend a message to somebody that
was on a horse, took a few days,hopefully it got there, anybody
read it.
I don't know.
And you know, you look at whatthey did and accomplished in a
lifetime.
It is it it's mind blowing,really, to me.
It's because it's like becauseit seems like, okay, yeah, I can
(11:38):
see that today because peoplecan communicate and talk through
it.
But I feel like they moved withsuch swift, like uh like
resolve.
Like this is what we're doing.
Like do you do you do you have ahistory or anything on that that
talks about how they did it?
I mean, I feel like they madedecisions that would take uh 20
terms to do right now.
SPEAKER_00 (11:55):
I think that they were more deliberate and
intentional about not beingdistracted, or maybe the
environment helped them becausewe didn't have distractions like
phones in our pockets, or theydidn't.
And one of the things that maybewas most telling along those
lines, Thomas, was that when Iwas deployed for 14 months to
Iraq, I got a copy of um theletters between John and Abigail
(12:18):
Adams for my wife to read.
And I read the same book while Iwas deployed.
And people don't know that JohnAdams was away from his wife,
separated from his wife for nineof the 27 years surrounding our
nation's independence, including44 months at one time.
All they had was letters.
They didn't have texts, theydidn't have emails, they didn't
(12:40):
have FaceTime, they didn't haveZoom.
They had to sit down and thinkabout how I am going to sustain
this relationship by the writtenword.
And those letters arefascinating.
But I think they were so focusedbecause they didn't have the
distractions that now havecaused us to try to do
everything at once and we'rereally doing nothing well.
(13:03):
And I love that those lettersare a great revelation of when
you focus and when something isimportant to you, then you
actually get far more done thanwhen you're trying to juggle a
whole bunch of things anddistractions weigh in.
SPEAKER_01 (13:16):
That that's so pointed.
And I think if uh, you know, Itry to tie by the ideas of
success itself.
If you want to be successful,you know, you got to think in
that term.
Like you only have so much inkin this quill and this pen and
this little and that candle isonly so tall for me to ride
tonight.
Yep.
I gotta make use of that timeand that amount of resources I
have today and and and repeat.
(13:36):
So, and I I think there was alsoa bigger draw to legacy back
then, too.
I think people really,especially people of power,
really wanted to be known andremembered by something more so
than ever.
Uh, does that come out at all inthe history as well, that this
this need to be the guy that didthis or this woman who did that?
SPEAKER_00 (13:54):
I think that just the fact that James Madison in
the Constitutional Conventiondecided all on his own to take
notes during the entirety of theContinental Convention, uh the
Constitutional Convention, notbecause they needed real-time
his notes.
There was a scribe that wastracking what was going on, but
he wanted to capture theenvironment or the culture.
(14:17):
And he actually says in hispostscript to those notes that
he has published that he's doingthis because this is going to be
a telling monument for the restof human history to what it
looks like to diligently strivetowards liberty and ordering a
country and a government aroundthose thoughts.
(14:38):
And so certainly just the naturethat he took those notes is an
indication that he understoodthe power of legacy.
But going back a little bit tosomething you started that
question with, Thomas, is thatthe most egalitarian thing is
that we've all got the exactsame amount of time.
And the difference between maybesuccess or not quite being
(14:59):
successful enough is that youuse the time you have to
accomplish the things thatyou're supposed to accomplish.
Herb Keller was the founder andpresident of Southwest Airlines,
and I fly a lot on business tospeak, and I tend to fly
Southwest a lot, but he saidthat you can tell what someone's
real priorities are by lookingat two things, their calendar
(15:22):
and their checkbook.
Don't look at what they saytheir priorities are.
Don't look at a missionstatement on a wall.
Look at how they spend theirmost valuable resources of time
first and money second.
And by doing so, you can reallytell what someone's priorities
are.
And you and I can say mypriority in 2026 is to do X.
(15:42):
But unless we're intentionallyinvesting our time and our
resources to doing it, then it'snot really our priority.
And I love the idea that you cantell someone's priorities by
looking at two things, theircalendar and their checkbook.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
Uh, and if I actually looked at that, it
doesn't look like I'm verybogused on it.
SPEAKER_00 (15:58):
Uh, me neither.
It it's a girl or boy.
Yep.
Yep.
And I think having feedbackloops in our life where we
self-assess, not just annually,not just at resolution time, but
maybe every two weeks or everymonth.
And we say, this is what I thinkmy priorities are or what I've
said they are.
How am I doing in spending mytime and my financial resources
(16:19):
into accomplishing the thingsthat are important?
And that gives you a chance tocorrect so you can get back on
the right path, maybe toaccomplishing things like our
forefathers did 250 years ago.
SPEAKER_01 (16:29):
You know, and it uh that's that's fantastic advice
because at any point you cankind of start over.
And so right now you need tospend the money on this or start
spending it on that.
You can start using your time,you know, more effectively and
efficiently instead of Netflix,you go read a book on something
that helps you advance the nextthing or whatever it will be.
Uh or spending it.
SPEAKER_00 (16:48):
Let me give a recommendation on that, Thomas,
if you don't mind.
I served for 28 years in the AirForce.
I was a fighter pilot.
I love flying F-15Es and F-22s.
But the last time that anAmerican military member was
killed on the ground by a mannedadversary from the air was April
15th, 1953, 72 years, coming upon 73 years ago.
(17:14):
And people wonder why.
How have we been so dominant inthe air domain for the last 73
years?
And is it the great planes thatwe fly?
Well, maybe in part.
Is it people that are reallygood pilots that we train well?
Maybe in part.
But every single sortie, Thomas,I have ever flown, we start with
a brief.
These are the objectives of themission, whether training, test,
(17:35):
or combat.
Here's how we're going toaccomplish it.
Then we go out and execute.
And at the end of the mission,we come back in that same room
and we look at what were ourobjectives?
How did we do when we fellshort?
What was the root cause?
And how can we do better and setup processes or procedures or
communicate better so that wedon't see those shortcomings
(17:59):
that erode our elements ofobjectives the next time we go
out?
That process sometimes lasts aslong as you fly, sometimes two
times as long, sometimes threetimes as long, sometimes four
times as long.
The reason we are so dominant asan Air Force or in the air is in
part good planes and in partgood pilots, but it is having
this relentless feedback loopwhere we brief to objectives, we
(18:22):
execute, and every single timewe go back and assess and we try
to get to root causedispassionately.
