September 1, 2025 • 55 mins
Become a Global Ambassador for Self-Worth. Text us your feedback!
How much is your experience truly worth? It's a question that haunts anyone facing a career transition, but for military personnel, first responders, and shift workers, the challenge runs even deeper. Their professional identity has been shaped by a culture that values team over self. Don Gleason, founder of Achieve New Heights, joins us to crack the code on one of life's most challenging transitions. Drawing from his extensive military career and nine years in corporate hiring, Don reveals why so many veterans struggle to communicate their value effectively when entering the civilian workforce.
(12:01) https://porthouse.kw.com/
Feeling stuck in a job that doesn't align with your true potential? Experience the unwavering strength and transformative power of our business-focused service, designed to liberate you from the limitations of an ill-suited job that hinders your growth, extinguishes your inner fire, and robs you of the anticipation for the workday. Visit: https://achievenewheights.com/
Looking for more perspective, empowerment, and self-worth?
For a chance to hear your question answered on the air, remember to Subscribe and Leave a Voice Message at TransactingValuePodcast.com!
We'll meet you there.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Josh Porthouse (00:00):
The views expressed in this podcast are
solely those of the podcast hostand guest and do not
necessarily represent those ofour distribution partners,
supporting businessrelationships or supported
audience.
Welcome to Transacting Value,where we talk about practical
(00:22):
applications for instigatingself-worth when dealing with
each other and even withinourselves, where we foster a
podcast listening experiencethat lets you hear the power of
a value system for managingburnout, establishing boundaries
, fostering community andfinding identity.
My name is Josh Porthouse, I'myour host and we are redefining
sovereignty of character.
(00:42):
This is why values still holdvalue.
This is Transacting Value.
Don Gleason (00:49):
Typically what I'll hear military say is well, as
soon as I can get in theinterview, I can show them how I
meet the requirement, but it'sthe resume that gets you the
interview Today on TransactingValue.
Josh Porthouse (01:03):
How do you value your time, your experience or
maybe even yourself at the endof a career or at a midlife
career change, especially if youhave military experience, if
you're a first responder, ifyou're a shift worker, if you're
a student or anything inbetween, and that experience
comes with a title?
How do you put a price on it?
Sometimes you can't, but intoday's conversation we're
(01:25):
talking with Don Gleason.
He's the founder of a lifetransforming company called
Achieve New Heights and we'regoing to talk all about it how
to translate your career, yourexperience, your time and,
ultimately, find value inyourself.
I'm Josh Porthouse, I'm yourhost and from SDYT Media.
This is Transacting Value, don.
How are you doing?
I'm doing host and from SDYTMedia.
(01:45):
This is Transacting Value, donhow you doing.
Don Gleason (01:47):
I'm doing great and I appreciate the opportunity to
get together with you and talkabout this subject, because I
think it sounds like it'simportant to you and I know it's
important to me, so hopefullyit's important to the audience,
as they're listening as well.
Josh Porthouse (01:59):
It absolutely is right, and I can't speak for
everybody who's going to watchthis video or who's going to
listen to the show, but to me,specifically, unequivocally, is
it important and it's sounderrated and it's so
understated and it's soubiquitous, which is the
craziest sort of paradox I thinkyou could put into anything.
But before we get too far intothe conversation or too far
(02:20):
ahead of anybody who's jumpingin to listen and watch, I'd like
to start with you and thenwe'll roll into the conversation
here in a second.
So if you could just take thenext couple of minutes for the
sake of a baseline here and sopeople can get to know you a
little bit, who are you, whenare you from?
What sort of things are shapingyour perspective on life as it
applies to all these things?
Don Gleason (02:39):
Okay, well, there's a big, there's a big thought
there.
Um born in Michigan, raised inWisconsin, so I am a uh.
I'm a I'm a sports nut.
So right now, with the Detroitlions doing so well in this last
year, the Detroit tigers doingso well, and then I'm a Packers
fan, right.
So, um, it's kind of a kind ofon a heyday right now, two teams
going in the playoffs.
(02:59):
I'm a big sports nut, and thatcomes from back in 1972.
I started on a path.
I wanted to play in the nfl.
That's a whole nother story.
We'll get there, but it didn'tmake it, obviously.
But that led me to really beinvolved in sports, interested
in sports and and develop myself, and weight has been important
(03:20):
for me, especially since Ialmost got kicked out of OTS on
day three because of weight.
That's a whole nother story,and uh, but what really got
important to me was back in thefifth grade the first earth day
in 1970, and it inspired me toreally be involved in the
environment.
And even when I got out of theservice in 2009, what I wanted
(03:44):
to do was get back into theenvironmental field.
I really want to help cleanAmerica's waters.
Through that whole journey,though, I've really jumped into
leadership.
I love leading teams.
I love leading people.
Of course, that means I have tolead myself, so I'm constantly
improving myself, constantlygrowing and challenging myself.
So I'm constantly improvingmyself, constantly growing and
(04:05):
challenging myself so I canchallenge others.
You know, it kind of goes backto being a commander.
When somebody came in for uh,for weight, and we were to the
point of an article 15 and Imade a comment and he said, sir,
can I speak freely?
And I said sure, and he said,um, I'm having a hard time
talking to somebody about weight, somebody who's so skinny.
And I closed the paperwork andI said can I tell you my story
(04:28):
Almost getting kicked out of theservice on the third day,
having to constantly change mydiet, do all these different
things physically at the gymevery morning at five o'clock
and I'm still only about 10pounds under.
And he says I didn't know.
I said you're right, I don'ttalk about it that much.
