From Hell Week to Healing — Diego Ugalde

💡 “What if Hell Week was a Celebration?”

Diego failed SEAL training the first time—broken bones, broken dreams, and broken expectations. But it wasn’t the end. He came back ten years later, fully transformed, and turned the infamous Hell Week into moment after moment of gratitude.

Lesson: When you reframe suffering as growth, everything changes. “I wasn’t being punished—I was being tested, transformed, and tempered.”

 

🧩 The Secret to SEAL Team Communication

Corporate leaders always ask: “Why do SEALs communicate so well?” Diego reveals it’s not just tactics—it’s intense trust, emotional regulation, and a shared mission.

But he’s honest: emotional intelligence wasn’t part of the official training. So Diego is now pioneering what he calls “human-first leadership” through The Trident Approach.

 

🎤 Warrior Side: "The Moth" Meets Navy SEALs

Diego created Warrior Side after realizing that most veterans have world-shaking stories—but no one taught them how to tell those stories in ways that heal both them and their audience.

He also says that with my help, Warrior Side isn’t just storytelling—it’s transformational storytelling. I love that Diego makes sure it’s not “wounded warrior trauma porn.” It’s courage, comedy, and catharsis.

 

📘 Leading From the Deep

Diego’s book blends SEAL insights, consciousness work, and radical honesty. It’s not “my truth.” It’s about what’s universally human: failure, perseverance, and integration.

 

“What’s true doesn’t need defending. It just is.” — Diego Ugalde

 

🎯 Want to hear this inspiring story in full?

🎧 Listen to the full episode here: 

📖 Grab Diego’s book, Leading from the Deep on Audible (he reads it!) or Amazon.

🌐 Explore Warrior Side: warriorside.org and meet Diego on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diegougalde/

💥 Host a storytelling event in your city? Let’s talk!

 

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John Bates provides 1:1 Executive Communications Coaching, both in-person and online. He also gets 92+ Net Promoter Scores for his large and small group leadership development trainings at organizations like Johnson & Johnson, NASA, Google, Intuit, Boston Scientific, and many more. Find more at https://executivespeakingsuccess.com.

Sign up for his weekly micro-trainings for free at https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings and create a great leadership communications habit that makes you the kind of leader who inspires trust, loyalty, and connection.