And I love that idea for us ashuman beings in our businesses,
in our teams, with our families,have a process where you go back
and do an after action or a hotwash or a debrief.
Hold yourself accountable toyour stated objectives and get
(18:44):
to root cause when you fallshort.
SPEAKER_01 (18:46):
You speak to an unspoken piece there, which is
leadership of the objectiveitself and the actual
attainability of it.
Uh and given the resources andconstraints of where you are at
the time of technology timetraining.
How important though is thatleadership of is that even
possible?
So it's like because yes, youguys spell short, but like we
just flew faster and did thismore than any.
(19:07):
You could have broken everyrecord in the world, but if you
didn't get the objective done,because it was just truly not
attainable.
SPEAKER_00 (19:13):
Yeah, and I think maybe in a good debrief, you
would assess not just how youdid against the objective, but
the objective itself.
You know, some people say thedifference between leadership
and management is leaders do theright things and managers just
do things right.
Meaning you focus as a leader onwhat should I be spending my
(19:35):
time or my organization's timeand money on instead of
micromanaging how did I doagainst a particular written
metric or objective?
There are people that can bereally efficient headed in the
wrong direction.
We need to first be headed inthe right direction and then do
our best to get there.
And if that right direction isunattainable, then maybe there
(19:56):
are stepping stones that we needto first say are our near-term
objectives that we need toachieve first before we do
something more grandiose thatright now seems unachievable.
SPEAKER_01 (20:08):
You know, uh I define success as this idea of
it's a it's not uh destination,it's a direction.
So it's it's a way you go.
And you know, I try to bring inthe different lenses beyond just
finances.
And I've talked about this withwellness and and and
relationships and uh, you know,finances are important,
obviously too and faith.
You know, what I find when I'mnot feeling successful, one or
(20:29):
more of those is completelylacked, missing, or disregarded.
In your own life, have you foundat times that you're like, I'm
really I've let this go.
I why am I doing it?
Like you feel like a set, likethere's something off and you
know what it is, and then youjust take a step, you do one of
your debrief kind of ideas.
Have you ever had that in yourlife?
Because you've been verysuccessful, but you've had, you
know, uh leaders eat last,right?
(20:51):
So so tell me about that alittle bit where maybe you've
realized that and what you didabout it.
SPEAKER_00 (20:55):
Yeah, Thomas, back in 2006, I was ending my first
assignment as a test pilot inthe F-22.
I was a brand new dad.
We had two babies at home.
We were flying six days a weekbecause we were behind in
creating the F-22 into thecapability that was
operationally capable.
And I would get to the end of aday or a week or a month, and
(21:17):
I'd look back and say, wow, Iwas really busy, but what did I
accomplish?
And I hated that feeling.
And so I created some structuresin my own life where now I
create, I looked at universallywhat are the priority areas of
my life.
I set annual goals to fulfillthose priority areas.
And then every two weeks or so,I sit down uninterrupted and I
(21:42):
look back and say, how am Idoing against my annual
priorities and goals?
I also set two week goals.
How am I doing against those?
And what do I need to adjust forthe next two week period of time
so I can do a better job?
And I think as I list out mypriority areas.
Which are faith, family,friends, country, career,
(22:05):
ministry opportunities, andmiscellaneous relationships.
I realize at the end of thosetwo weeks when I self-assess, I
never have nailed it.
I'm never perfectly aligned tothose priority areas and
achieving the goals within thosepriority areas.
But I'm far better aligned thanif I didn't have the feedback
loop.
And this every two-week period,actually, it's on my calendar
(22:28):
now for the next one.
I just did my previous one, the26th of January.
I will sit down for two hoursand I'll assess.
And it's important that we havethat feedback loop.
And that helps me overcome thatproblem I noticed in my life in
2006.
And it allows me to regularlycorrect every couple of weeks so
that I'm doing things better andbetter things in the next period
(22:50):
of time than I did in theprevious period of time.
SPEAKER_01 (22:54):
And you're um you have a fundamental thing.
I'll go back to the verybeginning of energy here because
you said something of, hey, youshould do what you're putting
this earth to do and do itpretty much relentlessly.
I'm maybe summarizing up.
Help the person who's going,yes, but what is it am I on this
earth to do?
SPEAKER_00 (23:11):
Yeah, so so I appreciate that.
And you know, as a dad, one ofmy desires is how do I help my
kids figure out the answer tothat question?
Part of it, the spiritual partis pray about it.
But a part of it is, at leastwith my kids, how do I expose
them to enough opportunities sowe can figure out where there's
(23:32):
a convergence on what are theygood at, what do they like
doing, what do they seethemselves sustainably doing for
a long period of time, and wheredo they feel the Lord directing
them?
And I think at some point,hopefully they now are all in
college or out of college, theyhave figured a part of that out.
But part of it is I don't knowwhat I want to do when I grow
(23:54):
up, Thomas.
And so I continually assess, allright, what am I good at?
What do I like?
What do I see myself sustainablydoing?
And where do I see the Lorddirecting me?
And I think if we think aboutthose things and pray about them
and ask mentors to talk to usabout them, then we're better
able to figure out what is mypurpose.
(24:15):
So then I can relentlesslypursue that thing that I'm
supposed to be pursuing becauseit is because it is my purpose.
SPEAKER_01 (24:21):
One of the ideas that I I kind of share with
people, I get vast this questiontoo, and I love how you answered
it, because it it it it's itrelates to.
So if you don't know what to godo, and if you think, okay, if I
if you head in a direction,what's gonna hold you back?
And you and you list, okay,those don't do anymore.
Or you, you know, if forexample, I don't have enough
money, if I had all the money inthe world, I would just answer
(24:42):
that question.
Uh-huh.
And then because that's tellingyou where your light really is.
That tells you really thedirection you want to travel,
but you're being dragged orpulled some other direction.
And if you say, I if I had allthe money, I don't know what I
would do, then you may beleaning towards once you
discover faith a little bit, itseems like you have no bigger
purpose.
Uh what do you like people to dofor you?
And like, and so the idea is ifyou don't know, even with no
(25:05):
obstacles in place, uh, thattells you there's probably a
part of you that's missing abigger purpose.
And and I guess this idea of offor me with these ideas of cut
the ties is as you start movingin direction, the these unseen
ties start revealing themselves.
They start pulling you like,well, this person in my life,
this person I'm married to ordating, or or this parent,
they're whole they they won'tlet me go.
(25:26):
Those are the hard decisions youmight have to make in life to
go.