Maybe I should.
I said but this is about meleading me so I can lead you,
(04:51):
and I have tons of stories likethat about how that has come out
in my life.
So I love the environment, Ilove being outside, I love
birdwatching now and hiking.
We were just in SouthwestHouston last week birdwatching.
We already have seen 42 speciesof birds this year, that's on
the 6th of January as we recordthis.
So we have a little competitionwe play every year amongst my
(05:13):
wife and I not each, not againsteach other, it's us against.
Time is trying to see 365 birds.
We won ahead of the number ofdays in the year, so it drives
us to get out to Arizona and toColorado and all these other
places where we see a number ofunique birds.
We're going to go to Alaskathis year so hope to see some
(05:34):
unique birds up that way.
So that's kind of who Don isEnvironmental guy, outdoors guy,
leadership guy and love helpingpeople, service.
I am a service-oriented person.
That's probably why I'm in thisbusiness Seeing a number of my
people.
I call my people my tribe right, the military.
My peers struggle with theircareer transition to the point
(05:58):
of frustration, depression,suicide.
They say it's one of the numberone ideation for suicide is
this career transition westruggle with and I'm trying to
understand it and how I can helppeople through that process.
And I'm 65, but I can't juststop working because as people
are struggling, I want to helpand I know I'm 15 years since I
(06:21):
retired from the military but Ithink a lot of that is still
pertinent and I've helped over200 and some people the last
eight years in that process.
Josh Porthouse (06:31):
What is it that you found?
Do you think to be, I guess, acorollary or or a major
corroborating factor to go tothat kind of an extreme where
career transition is literallylife or death?
Don Gleason (06:47):
I kind of take it back to in the military, we
always talk about, you know,being humble.
There's no I in team.
We don't talk about ourselves,we talk about our team.
So when it comes to the jobinterview, when it comes to the
resume, when it comes to theLinkedIn profile, we all
struggle with being able to talkabout ourselves, what we've
done, how we've solved problems,how we've achieved things.
(07:11):
And if you can't talk aboutthose things because that's what
the hiring manager wants, youstruggle with getting a job.
What I see most resumes are isa list of responsibilities.
What I see most resumes are isa list of responsibilities.
I was responsible for it.
I managed a budget of 55million.
I led 465 people Okay, thoseare good, but what did you do
(07:37):
with that?
How did you leverage yourknowledge and experience to
solve problems?
Right, when I was in Baghdad,iraq, leading the reconstruction
I could talk about, you know,started 2,000 projects, $12.8
billion program Okay, those areneat, they're big.
But what did I do?
Right?
There was one week where theboss challenged me to baseline
the program, to figure out thecosts, where we were wasting
(07:59):
money and make recommendations.
And we walked through and wesaved on a $12 billion program.
We probably saved about 1.25billion dollars in just a
five-day review, just makingsome simple tweaks.
That now is a little bitdifferent, but a lot of people
are uncomfortable talking aboutthat because it's talking about
themselves and I think that's abig piece of it the culture, the
(08:22):
value, transacting values, thevalues we created and be and
what it became impacts us.
And now being able to talkabout ourselves later.
And it's not so much bragging,it's talking the facts, it's.
This is what we did.
If you get into a lot of theback pounding, it was all me and
blah blah that goes to the nextstage, right, but if you're
(08:45):
just talking about, this is whatwe did.
Here was the challenge, you'retelling a story.
Here's the challenge, here'show we did it.
Josh Porthouse (08:57):
Here's the results.
It seems kind of simple, butvery few people do it Well.
So how does that, let's say,ability or maybe inability to
effectively and accurately tellthat kind of a story then lead
to that kind of an extreme as a,as a behavior and outcome?
Don Gleason (09:11):
So think about it.
If the recruiters, for everyjob application, get 200 resumes
and that's that's a number thatI hear tossed around a lot, 200
applications, resumes for everyjob and they quickly start
sorting through it and they takethe the uh, the job
advertisement and they take theresume and say quickly, in six
(09:31):
to eight seconds, does thisperson qualify?
And if it's not well written,if it's not targeted toward the
job ad, what you quickly say isno, we toss it aside, and
they're looking through those200 to find somebody who meets
that requirement that they cantake forward.
Typically what I'll hearmilitary say is well, as soon as
(09:53):
I can get in the interview, Ican show them how I meet the
requirement.
But it's the resume that getsyou the interview.
You have to be able to sayyou're looking for this, I have
this.
You're looking for B, I have B.
Looking for C, I have C.
But typically what I'm seeingis resumes that you have to hunt
and peck through.
(10:13):
I was talking to a gentlemanabout a month ago and I said I'm
not seeing that you're reallytargeting.
He said, well, I targeted it.
I said yeah, but I had to go topage three to find the most
important thing.
It's probably page two.
It's only a two-page resume.
You had to go to the bottom ofpage two to get to what looks
like the most important thing inthe job advertisement is your
(10:34):
skill in this.
Why don't you put that in thesummary?
Hit them right on the head withit?
When I was looking at it today,I got five years experience
working service.
Now that's what they want.
Put it right there in thesummary.
But we tend to hide it downbelow and we make this generic
summary.
So it leads to because we'renot targeting the resume,
(10:57):
because we're not reallyarticulating our value, we're
not really showing how we'vedone the things they're looking
for.
It leads to being tossed out ofthe pile.
Knowing how we've done thethings they're looking for, it
leads to being tossed out of thepile.
John Maxwell I'm on the Maxwellleadership team, certified
speaker, trainer, coach and getto use John's material number
one leadership expert in theworld, and by many some people
(11:19):
debate it, but by manyorganizations and he talks about
getting out of the people pile.
There's 200 people in thepeople pile.
There's only two ways to do itright.
You got to be able toarticulate that you have the
experience, knowledge degrees,et cetera, so that you get
separated and they quickly seeit, or somebody else has to help
(11:39):
you get out of the pile througha connection, right, that's the
whole networking piece, but yougot to get out of the pile.
I think as long as we do whateverybody else is doing, we stay
in the pile and we stayfrustrated, and when that goes
on long enough, it leads todepression.
When it goes on long enough, itleads to the wrong action.
Josh Porthouse (12:01):
Alrighty, folks, sit tight, we'll be right back
on Transacting Value.
Tampa Bay sun-kissed beaches, athriving art scene and a
community that embracesdiversity it's more than just a
place to live.
It's a lifestyle.
At Porthouse Tampa Bay Realtor,I understand that finding the
right home is about more thanjust square footage.
It's about finding the rightcharacter, culture and community
(12:24):
.
It's about finding a placewhere you can truly belong,
alongside a network ofexperienced marketers,
inspectors, realtors and lenders.
We're not just experts in theTampa Bay market.
We are your neighbors and we'repassionate about helping you
find the perfect place to callhome.
Follow along on YouTube,facebook and LinkedIn at
(12:45):
Porthouse Tampa Bay Realtor.
Porthouse Tampa Bay Realtor,where values start in the home.
Don Gleason (12:53):
I think as long as we do what everybody else is
doing, we stay in the pile andwe stay frustrated, and when
that goes on long enough, itleads to depression.
When that goes on long enough,it leads to the wrong action.
Josh Porthouse (13:08):
I think maybe there's some sort of falsity or
inauthenticity in the rewardsystem, or maybe just promotion
metric within the DoD, or maybejust promotion metric within the
DOD.
And for anybody who's new to myshow, most of my professional
career and development has beenin the Marine Corps, specific to
the infantry.
But that's where this nextpoint's coming from.
So you know, in order to getpromoted, even in relative
(13:30):
degrees of meritocracythroughout the DOD, the
Department of Defense, you haveto submit at minimum once a year
and this is almost every rankbut a report that says here's
what I've accomplished.
And it's very transactional,it's like you said, it's sort of
objectively fact-based, and theonly way that that gets
grounded is in numbers andquantity, or quantifiers over
(13:54):
qualifiers, unless they're verycolorful adjectives that are not
any sort of backstabby typenuanced meanings.
Well, in those reports, I thinka lot of this, to the point
you're making, don, is what setsus up for that kind of
expectation.
Because, well, that's all wedescribe, that's all we get used
to, and you know, say, 17 to,well, 28 years old, while our
(14:20):
brains are still forming, we'reconditioning our habits of
thought into.
This is how I articulate myworth, then, because that's what
gets me more, whateverresponsibility, money, free time
, any number of allowances orincentives in the process, a
duty station preference right,allowances or incentives in the
process, a duty stationpreference right.
(14:40):
Does that translate outside ofa resume, even maybe just in
public discourse or aconversation like this, let
alone on paper, to get us out ofthe people pile?
Or is that an inaccurate way totrain ourselves to be able to
do that?
What have you found?
Don Gleason (14:53):
So I think it definitely does have a
connection.
As we're saying, when you gothrough your career and you're
writing, like you said, theperformance report, the FITS rep
efficiency report, whatever itmight be, every service is a
little bit different, right,we're all shooting for that top
1%, 2%, 5% stratification andI've seen it way too often.
(15:16):
You've probably seen it 30% or40% of the people get that 5%
strat, unfortunately.
So we, we over inflate theperformance report.
I remember back in the earlyeighties on the uh I know it was
on the enlisted side, for sure,it was rate one through nine,
but the nine was the average,eight was marginal, seven was
(15:39):
unsatisfactory, maybe separatedout of the service with a seven,
but on a scale of one to nine,shouldn't seven be pretty darn
good, right?
So now everybody's a nine andwe start going through life
thinking that we are, we areawesome, we're great.
And when you start having thatmindset, you don't separate,
(16:00):
separate in your own mind.
Where are your challenges?
What are you growing?
What do you need to do toimprove?
Um, I remember going on, we haduh in the early 2000s.
We had a feedback process in theair force and you had to, once
a year, sit down with your boss,I think every six months sit
down with your boss, and most ofthe time what I got was doing
great job, Don keep it up.
I looked at my boss and I said,sir, I know there's things I'm
(16:24):
not doing right.
I know there's things that Ican improve on.
What would those be?
And he goes, I can't think ofany.
I said, but I didn't say this,but I wanted to say this On your
this, you know, on yourpromotion recommendation form,
to get to be a general officer,you had to have a number as a
colonel and maybe as lieutenantcolonel, you had to be set up
(16:44):
for this high rank.
Right, you become a low number?
Right, he's my number one, mynumber five, whatever.
It had to be a real low number.
I never had a number I didn'thave a low number.
I didn't have a number, so Iwasn't even close to being
considered for general officer,right, right.
But if you read everything elsein my performance, my
performance reports, you wouldthink that I am walk on water.
(17:08):
And it does relate into thecivilian sector, because we
don't put in the work at thatpoint.
We let that militaryperformance reports.
Because what do we do inresumes?
We cut and paste.
It's a cut and paste out ofperformance reports into
(17:32):
LinkedIn, out of performancereports into the resume, and
we're not really thinking intowho is the audience for this.
Because for a performance reportfit rep, whatever the audience
is the promotion board, theywant to see certain things.