And and and that's that's likeso so the question to you is on
the hard ones, have you run intoa few of those that you're like,
I love this person or I lovethis thing, or I have to let it
go?
SPEAKER_00 (25:41):
Yeah, I think that I have been pretty good throughout
my life, Thomas, especiallybecause as a 17-year-old, I
jumped into the military doingROTC, that I had that structure
for the better part of theentirety of my adult life.
SPEAKER_01 (25:55):
Let me interrupt you, but do it this way that
have you managed or led somebodythat you had to get them through
that?
SPEAKER_00 (26:02):
Yeah, yeah.
So, so one of the things I lovetalking to people about is when
they're trying to figure outwhat is it that they're supposed
to do, or how do I structure mylife now so it best propagates
this ability to achieve apurpose, that I tell them to be
tactically content, butstrategically restless.
(26:23):
In fact, that came from anastronaut friend of mine, not
that phrase, but when I wasstruggling a little bit with
what am I supposed to do with mylife and how do I structure my
life appropriately, kind of as acaptain in the Air Force, he
directed me to Psalm 119-105.
Thy word shall be a lamp undermy feet and a light under my
path.
And the idea is you have a fuzzyidea of where you're supposed to
(26:45):
go in the future, but you have aspotlight on what it is that
you're supposed to do now,whatever it is that you've been
placed here to do, that I'm in ajob or I'm a student, or I'm a
dad, or I'm a church member.
There's a spotlight right there.
Don't sacrifice the opportunitytoday to make an impact because
(27:06):
you're always looking somewheredown the road in the future.
You don't know what the futureis gonna hold.
There's a lot of zigs and zagsin life between me being here
now and maybe the ultimate dreamor desire.
And that dream or desire isnever gonna come to fruition if
I don't relentlessly focus onbeing an expert and being a good
(27:28):
human being today at what I'msupposed to do.
And so the times that I thinkpeople get distracted or they're
following a really goodlong-range goal, but they're so
focused on that that they missout on the opportunity for
impact now and the doors neveropen because they're never the
one that people trust to do thething right now.
And that's one of the thingsthat I think I focus on most
(27:48):
when I mentor people is to betactically content.
Do what it is that you'resupposed to do today, and a
little bit of strategicrestlessness will help you make
sure that you're generallyvectored towards the right
position in the future.
unknown (28:01):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (28:02):
The metaphor I give of people that is if you're
driving on a trip, yourelentlessly stare at the map,
you wreck.
Yes.
If you relentlessly stare in therearview mirror, you wreck.
I love that.
Yep.
Just stay in the road, look alittle ahead, have a good old
general accession of whereyou've been, where you're gonna
go, and we may have to make anexit.
SPEAKER_00 (28:18):
So yes.
And while you do that, and thiswas a chief master sergeant that
gave me this greatrecommendation is make sure that
you put your mask on first.
Here's what I mean by that.
You travel on an airplane, maybethat Southwest Airline flight
that I was telling earlier.
Oh, you're out there, prettyunited.
Like you produce fly on theballot, Spirit Frontier.
I mean, I don't know.
(28:38):
But say you lose oxygen andpressurization in the cabin,
you're told to put your mask onfirst.
And here's why.
Because if you start trying tohelp other people, you're gonna
quickly become incapacitated andyou're not gonna be a help to
yourself or anyone else.
In fact, you'll be a burden toother people.
While we are pursuing ourpurpose, we need to make sure
we're doing those things in ourlives that put our own mask on
(29:02):
first so that we can help otherpeople because we're living our
lives sustainably and we're notbecoming a burden to others.
We're actually relieving theirburdens because we've taken care
of ourselves first.
SPEAKER_01 (29:13):
Correct.
That all works.
All right.
What is it today you're moststruggling with?
SPEAKER_00 (29:20):
Wow.
I will say that three years agoI retired from the Air Force.
I did so because I firmlybelieve there's something
greater I can do in my life'spurpose to maximize my impact on
people in our nation than I didin uniform.
And I think as I as I am makingan impact today, I'm tactically
content that I think sometimes Iget a little bit restless of the
(29:44):
what does God want me to donext?
Or should I run for governor?
Should I run for the next Senateseat?
Or am I waiting on an appointedposition?
I don't know the answer to allof those things.
But sometimes, Thomas, mychallenge today is that I get a
little too restless.
And that means that sometimesI'm not making the best possible
impact that I should be makingtoday.
SPEAKER_01 (30:06):
It's because you've now you've lost the structure,
but the structure of a lot ofthe time of your day has been
pivoted.
And now you're in this worldthat we all live in of just
madness.
SPEAKER_00 (30:17):
Yeah, but there's there's no real constraints,
right?
I mean, we used to say in themilitary, you've got constraints
day to day, but you also aretold the next time it's time to
move.
Now we know that we're gonnamove to X location and we're
gonna have movers that move usthere.
And now we don't have thoseconstraints.
I've got a wife that has anincredible job as a chemistry
professor at the Naval Academyhere in Annapolis.
(30:38):
So we have that structure.
But for me, I really cannot waituntil I see the manifestation of
what it is I'm supposed to dobig next.
Uh, but I need to make sure thatI don't sacrifice the here and
now as I wait and prepare forthat opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (30:54):
That's awesome.
John, thank you so much forcoming on.
Uh let everybody know who do youwant to get a hold of you and
how do you want them to do thatfor this year?
SPEAKER_00 (31:01):
Yeah, Thomas, I have a website, johntickert.com, all
one word.
I know you'll put it in the shownotes.
There's a free newsletter onthere, and I encourage your
listeners to sign up for.
Like I said, I do a lot ofkeynote speaking on those
topics (31:14):
leadership, innovation, national security, international
affairs, and advancedtechnology.
If there's ever anything I cando for someone out there, then
please have them reach outdirectly.
And I love being on your show,Thomas.
Thanks for having me on andhelping me learn in my life how
to cut the tie.
SPEAKER_01 (31:30):
I appreciate having you.
And listen, every and everybodywho's still listening at this
point, uh, definitely check outum his website.
I got it up over here.
Um, I'll be joining thenewsletter here shortly.
Thank you for letting me knowthat was available.
And uh listen, get out there,go, go figure out the direction
of success you want to be in.
If you if you're listening tothe show, you have an idea that
you want to be successful, butsomething's off.
Think of the areas of faith andfamily or or or your your
(31:52):
relationships and in yourfinances and also in just your
health, wellness, and figure outwhat is kind of missing.