For the resume, it's the hiringmanager and he has a job he
wants done, very specific, withcertain skills, certain
(17:53):
qualifications, and you have towrite to that.
So you've got to consider whoyour audience is.
Right In a media company,what's your most important thing
?
Know your audience.
What's your message, what'stheir pain point, what are they
looking to get out of this?
And if we don't consider thatin the resume, I think we'll
mess it up.
Josh Porthouse (18:21):
So you have mentioned sort of this inflated
mentality of maybe just even alack of an ability to develop
inquiry or self-awareness orinsight and critical thought
around it.
But if everybody, like you said, on this nine scale being the
high end, if everybody's a nineout of nine and that's how you'd
sort viewing well, objectivityand these types of qualifiers
got me a nine out of nine, I'mdoing pretty good how do you
(18:43):
even develop or counteract thatsort of sense of entitlement
when it's totally inflated andwrong?
I mean, what do you?
What do you do?
What are their steps?
Is there a manual or something?
Or do we just have to trial anderror through conversation with
people and fail a few timesover Because that doesn't sound
like it's going to help anydegree of depression or that
kind of a mindset either?
Don Gleason (19:03):
That's right.
So think back to what we did do.
What we came up with wascertain words we would use for
somebody who's really a top 10%or a top 20% or top 30%, and
then we started coming up with astratification top 20% or top
30%.
And then we started coming upwith a stratification.
So if you were in the top 5%,we would say in the bottom line
(19:23):
of your senior Raidersendorsement, he's in the top 5%.
Might be your Raider, it mightbe your senior Raider, but we
started putting this percentage.
So you got just use the number200 people that are all rated
nine out of nine, but nowthere's only 10 who are in that
top five percent, and those onesare eminently qualified or
something yes yeah, so we've hadto.
(19:46):
We've had to create all thesequalifiers within the document,
and that's where a lot of peoplestarted saying, oh, this is the
good old boy network.
Because you had to.
Josh Porthouse (19:56):
You had to be brown nosing doing this and that
to be able to get that top fivepercent yeah, but some of these
30 people that maybe shouldn'thave been promoted are the ones
who got promoted and now they'rethe ones writing the reports.
So it comes across that waybecause their critical thought
or leadership style or whatevermaybe isn't as well developed or
isn't as well suited to theposition they find themselves in
(20:17):
sometimes.
And so you know from from uh,the leadership, uh, like you
mentioned, sort of the hiringmanager perspective or the uh
applicant perspective, right,all of these roles, I think when
we get out into the privatesector or public, I guess it
doesn't matter.
When we get out of the DOD andour careers shift, for that
(20:38):
matter, any midlife career shifthow do you recommend we build
some degree of awareness aroundthe new system?
I mean, is it a totally newskillset that I have to learn
and go to school for, or do Ialready possess some degree of
skills or strengths or anythingthat I can stand on to mitigate
(20:59):
some degree of burnout orfrustration or depression?
I mean, what do I?
Do?
I have anything to offer atthat point?
What's my value?
How do I find out the answersto those questions?
Don Gleason (21:08):
The ability to say no In the military.
Could you ever tell your bosswhen he came down and said, hey,
can you take this project on?
Absolutely not.
Can you say no, absolutely not?
Right, it could be the kiss ofdeath.
I remember when I was a captainand I was down here in San
Antonio and I was working for acivilian boss and he had loaded
me up with all kinds of stuffand it was Tuesday and I was
(21:30):
trying to scramble hard to get abunch of it done on Friday,
which was the due dates, and hewalked in with another big
project.
I just stopped and I said, dave, I just need to ask the
question.
I said, I think with what I'vegot done, what I've got on my
plate, I can get it done byFriday.
When do you want this done?
Because if you add it to thisweek, it's not going to get done
, not unless I'm here untilmidnight and I've got some
(21:52):
things at home.
I got to get done this week.
So, and so he, he picked it upand he walked out and I was like
well, I'm looking for aconversation here, boss, I'm not
looking to upset you.
Well, he didn't give me anotherassignment for like three or
four weeks.
So now my plate is clean and Iwalked in.
I said, dave, I'm ready forsome more stuff.
And he goes.
You said a couple of weeks agothat you were overloaded.
(22:12):
I was overloaded that week.
Right, those things all gotdone.
You're managing what I'mworking on beside the bigger
projects.
So it was a lack ofcommunication between he and I,
and I think that probablyhappens way too much where we're
not really clearly articulatingsubordinate to supervisor, team
(22:34):
member to boss, right, or theflip side, the other way around,
leader to the team member.
And that's just that piece ofbeing able to say no.
I remember walking in.
I was filling in as a deputychief of engineering in Germany
and I was a captain.
And I walked up to a friend ofmine who was a captain I was the
deputy, so I was in charge thatweek because the boss was out
(22:54):
of town and I said Ray, can youtake this on?
And he said no, I wasn't usedto that.
And I said, can you give me alittle bit more on that?
And he said same thing.
I basically said just a minuteago.
I said he said I got these fivethings on my plate.
I got to get them all done byFriday.
I think I can get them all done.
That's going to be one morething.
(23:22):
Are you telling me that that'smore important than these?
Josh Porthouse (23:22):
and I said no, it's not more important than
those.
He goes, then I'm gonna have tosay I shouldn't be your first
choice, because these are allpretty important.