And I bet that's an idea ofwhere you could start cutting
ties and getting your uh idea ofsuccess in order, because the
more successes you find in thoseare categories, the clearer it
becomes, I think, of where youneed to go.
I think that that that createsthe the space you need.
And John, you've definitelynailed it out.
(32:12):
But thank you again so much foruh for being on today.
SPEAKER_00 (32:15):
Thomas, keep having me back.
I love being on.
All right, cheers.
Have a great one.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Get out there, cut a tie.
Welcome to Cut the Tie.
It's 2026, and I'm excited tohave my first guest of the year,
a repeat offender, John Tiger,John the Dragon Tiger.
And he's going to reintroducehimself.
But we're going to open up theyear here with the new format,
the new style for Cut the Tie onyour success.
And the idea is we're going tobe exploring how people are
successful and success beyondfinances.
(00:22):
You know, where we're going tolook at faith.
We're going to look at how therelationships and wellness.
Because for you to truly besuccessful, what over a thousand
interviews has shown me that thepeople who are truly successful
have almost all four of thosegoing in some fashion, in some
direction.
And they don't look at theirsuccess as a destination.
They look at it as a way they'regoing.
And every step is a successtowards that direction.
(00:43):
So, John, uh, welcome back tothe show.
You rock, man.
I appreciate you giving me yourtime.
I know, you know, as a as aformer, former person running
from Senate, I'll take anybodywho uh I'll take all the losers
from Senate.
I'll tell you that.
SPEAKER_00 (00:54):
Like, well, I am a loser, but maybe the chief
loser, and I love being on yourshow.
We had a blast the first timearound, and thanks for inviting
me back.
SPEAKER_01 (01:02):
I appreciate it.
So uh for those who didn't maybecatch the first one or don't
know you, uh introduce yourself,your creds, you know, just brag
away.
SPEAKER_00 (01:10):
No, got it.
So I grew up, I was a fighterpilot in the United States Air
Force, flying F-15Es in combat.
I became a test pilot,specifically an F-22 test pilot.
And then my last fourassignments in the military, I
commanded the president'sairfield outside of Washington,
D.C.
That's Joint Base Andrews.
I commanded Edwards Air ForceBase, which is a place that I
(01:31):
call the center of the aerospacetesting universe.
It's where Chuck Yeager brokethe sound barrier in 1947, and
it's been at the nexus of everyaerospace first since then.
I was our nation's seniordefense official in Iraq,
deployed for 14 months duringCOVID.
And then I ran internationalaffairs for the Air Force and
the Space Force.
I retired from the militarythree years ago because I firmly
(01:51):
believe that there's somethingmore impactful I can do for my
country by being out thanstaying in.
And right now I do a lot ofkeynote speaking, a lot of
writing, a lot of nationalsecurity interviews on place
like Fox News and a little bitof consulting, all revolving
around national security,international affairs,
leadership, innovation, oradvanced technology.
SPEAKER_01 (02:12):
And it's amazing, career.
And in uh I've said this before.
Anybody who has a call sign ofthe dragon has done something
pretty damn cool because theydon't they don't hand out the
cool ones to anybody.
SPEAKER_00 (02:21):
Well, so I don't know.
I got really lucky in mysquadron in 1998.
It's where I got my call sign.
They tried to give cool soundingnames based on something stupid
you did.
And so mine is a really coolsounding name, but it's based on
something stupid.
And all I will tell you is thatit has to do with Zirgo Spain
and nuclear weapons, and I'llleave it at that.
SPEAKER_01 (02:41):
That's gonna be a headline for one of the posts
for sure.
Some guy nuclear weapons andwhat he blew up.
What?
It has to be fire involved,people.
I mean, there's the only way,unless it's gold, different kind
of dragon, or Lord of the Rings.
But anyway, we'll we'll checkthat for now.
Um, your new focus, or not newfocus, but something you've
really become really active andpassionate about is is this idea
(03:02):
of in God we trust, this idea offaith, and as not just a
national kind of cliche, but aslike an everyday American belief
system that you deliver.
Is I know I'm probably wayshortening that, but this is
where you're going in 2026, howyou're defining success on that
path of faith, relationships,and you're gonna make money on
it.
So it ties it kind of alltogether.
(03:22):
Is tell me about this a littlebit, what you're doing with it.
SPEAKER_00 (03:25):
Yeah, well, Thomas, first of all, I think that
everyone should define successby doing what you're designed or
supposed to do, and doing sorelentlessly, pursue it without
holding back.
And so right now I feel like asI balance my life in a variety
of ways, that the first bigproject for this year, something
(03:45):
that we've been working on now,my pastor and I in Washington,
D.C.
for the last several months, ispublishing this book for our
nation's 250th birthday.
This is our nation's 250thbirthday, and we're excited
about that.
And in about a month, we arepublishing a book that's
entitled, In God I Trust, makingour national motto my personal
(04:07):
declaration.
And so it's going to be acombination American history
book because there's a lot ofAmerican history that gets lost
somewhere and that Americansneed to know about.
But also, how do we make surethat we as individuals are
trusting our Lord and God likeour nation was founded on based
on our principles?
(04:28):
And I'm excited to see that workroll out and how that makes an
impact as a birthday presentback to the citizens of this
great nation during thisimportant 250th year.
SPEAKER_01 (04:38):
You know, when people hear these ideas of God
or faith or whatever else, andyou know, as I'm writing a book
in the chapter, I struggle withdo I just make it a Christian
book or do I say, hey, faith isjust a higher power, something
bigger you believe in?
Likely, you know, my opinion,we're probably all praying to
some same God.
But the the idea is how do youapproach that uh the idea of God
in the in in in the stroke ofevery American?
SPEAKER_00 (05:01):
So, Thomas, I don't mind that this is an explicitly
Christian book.
The worldview of our founderswas biblically based.
And so we don't mind or shy awayfrom the fact that this is
fundamentally a book about theChristian foundation of this
nation, which is trusting in Godand how we should apply that as
Christians in our own life.
(05:22):
But I do think that there's aninteresting nuance here.
And one of the four pillars ofresilience in the United States
Air Force is a spiritual pillarof resilience.
In fact, I think I can name allfour of them.
It is physical, social,spiritual, and mental.
And the idea is that if youshore up every one of those four
areas, then now you're on asolid foundation so you can be
(05:45):
resilient when the challengescome your way.
But that spiritual pillar ofresilience isn't necessarily
explicitly religious.
The idea is that everybody needsto have a higher purpose.
There needs to be somethinggreater than yourself that you
are here to serve.
In part in the military, that'seasy.
(06:05):
It's important and defend theConstitution of the United
States and our great nation.
But I think spiritual, in myparticular case, certainly
revolves around my belief inChrist.
But I think in general, it helpsme understand that I am here
serving something far greaterthan myself.
And everybody, regardless ofyour religious affiliation or
(06:26):
whether you have one or not,needs to understand that we
should be motivated by a higherpurpose or set of values or
something that is greater thanourselves.
SPEAKER_01 (06:36):
I agree with the uh context that definitely higher
value.
And I think when when as I'mwriting my own book here, I'm
thinking, do I do I make itspecifically like, hey, I not so
much it should be Christian, butI take that foundations of just
kindness, love, things likethis.
And and to me, that's just kindof applies everywhere.
So I applaud that you were like,hey, I'm I'm non unapologetic
(06:57):
about it.
I'm trying to figure it out.
So I always ask people thesequestions of how they kind of
deal with that piece, but foryours, it's specifically, you're
right, you're tying it back to afoundation and that was
definitely around Christ.
It was a Christian-based piecethat accepted every other
religion.
That's the other thing with it.
So that's that's the amazing uhversion of Christianity that the
United States came came with.
Because I don't think that wasalways everywhere.
SPEAKER_00 (07:19):
No, in fact, it certainly wasn't.
And the idea that our religiousbeliefs as Christians created a
nation that respected andprovided dignity to everybody,
whoever you were, and whateveryou believed.
And I think that is somethingthat is extra special about this
great nation.
And I'm excited that some ofthat comes out in this book in
(07:40):
God I Trust.
SPEAKER_01 (07:41):
I mean, if you if just to dive into a little, so
if you look at the teachings ofJesus, right?
You were supposed to, you know,make a plate for your enemy and
wash feet.
And if you look at otherreligions as an enemy, then
you're supposed to act asChrist, and then that's great.
So accept it and and help, youknow, which is interesting
because you're in the military.
So how do you get a crack?
We'll go down that route.
How you like, you know, I'mgonna blow these guys up.
Now I love them.
SPEAKER_00 (08:02):
I'm afraid now, now I will tell you there's an
interesting nuance here, and Iwould uh encourage your
listeners to read Matthew 5, 44.
Uh, it's a verse that tells usthat for our enemies, we should
do four things.
We should love them, pray forthem, do good to them, and bless
them.
(08:22):
And I actually got very publiclyattacked for my faith in 2018,
right after I pinned on One StarGeneral.
And this particular individualthat published in Newsweek and
made a big deal out of a smallministry that I had, encouraging
Christians to pray for ournation and our leaders.
But the thing that God impressedupon my heart the first day
after this very public attackwas that this individual, even
(08:46):
though he may hate me, I need toactively pray for.
And in fact, this morning, as apart of my daily prayer list, I
pray for that individual byname.
And I did so this morningbecause it's part of the command
that we are given in that verse,Matthew 5, 44.
SPEAKER_01 (09:01):
That's impressive.
I will I will give it to you.
Not everyone's going to takethat route in life for sure.
But I think, I think, you know,as part of your book, are you
taking some of the history as itties to is the through line the
biblical ties and the historycomponents that maybe have been
lost because of just modern-daysociety not wanting to talk
about those things?
Or tell me about that.
(09:22):
Tell me how you may actuallydifferently asked, how does the
history tie to that throughline?
SPEAKER_00 (09:26):
Yeah, and and I'm excited because I wrote it as a
co-author with my pastor.
And so I am uniquely qualifiedto talk about some of these
patriotic elements of UShistory.
And he is certainly qualified totalk about the spiritual
application of those broaderprinciples.
But maybe just one story that Ithink people don't know about,
(09:48):
which was something thathappened on July 4th, 1776, in
addition to signing theDeclaration of Independence,
that the first ContinentalCongress established a
three-person committee to createour first national seal.
And those three people wereThomas Jefferson, Benjamin
Franklin, and John Adams.
(10:09):
And they independently wentabout their design of our
national seal.
And Thomas Jefferson andBenjamin Franklin, as recorded
in Adams' letters to his wife,created signals or signs as a
part of the motto that wereequivalent to the Israelites
escaping captivity in Egypt.
And they were following thepillar of cloud by day and the
(10:31):
pillar of fire by night, andthey had gotten across the Red
Sea.
And I love the idea that ourfounders, even those that
sometimes we consider secular ormore secular, like Jefferson and
Franklin, understood the Biblewell enough to see that our
nation was an analog toIsraelites escaping from slavery
(10:52):
and making their way to thepromised land.
And our promised land isliberty.
And I love the idea that on July4th, 1776, our founders had the
vision that we were in some waysequivalent to God's promise to
the Israelites that if we followhis pillar of cloud by day and
fire by night, we'll findourselves in the promised land.
SPEAKER_01 (11:18):
I look back on those times and I'd be like, man, they
got a lot of stuff done for nothaving a lot of attack.
Like, you know, if you need tosend a message to somebody that
was on a horse, took a few days,hopefully it got there, anybody
read it.
I don't know.
And you know, you look at whatthey did and accomplished in a
lifetime.
It is it it's mind blowing,really, to me.
It's because it's like becauseit seems like, okay, yeah, I can
(11:38):
see that today because peoplecan communicate and talk through
it.
But I feel like they moved withsuch swift, like uh like
resolve.
Like this is what we're doing.
Like do you do you do you have ahistory or anything on that that
talks about how they did it?
I mean, I feel like they madedecisions that would take uh 20
terms to do right now.
SPEAKER_00 (11:55):
I think that they were more deliberate and
intentional about not beingdistracted, or maybe the
environment helped them becausewe didn't have distractions like
phones in our pockets, or theydidn't.
And one of the things that maybewas most telling along those
lines, Thomas, was that when Iwas deployed for 14 months to
Iraq, I got a copy of um theletters between John and Abigail
(12:18):
Adams for my wife to read.
And I read the same book while Iwas deployed.
And people don't know that JohnAdams was away from his wife,
separated from his wife for nineof the 27 years surrounding our
nation's independence, including44 months at one time.
All they had was letters.
They didn't have texts, theydidn't have emails, they didn't
(12:40):
have FaceTime, they didn't haveZoom.