Yeah, but that's the difference,right, it's presented in a way
that you're willing tounderstand and interpret in a
tactful manner that's not overlyabusive to your relationship or
to the, you know, to thesetting or whatever, and
articulate it that way, and Ithink that's a well, I know
that's a big point you'rebringing up too, because it is
(23:44):
saying no, but it's not sayingno, right, it's, it's, it's,
it's portraying it in a way thatmakes sense.
And I think that kind of thoughtprocess and ability to
translate what's happening inour head, to communicate it more
effectively, also applies tohow we're selling the skills and
selling the things that we haveto offer, even if we don't
realize it.
(24:04):
So, like I said, most of mycareer was in the infantry and
if I wanted to go get a job andI go tell somebody well, I
worked with, you know, dozens ofpeople on a daily basis, from
sunrise to sunset, to manage andmicromanage In some cases their
daily routines and habits andwhatever they're like, dude, I
wouldn't pay you 20 an hour tobabysit my kids but it's the
same.
You know, like what I'm sayingisn't necessarily what comes
(24:28):
across to whoever's interpretingit, and so it requires, I think
, a degree of discernment, maybe.
So how do we build that?
Because that's not in thetransition program at the end of
your service, that's not evenduring your service something
you get.
So is it just like a magicbeanstalk and you hope for the
best?
Or where do we get that degreeof insight?
Don Gleason (24:49):
yeah, this.
This comes down to a veryimportant question is it the
military's responsibility tohelp us in our transition?
Now, definitely, when we comeinto the service, we spend a lot
of time training, adjusting,manipulating, whatever the word
word is to make sure that thesailor, soldier, airman, marine,
(25:13):
guardian has the right skills,the right mindset, the right
attitude to do the job we needthem to do in combat and in
day-to-day Yep.
Is it the military'sresponsibility, on the way out
the door, to train them in theway that they're going to have
to operate in the future in thecivilian sector?
(25:33):
Now we've said yes becausewe're putting a lot of money
into career transition workshopsand we're now doing the skill
bridge program.
We're paying for people to bethree to six months in a
civilian company trying thingsout, learning this, learning
what a company is like, ifthat's the right company, the
company, learning if that's theright member for them, right,
(25:55):
we're paying that bill and sowe've said yes and in that case
then we need to do a good job toreally train them.
But as I go through the careertransition workshops and listen
particularly to the resume piece, it's very vague wording and
what most people do coming outof there, 95% and I've talked to
(26:17):
a number of people who reviewresumes.
95% is all they'd list is theirjob responsibilities in the
experience section.
They don't get to thatquantifiable, impactful,
results-oriented, transferableskill it really shows.
This is how I performed.
Josh Porthouse (26:44):
This is how I performed 95% is all they'd list
is their job responsibilitiesin the experience section.
They don't get to thatquantifiable, impactful,
(27:06):
results-oriented, transferableskill.
It really shows.
This is how I performed.
This is why I was in that trulythe top 5%.
But they don't know.
Is it ever explained?
Has it ever actually been?
I don't know if justified isthe best word, but justified and
that's just the DOD.
(27:27):
I mean that doesn't apply tolaw enforcement, firefighters,
anybody in a similar sort of,you know, hierarchical type
industry.
Don Gleason (27:34):
Yeah, there are certain things that tell you
where you rank in that nine outof nine right.
If you're getting the 5% or 2%,if you're getting certain
awards, you're getting that nextjob right.
You get pulled up to the wingto be the wing executive officer
.
Or you get in the Air Forcecivil engineering.
If you got Langley Air ForceBase Air Combat Command, you got
(27:57):
to be the base civil engineeror the mission support group
commander.
There you were clearly on topof the game because they would
only put the best of the best inthat job.
If you were, you know, at asmall base as a base civil
engineer, lieutenant colonel,squadron commander, um, and
you're a small base without,without a really important
mission.
(28:17):
It's an important job butyou're not in the top five
percent or ten percent.
So there are ways that you cansee, if you're paying attention,
where I fit in thatstratification.
Just like I was saying, youknow I didn't get a number on my
promotion recommendation form.
That was a.
That was a sign I was not inthat top percentage to to be
considered for general officer.
(28:37):
The bad part was I was acolonel before I even ever heard
that a number existed.
Nobody ever told me the gameright.
So, from that perspective, Ididn't know.
Other people knew.
So we got to pay attention.
You got to have bosses who arewilling to talk about.
This is how the game works, andI hate to use the word game,
(28:58):
but it is a game.
You could use the word process,you could.
Where's the system?
This is how the system works.
This is how the process works,but this is how this works.
This is what you got to payattention to.
This is what you got to bedoing and unfortunately it could
go back to something else.
You said burnout.
Right, burnout is a lot of time, is a?
Is priorities mismanaged?
Is priorities mismanaged when?
(29:23):
When we start hanging aroundthe office, because the I
remember being a squadroncommander, I was in meetings
until five or six o'clock Iwould come back, I'd do some
paperwork and then I wouldwander the squadron just to see
if anybody's around.
Lights are turned off, thingsare secure.
I'm ready to leave the building.
Right, it's not really my jobto secure the building, but I'm
just kind of doing a quick check, making sure everything's okay,
and I'll find some people thatare working Well when people are
(29:44):
hanging around, just in caseColonel Gleason comes walking
down the hallway so that I seethem working.
That's the wrong reason to bethere.
But we did it so that we wouldhave a few minutes to talk to
the boss, to talk about whatwe're doing, to show them that
we care and somewhere we createda culture.
Talk about values, culture.
(30:04):
We created a culture that thatwas the way things were supposed
to be done.
So now we're giving up time.
The workers are giving up timewith their family, they have
dinner, giving up time withtheir family to go to activities
, whether it be a youth group ora sporting event or drama music
in the school, and all in thehopes of being promoted.