They had to sit down and thinkabout how I am going to sustain
this relationship by the writtenword.
And those letters arefascinating.
But I think they were so focusedbecause they didn't have the
distractions that now havecaused us to try to do
everything at once and we'rereally doing nothing well.
(13:03):
And I love that those lettersare a great revelation of when
you focus and when something isimportant to you, then you
actually get far more done thanwhen you're trying to juggle a
whole bunch of things anddistractions weigh in.
SPEAKER_01 (13:16):
That that's so pointed.
And I think if uh, you know, Itry to tie by the ideas of
success itself.
If you want to be successful,you know, you got to think in
that term.
Like you only have so much inkin this quill and this pen and
this little and that candle isonly so tall for me to ride
tonight.
Yep.
I gotta make use of that timeand that amount of resources I
have today and and and repeat.
(13:36):
So, and I I think there was alsoa bigger draw to legacy back
then, too.
I think people really,especially people of power,
really wanted to be known andremembered by something more so
than ever.
Uh, does that come out at all inthe history as well, that this
this need to be the guy that didthis or this woman who did that?
SPEAKER_00 (13:54):
I think that just the fact that James Madison in
the Constitutional Conventiondecided all on his own to take
notes during the entirety of theContinental Convention, uh the
Constitutional Convention, notbecause they needed real-time
his notes.
There was a scribe that wastracking what was going on, but
he wanted to capture theenvironment or the culture.
(14:17):
And he actually says in hispostscript to those notes that
he has published that he's doingthis because this is going to be
a telling monument for the restof human history to what it
looks like to diligently strivetowards liberty and ordering a
country and a government aroundthose thoughts.
(14:38):
And so certainly just the naturethat he took those notes is an
indication that he understoodthe power of legacy.
But going back a little bit tosomething you started that
question with, Thomas, is thatthe most egalitarian thing is
that we've all got the exactsame amount of time.
And the difference between maybesuccess or not quite being
(14:59):
successful enough is that youuse the time you have to
accomplish the things thatyou're supposed to accomplish.
Herb Keller was the founder andpresident of Southwest Airlines,
and I fly a lot on business tospeak, and I tend to fly
Southwest a lot, but he saidthat you can tell what someone's
real priorities are by lookingat two things, their calendar
(15:22):
and their checkbook.
Don't look at what they saytheir priorities are.
Don't look at a missionstatement on a wall.
Look at how they spend theirmost valuable resources of time
first and money second.
And by doing so, you can reallytell what someone's priorities
are.
And you and I can say mypriority in 2026 is to do X.
(15:42):
But unless we're intentionallyinvesting our time and our
resources to doing it, then it'snot really our priority.
And I love the idea that you cantell someone's priorities by
looking at two things, theircalendar and their checkbook.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
Uh, and if I actually looked at that, it
doesn't look like I'm verybogused on it.
SPEAKER_00 (15:58):
Uh, me neither.
It it's a girl or boy.
Yep.
Yep.
And I think having feedbackloops in our life where we
self-assess, not just annually,not just at resolution time, but
maybe every two weeks or everymonth.
And we say, this is what I thinkmy priorities are or what I've
said they are.
How am I doing in spending mytime and my financial resources
(16:19):
into accomplishing the thingsthat are important?
And that gives you a chance tocorrect so you can get back on
the right path, maybe toaccomplishing things like our
forefathers did 250 years ago.
SPEAKER_01 (16:29):
You know, and it uh that's that's fantastic advice
because at any point you cankind of start over.
And so right now you need tospend the money on this or start
spending it on that.
You can start using your time,you know, more effectively and
efficiently instead of Netflix,you go read a book on something
that helps you advance the nextthing or whatever it will be.
Uh or spending it.
SPEAKER_00 (16:48):
Let me give a recommendation on that, Thomas,
if you don't mind.
I served for 28 years in the AirForce.
I was a fighter pilot.
I love flying F-15Es and F-22s.
But the last time that anAmerican military member was
killed on the ground by a mannedadversary from the air was April
15th, 1953, 72 years, coming upon 73 years ago.
(17:14):
And people wonder why.
How have we been so dominant inthe air domain for the last 73
years?
And is it the great planes thatwe fly?
Well, maybe in part.
Is it people that are reallygood pilots that we train well?
Maybe in part.
But every single sortie, Thomas,I have ever flown, we start with
a brief.
These are the objectives of themission, whether training, test,
(17:35):
or combat.
Here's how we're going toaccomplish it.
Then we go out and execute.
And at the end of the mission,we come back in that same room
and we look at what were ourobjectives?
How did we do when we fellshort?
What was the root cause?
And how can we do better and setup processes or procedures or
communicate better so that wedon't see those shortcomings
(17:59):
that erode our elements ofobjectives the next time we go
out?
That process sometimes lasts aslong as you fly, sometimes two
times as long, sometimes threetimes as long, sometimes four
times as long.
The reason we are so dominant asan Air Force or in the air is in
part good planes and in partgood pilots, but it is having
this relentless feedback loopwhere we brief to objectives, we
(18:22):
execute, and every single timewe go back and assess and we try
to get to root causedispassionately.
And I love that idea for us ashuman beings in our businesses,
in our teams, with our families,have a process where you go back
and do an after action or a hotwash or a debrief.
Hold yourself accountable toyour stated objectives and get
(18:44):
to root cause when you fallshort.
SPEAKER_01 (18:46):
You speak to an unspoken piece there, which is
leadership of the objectiveitself and the actual
attainability of it.
Uh and given the resources andconstraints of where you are at
the time of technology timetraining.
How important though is thatleadership of is that even
possible?
So it's like because yes, youguys spell short, but like we
just flew faster and did thismore than any.
(19:07):
You could have broken everyrecord in the world, but if you
didn't get the objective done,because it was just truly not
attainable.
SPEAKER_00 (19:13):
Yeah, and I think maybe in a good debrief, you
would assess not just how youdid against the objective, but
the objective itself.
You know, some people say thedifference between leadership
and management is leaders do theright things and managers just
do things right.
Meaning you focus as a leader onwhat should I be spending my
(19:35):
time or my organization's timeand money on instead of
micromanaging how did I doagainst a particular written
metric or objective?
There are people that can bereally efficient headed in the
wrong direction.
We need to first be headed inthe right direction and then do
our best to get there.
And if that right direction isunattainable, then maybe there
(19:56):
are stepping stones that we needto first say are our near-term
objectives that we need toachieve first before we do
something more grandiose thatright now seems unachievable.
SPEAKER_01 (20:08):
You know, uh I define success as this idea of
it's a it's not uh destination,it's a direction.
So it's it's a way you go.
And you know, I try to bring inthe different lenses beyond just
finances.
And I've talked about this withwellness and and and
relationships and uh, you know,finances are important,
obviously too and faith.
You know, what I find when I'mnot feeling successful, one or
(20:29):
more of those is completelylacked, missing, or disregarded.
In your own life, have you foundat times that you're like, I'm
really I've let this go.
I why am I doing it?
Like you feel like a set, likethere's something off and you
know what it is, and then youjust take a step, you do one of
your debrief kind of ideas.
Have you ever had that in yourlife?
Because you've been verysuccessful, but you've had, you
know, uh leaders eat last,right?
(20:51):
So so tell me about that alittle bit where maybe you've
realized that and what you didabout it.
SPEAKER_00 (20:55):
Yeah, Thomas, back in 2006, I was ending my first
assignment as a test pilot inthe F-22.
I was a brand new dad.
We had two babies at home.
We were flying six days a weekbecause we were behind in
creating the F-22 into thecapability that was
operationally capable.
And I would get to the end of aday or a week or a month, and
(21:17):
I'd look back and say, wow, Iwas really busy, but what did I
accomplish?
And I hated that feeling.
And so I created some structuresin my own life where now I
create, I looked at universallywhat are the priority areas of
my life.
I set annual goals to fulfillthose priority areas.
And then every two weeks or so,I sit down uninterrupted and I
(21:42):
look back and say, how am Idoing against my annual
priorities and goals?
I also set two week goals.
How am I doing against those?
And what do I need to adjust forthe next two week period of time
so I can do a better job?
And I think as I list out mypriority areas.
Which are faith, family,friends, country, career,
(22:05):
ministry opportunities, andmiscellaneous relationships.
I realize at the end of thosetwo weeks when I self-assess, I
never have nailed it.
I'm never perfectly aligned tothose priority areas and
achieving the goals within thosepriority areas.
But I'm far better aligned thanif I didn't have the feedback
loop.
And this every two-week period,actually, it's on my calendar
(22:28):
now for the next one.
I just did my previous one, the26th of January.
I will sit down for two hoursand I'll assess.
And it's important that we havethat feedback loop.
And that helps me overcome thatproblem I noticed in my life in
2006.
And it allows me to regularlycorrect every couple of weeks so
that I'm doing things better andbetter things in the next period
(22:50):
of time than I did in theprevious period of time.
SPEAKER_01 (22:54):
And you're um you have a fundamental thing.
I'll go back to the verybeginning of energy here because
you said something of, hey, youshould do what you're putting
this earth to do and do itpretty much relentlessly.
I'm maybe summarizing up.
Help the person who's going,yes, but what is it am I on this
earth to do?
SPEAKER_00 (23:11):
Yeah, so so I appreciate that.
And you know, as a dad, one ofmy desires is how do I help my
kids figure out the answer tothat question?
Part of it, the spiritual partis pray about it.
But a part of it is, at leastwith my kids, how do I expose
them to enough opportunities sowe can figure out where there's
(23:32):
a convergence on what are theygood at, what do they like
doing, what do they seethemselves sustainably doing for
a long period of time, and wheredo they feel the Lord directing
them?
And I think at some point,hopefully they now are all in
college or out of college, theyhave figured a part of that out.
But part of it is I don't knowwhat I want to do when I grow
(23:54):
up, Thomas.
And so I continually assess, allright, what am I good at?
What do I like?
What do I see myself sustainablydoing?
And where do I see the Lorddirecting me?
And I think if we think aboutthose things and pray about them
and ask mentors to talk to usabout them, then we're better
able to figure out what is mypurpose.
(24:15):
So then I can relentlesslypursue that thing that I'm
supposed to be pursuing becauseit is because it is my purpose.
SPEAKER_01 (24:21):
One of the ideas that I I kind of share with
people, I get vast this questiontoo, and I love how you answered
it, because it it it it's itrelates to.
So if you don't know what to godo, and if you think, okay, if I
if you head in a direction,what's gonna hold you back?
And you and you list, okay,those don't do anymore.
Or you, you know, if forexample, I don't have enough
money, if I had all the money inthe world, I would just answer
(24:42):
that question.
Uh-huh.
And then because that's tellingyou where your light really is.
That tells you really thedirection you want to travel,
but you're being dragged orpulled some other direction.
And if you say, I if I had allthe money, I don't know what I
would do, then you may beleaning towards once you
discover faith a little bit, itseems like you have no bigger
purpose.
Uh what do you like people to dofor you?
And like, and so the idea is ifyou don't know, even with no
(25:05):
obstacles in place, uh, thattells you there's probably a
part of you that's missing abigger purpose.
And and I guess this idea of offor me with these ideas of cut
the ties is as you start movingin direction, the these unseen
ties start revealing themselves.
They start pulling you like,well, this person in my life,
this person I'm married to ordating, or or this parent,
they're whole they they won'tlet me go.
(25:26):
Those are the hard decisions youmight have to make in life to
go.
And and and that's that's likeso so the question to you is on
the hard ones, have you run intoa few of those that you're like,
I love this person or I lovethis thing, or I have to let it
go?
SPEAKER_00 (25:41):
Yeah, I think that I have been pretty good throughout
my life, Thomas, especiallybecause as a 17-year-old, I
jumped into the military doingROTC, that I had that structure
for the better part of theentirety of my adult life.
SPEAKER_01 (25:55):
Let me interrupt you, but do it this way that
have you managed or led somebodythat you had to get them through
that?
SPEAKER_00 (26:02):
Yeah, yeah.
So, so one of the things I lovetalking to people about is when
they're trying to figure outwhat is it that they're supposed
to do, or how do I structure mylife now so it best propagates
this ability to achieve apurpose, that I tell them to be
tactically content, butstrategically restless.
(26:23):
In fact, that came from anastronaut friend of mine, not
that phrase, but when I wasstruggling a little bit with
what am I supposed to do with mylife and how do I structure my
life appropriately, kind of as acaptain in the Air Force, he
directed me to Psalm 119-105.
Thy word shall be a lamp undermy feet and a light under my
path.