(30:25):
I think we've created that.
I think that culture is aproblem and the reason I jump
into this is because we've nowbeen trained in that culture.
It's now become our value towork late, to give more, to skip
family time, value to work late, to give more to skip family
time.
We get on the outside and whatdo we?
(30:46):
What do we start?
Josh Porthouse (30:47):
to do?
Don Gleason (30:47):
we start to do that exact same thing well, the
habit, yeah, yeah, that's not ahabit.
So what I do in my process is Ireally get people to think back
to just forget about whatyou've been doing.
What do you want going forwardmost?
Most everybody says I want ajob, good pay and benefits.
I want a good impact, but Iwant to be able to leave by 5.30
(31:08):
or so so I can go home and havedinner with my family.
I can be with the kids A lot ofthem are still teenagers, maybe
younger I want to be involvedas a parent.
I want to be able to go tosporting events.
It's okay.
So now we go back into what hashappened and how do we need to
change that mindset so that,going forward, you can make that
(31:29):
happen?
And what questions do you haveto ask in the interview to make
sure that they have the samevalues?
The company has the same valuesthat you have?
Josh Porthouse (31:39):
Yeah, so that was my next question.
We talked a lot in thisconversation about the
individual, the applicant, forexample.
What about the company?
What are we looking for?
Because I feel like to askquestions, or appropriate or
effective questions about any ofthese types of cultures and
climates.
We have to at least havethought about what we want and
what we're looking for, right.
(32:00):
So what are the steps?
How do you do?
Don Gleason (32:02):
it.
The first part is knowing whatyou are looking for.
I help people create what Icall a life description.
Right, this is how I want mylife to play out for the next
once I leave the service, forthe next 20 years or, however,
depending on how many years ofservice you get out at, just in
20 years.
So you get out at 38 to 45, gotanother 20 years or so in the
(32:26):
workforce.
What do you want the next 20years to look like?
And then be able to think aboutwhat are the right questions
that I need to ask the companyto get a feel for it.
So for me, what was reallyimportant for me was I want to
develop my people, I want to bedeveloped.
I want to develop my people.
So, Mr Company, talk to meabout your personal development
(32:47):
process.
And when I talked to Booz AllenHamilton, they talked to me
about the 360 degree assessmentprocess they use and that every
quarter, once a year, we wouldrate everybody.
Every quarter we would rate 25%of the people and we'd spend
five days rating that 25%.
And it was five minutes perperson, two minutes looking
backwards, three minutes lookingforward and we would have.
(33:09):
You know, somebody has gonethrough and interviewed five or
seven people that thisindividual has worked for say
it's me.
My rater goes back and talks tofive or seven people who have
worked with me.
It's a feel for how I'veperformed, where I've done well,
where I haven't, Puts it downand we talk about how we're
going to develop that person forthe next year.
Josh Porthouse (33:28):
I thought that was fantastic.
You're saying take an actualvested interest in somebody
else's well-being other than theorganization Correct.
Don Gleason (33:38):
Well, that's different too, Because if you
develop the people, theorganization is going to succeed
.
Right, that's the whole concept.
Josh Porthouse (33:43):
It depends on your perspective, I guess.
Look at the Department ofDefense.
It's not people-driven, it'sindustrial-driven,
industry-driven.
You know what I mean.
It happens to include everybodyand there's programs to help
people and manage your family,manage your finances, manage
your time, but it's all rootedin professional development for
the sake of the organization andthe industry, not for the sake
of the people.
Don Gleason (34:04):
generally speaking, I can agree with that.
But if you want to raise theperformance of your company, of
infantry in your case, rightyour company, your regiment, you
start at the people level.
Make sure the people understandthe values, understand the job,
understand how they perform.
They perform together as a team.
So you're doing all thosedifferent aspects to make sure
(34:25):
that each individual is doingthe best they can.
Each individual is the team isdoing the best they can.
It's almost irregardless of thetechnology or, when you say,
the industry, other contractorswho are supporting us.
It's that military piece of howwe work and perform and develop
each other.
So if the leader is working toidentify weaknesses or
(34:49):
challenges or areas ofimprovement you know, and works
to improve those, theirperformance should go up and the
team performance should go upand therefore the company
performance goes up and the teamperformance should go up and
therefore the companyperformance goes up, company
being either the military,company company regiment
battalion squadron, the unit or,on the outside, the
organization, the company BoozAllen Hamilton.
(35:15):
If I'm focusing on Don Gleasonand the people he works with and
they're doing better onproposals and they do better on
contract performance, then thereputation of the company will
go up.
Thus the revenue of the companywill go up.
The profit of the company willgo up.
You'll have less problems.
But I think we're seeing a lotof things is, where we don't
(35:35):
develop the individuals, all ofthat starts to fall.
Josh Porthouse (35:39):
Yeah, well, I think that's the aspect of the
training programs, right, thatget delineated or pushed down to
, uh, let's say, lower tiers ofleadership within the rank
structure of any particular unitin the dod.
But then the how, why, theactual critical thought and
discernment behind the metricsisn't always communicated as
(36:01):
well either, and I think then tobuild that kind of insight may
be the biggest gap, based onwhat you're saying.
Don Gleason (36:09):
I think you just hit a key point right.
Leadership is aboutcommunication.
It's about casting a vision.
It's about seeing more.
John Maxwell always saysleaders see more and they see
before.
Right, there was a.
There was a great video goinginto the 2009 housing crisis is
they were putting mortgagestogether into junk mortgages and
(36:30):
the one company fell.