And the idea is you have a fuzzyidea of where you're supposed to
(26:45):
go in the future, but you have aspotlight on what it is that
you're supposed to do now,whatever it is that you've been
placed here to do, that I'm in ajob or I'm a student, or I'm a
dad, or I'm a church member.
There's a spotlight right there.
Don't sacrifice the opportunitytoday to make an impact because
(27:06):
you're always looking somewheredown the road in the future.
You don't know what the futureis gonna hold.
There's a lot of zigs and zagsin life between me being here
now and maybe the ultimate dreamor desire.
And that dream or desire isnever gonna come to fruition if
I don't relentlessly focus onbeing an expert and being a good
(27:28):
human being today at what I'msupposed to do.
And so the times that I thinkpeople get distracted or they're
following a really goodlong-range goal, but they're so
focused on that that they missout on the opportunity for
impact now and the doors neveropen because they're never the
one that people trust to do thething right now.
And that's one of the thingsthat I think I focus on most
(27:48):
when I mentor people is to betactically content.
Do what it is that you'resupposed to do today, and a
little bit of strategicrestlessness will help you make
sure that you're generallyvectored towards the right
position in the future.
unknown (28:01):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (28:02):
The metaphor I give of people that is if you're
driving on a trip, yourelentlessly stare at the map,
you wreck.
Yes.
If you relentlessly stare in therearview mirror, you wreck.
I love that.
Yep.
Just stay in the road, look alittle ahead, have a good old
general accession of whereyou've been, where you're gonna
go, and we may have to make anexit.
SPEAKER_00 (28:18):
So yes.
And while you do that, and thiswas a chief master sergeant that
gave me this greatrecommendation is make sure that
you put your mask on first.
Here's what I mean by that.
You travel on an airplane, maybethat Southwest Airline flight
that I was telling earlier.
Oh, you're out there, prettyunited.
Like you produce fly on theballot, Spirit Frontier.
I mean, I don't know.
(28:38):
But say you lose oxygen andpressurization in the cabin,
you're told to put your mask onfirst.
And here's why.
Because if you start trying tohelp other people, you're gonna
quickly become incapacitated andyou're not gonna be a help to
yourself or anyone else.
In fact, you'll be a burden toother people.
While we are pursuing ourpurpose, we need to make sure
we're doing those things in ourlives that put our own mask on
(29:02):
first so that we can help otherpeople because we're living our
lives sustainably and we're notbecoming a burden to others.
We're actually relieving theirburdens because we've taken care
of ourselves first.
SPEAKER_01 (29:13):
Correct.
That all works.
All right.
What is it today you're moststruggling with?
SPEAKER_00 (29:20):
Wow.
I will say that three years agoI retired from the Air Force.
I did so because I firmlybelieve there's something
greater I can do in my life'spurpose to maximize my impact on
people in our nation than I didin uniform.
And I think as I as I am makingan impact today, I'm tactically
content that I think sometimes Iget a little bit restless of the
(29:44):
what does God want me to donext?
Or should I run for governor?
Should I run for the next Senateseat?
Or am I waiting on an appointedposition?
I don't know the answer to allof those things.
But sometimes, Thomas, mychallenge today is that I get a
little too restless.
And that means that sometimesI'm not making the best possible
impact that I should be makingtoday.
SPEAKER_01 (30:06):
It's because you've now you've lost the structure,
but the structure of a lot ofthe time of your day has been
pivoted.
And now you're in this worldthat we all live in of just
madness.
SPEAKER_00 (30:17):
Yeah, but there's there's no real constraints,
right?
I mean, we used to say in themilitary, you've got constraints
day to day, but you also aretold the next time it's time to
move.
Now we know that we're gonnamove to X location and we're
gonna have movers that move usthere.
And now we don't have thoseconstraints.
I've got a wife that has anincredible job as a chemistry
professor at the Naval Academyhere in Annapolis.
(30:38):
So we have that structure.
But for me, I really cannot waituntil I see the manifestation of
what it is I'm supposed to dobig next.
Uh, but I need to make sure thatI don't sacrifice the here and
now as I wait and prepare forthat opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (30:54):
That's awesome.
John, thank you so much forcoming on.
Uh let everybody know who do youwant to get a hold of you and
how do you want them to do thatfor this year?
SPEAKER_00 (31:01):
Yeah, Thomas, I have a website, johntickert.com, all
one word.
I know you'll put it in the shownotes.
There's a free newsletter onthere, and I encourage your
listeners to sign up for.
Like I said, I do a lot ofkeynote speaking on those
topics (31:14):
leadership, innovation, national security, international
affairs, and advancedtechnology.
If there's ever anything I cando for someone out there, then
please have them reach outdirectly.
And I love being on your show,Thomas.
Thanks for having me on andhelping me learn in my life how
to cut the tie.
SPEAKER_01 (31:30):
I appreciate having you.
And listen, every and everybodywho's still listening at this
point, uh, definitely check outum his website.
I got it up over here.
Um, I'll be joining thenewsletter here shortly.
Thank you for letting me knowthat was available.
And uh listen, get out there,go, go figure out the direction
of success you want to be in.
If you if you're listening tothe show, you have an idea that
you want to be successful, butsomething's off.
Think of the areas of faith andfamily or or or your your
(31:52):
relationships and in yourfinances and also in just your
health, wellness, and figure outwhat is kind of missing.
And I bet that's an idea ofwhere you could start cutting
ties and getting your uh idea ofsuccess in order, because the
more successes you find in thoseare categories, the clearer it
becomes, I think, of where youneed to go.
I think that that that createsthe the space you need.
And John, you've definitelynailed it out.
(32:12):
But thank you again so much foruh for being on today.
SPEAKER_00 (32:15):
Thomas, keep having me back.
I love being on.
All right, cheers.
Have a great one.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Get out there, cut a tie.
Popular Podcasts
Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb
Joy is essential. And it's also elusive. You can't order it, borrow it, or simply hope it into life. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence: The Joy 101 Podcast with Hoda! Best known for her Emmy-winning work and co-anchoring Today, Hoda Kotb infuses her authenticity, curiosity, and warmth into conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Entertainment legends, sport icons, wellness experts, and everyday folks will share how they find, allow, and experience joy. Hoda will offer her own tips and takes on seeking a more balanced, harmonious life. If you're craving inspiration, support, and useful tools to maximize your joy, tune in to these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Joy after a breakup, joy as an empty-nester, joy after loss, joy as a caretaker — Hoda's new podcast will speak to you. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb, an iHeartPodcast.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com