I can't remember the name ofthe movie, but the CEO is there
and he says you know, my job isonly one thing is to see, six to
nine months down the road,what's going to happen and how
do we, how do we either takeadvantage of it or stop it from
killing us?
Right, and that's what a leaderdoes.
The leader is thinking of allthe things we're doing, what's
(36:51):
going to happen in the nextthree to six months.
What do I?
What new resources do I need tobring?
What new training do I need tohave?
What's the what's the enemygoing to do?
You know all these differentpieces.
Do I need to have?
What's the enemy going to do?
All these different pieces?
And if the leader really getsout ahead of that, then they can
be training their people anddeveloping their people to make
sure that those things are goingto happen.
But you bring that back to thecareer transition for a second.
(37:13):
So if the military is not reallyfocusing in on the individual
leaving the service, and I thinkwe can say, even though they
have a program, they reallydon't.
Because when you go to yourboss and say, hey, I want to
take the TAP program, it's fivedays, it's five weeks from now.
I want to take the TAP program.
I'll be out of the office thatweek and a lot of bosses say no,
(37:37):
why do you need that?
All you have to do is write aresume.
There's going to be plenty ofcompanies outside the gate
waiting to hire you.
This is going to be so simple.
This is not a hard concept atall.
So what do we do?
I think the numbers that I sawand I think this came out of a
letter from Congress to thechiefs of staff and the chairman
(37:59):
of the joint chiefs of all theservices you know, chairman and
chiefs of all the services andsaid you're failing.
And they did a study and 45% ofthe people, as they're
transitioning out of the service, do not attend TAP, even though
it's a mandatory program.
You cannot separate or retirewithout having completed it.
But 45% are not doing it.
(38:20):
And then there's another 35%,something like that, that while
they're attending theyconstantly are stepping outside
doing work, taking phone calls.
So they're present but they'renot present.
Surely about 15% or 20% werereally paying attention and
really completing TAP program orETAP program in any good means.
(38:42):
That shocked me.
But so what's the expectation,what's the accountability?
And are we really trainingpeople?
Because I can tell you numbersof people who didn't do anything
for their transition until theday they literally retired and
they wanted to take theirpermissive TDY and their
terminal leave.
(39:02):
So it was really on theirretirement date that they
finally said, okay, now I'mready to start looking for a job
, and they're shocked that ittakes.
Six to nine months is a typicalstandard.
So I don't think we we are,we're doing things, but we're
not really doing the rightthings to get people where they
need to be on the transition.
(39:22):
I was lucky I got to interview.
This is for a job as a majorand two jobs as a Lieutenant
Colonel.
By the time I made Colonel Iwas no longer allowed to
interview.
So previously I had written, Iwrote my own resume.
I had gotten feedback on myresume, I tweaked it.
I had showed it to my boss.
I used it for interviews.
(39:43):
I got feedback.
So when I got out of theservice 10 years later, I had
some of that experience.
Today you don't get any of thatexperience.
It's all handpicked, chosen foryou.
Don's going to go here, fred'sgoing here, jim's going here.
Josh Porthouse (39:59):
Well, you mean within the DoD, within the DoD?
Don Gleason (40:00):
Yeah, that's going to go here, fred's going here,
jim's going here.
Oh, you mean within the DoD.
Within the DoD, yeah, that'skind of that.
So when you separate or retire,you have no knowledge at all of
how to write a resume, how todo interviews, how to do a lot
of those different skills thatyou need.
Josh Porthouse (40:14):
Alrighty, folks, sit tight and we'll be right
back on Transacting Value.
What if your whole identity,your success, your worth was
built on running from your ownpain?
In this gripping episode ofTransacting Value, financial
coach and trainer, sarah Jonesgills back the layers of
generational trauma,narcissistic abuse and
(40:35):
self-abandonment that left herconstantly shapeshifting to feel
safe.
But the most shockingrevelation was that she didn't
even know who she was until sheburned it all down Quitting
corporate, walking away fromtoxic love and finally facing
her own reflection.
Now, through her brand, keepingUp With the Joneses, sarah
(40:55):
helps others reclaim theirnervous systems, rewrite
self-beliefs and live withunapologetic authenticity
through values-based financing.
This episode isn't just a story.
It's a wake-up call to stopperforming and start becoming.
Don Gleason (41:13):
So so when you separate or retire, you have no
knowledge at all of how to writea resume, how to do interviews,
how to do a lot of thosedifferent skills that you need.
Josh Porthouse (41:22):
Yeah, even to that point, what qualified you
to be in those positions?
Yeah, it's a, it's just a facevalue, I don't know Well.
Like that's where I gotassigned, so that's where I went
, that's what I was told to do,so that's what I did.
And then I'm sure there's a.
So that's where I went, that'swhat I was told to do, so that's
what I did.
And then I'm sure there's avariety of reasons that I'm just
unaware of why Skillbridge, forexample, is 180 day transition
(41:44):
process at max, but of what'sallowed.
To the point you just made,though, it did take about six
months for me to get my feetunderneath me and find some
degree of self-worth orsatisfaction, or self-soothing,
or self-awareness andself-actualization to be able to
do a job effectively outsidethe DOD.
You know it's easy to say I canfulfill a task whatever it is,
(42:07):
and I'm the kind of person whereif you tell me something and
you show me once, I can go do it.
I don't need you to micromanageright.
Those comments, I think, arepretty easy to throw around for
most people getting out of themilitary, regardless of time and
service, again, could beanybody, first responders, any
occupation.
But then to stop and think fora second what happens if you're
(42:29):
not told what to do, or if you,like you said, have to get
yourself the interview and thenmaybe a second interview before
you even get the job andsomebody tells you what to do.
All of those other steps in theprocess don't generally exist,
(42:51):
and so I guess Don, really, forthe sake of time, this is
probably going to be my secondor third, third to last question
here.
But how do we develop them,that degree of insight or that,
those kinds of self-assessments?
Don Gleason (43:06):
I remember being in baghdad.
I talked about this job, youknow, doing the reconstruction
of baghdad, and I was, uh, Imade colonel.
In fact I got frocked to becolonel right, I was a colonel
selectee so they promoted me tocolonel to fill the job.
Um, coming in there, coming inthe air, in the army, in the
marines, not coming at all inthe air force.
So it was unique.
(43:28):
And, uh, about halfway throughit, a buddy of mine who was at
air war college, wrote me a note, an email, one night, said hey,
we're, we're working on aproject here to figure out how
to train people to do the jobthat you're doing.
And I thought about it for aminute and I said I don't think
in two weeks you could trainanybody to do what I'm doing.
(43:48):
It has been the number of yearsof experience, the types of
jobs that I've had, theexperiences that I've gone
through to prepare me for this.
So don't think you can takesomebody who's always been a
staff officer, just to use anidea who has no field experience
(44:09):
, to be able to come out hereand excel in what is a field
experience job, or vice versa.
Right, if I'm all fieldexperience and I'm going to a
headquarters.
I'm not going to be able toexcel because I'm not familiar
with that environment Right.
So I think it's the same type ofthing.
So I think we are doing adisservice.
(44:29):
We've made it easy for themilitary to move people around
in key jobs, but I think we'velost the ability for them to
write a resume, to interview, toget that feedback.
We have to think back to whatis the process that we're going
to ask people to do when theyget out.
Not we, we're not asking this.
The civilian companies areasking this is what I'm looking
(44:51):
for.
And if we don't get thatfeedback back into the system
and prepare them and make surethat they've done it somehow,
you're not going to get there.
The Air Force Civil Engineercommunity through the Society of
American Military Engineers Igot a banner behind me for those
that don't see the videoSociety, s-a-m-e Society of
(45:12):
American Military Engineers wedo a career transition workshop
on top of the tap right.
This is for this engineercommunity, all services and in
February we started doingclasses and then people write
their resumes and then they getassigned to a mentor and they
get feedback on their resume andthey update the resume and then
(45:32):
they've gotten more feedbackand then we do somewhere in the
april time frame.
I think it is.
We get together and we do jobinterviews.
So it's been a two-monthprocess and this is well before
skill bridge right.
This is getting ready for thatskill bridge rating, getting
ready to get out of the service.
So it is a hands-on leadershiplab, transition lab, getting
(45:54):
people ready for the process.
We talk about the interviews,we talk about how to how to
negotiate right, and we actuallydo mock interviews.
We do mock negotiations.
We're preparing people reallystep by step to do that and all
we get in the department oflabor dod tap program is five
days of somebody talking aboutit maybe five maybe five.
Josh Porthouse (46:19):
That's assuming you don't want to just go be a
student or start your ownbusiness and then you only get
two and a half.
Don Gleason (46:24):
That's true, that's .
Yeah, that's all changed sinceI got out of the service.
Yeah yeah.
Josh Porthouse (46:28):
So there are a lot of uh deficiencies but, all
that being said, there are a lotof good things too that prepare
people, like, for example,getting the experience learning
to translate.
It may be a gap that's going tobe addressed, I'm sure, in the
future, as that uh, you know,gets reconciled over time.
But for all the experiences andopportunities that you do get
you, they're irreplaceable.
(46:48):
I mean, you can't get themanywhere else.
You can't fabricate them if youwanted to, and you certainly
can't replicate them with ai.
It has to be, oh yeah, hands on.
So you know there's going to besome interesting challenges, I
think, across the board, bothinto and and from the department
of labor, for example, into thedod for some late bloomers and
(47:09):
joiners, but then from the dodinto the department of labor or
education, or, you know, sba oror even federal, you know SBA or
or even federal jobs.
You know the culture may remainpretty similar, but I mean, can
you well, you probably can'timagine, but for anybody else
who's listening to watching thisconversation, can you imagine
having to take eight, four,eight, 10 years, however many of
(47:30):
experience, and trying tocustom tailor it one piece to
one piece, to a job description,for every bullet point that
they put in what they want tosee.
That's a federal resume, though.
That's what you have to do, andif you miss a bullet point it's
tossed out of the pile.
You're not even considered.
So you know, there there are alot of expectations that aren't
necessarily as well managed, Ithink, when it comes to those
sorts of opportunities.
(47:50):
Um, don, where do you recommendpeople go if they want to get
in touch with you or any of theresources that you've described,
to better themselves, or maybeeven to become a client and work
with you?
How do people do it?
Where do they?
Don Gleason (48:06):
go yeah let me just hold on.
I'm going to hold on thatthought for a second.
I think it's important that yougo back to the point of we have
to own our own transition andwhat does that truly mean?
What does that truly mean andwhat does that truly mean?
We have to really startthinking about what we want to
do and what's it going to takeus to get there.
Not just they're looking for adegree I gotta get a degree.
(48:26):
They're looking for acertification I gotta get a
certification.
It's understanding the resumeprocess, understanding the
linkedin process, really workingthrough that, getting somebody
to work with on hands-on the ACPprogram, american Corporate
Partners program, what used tobe the Veterati, I think there's
now a post-Veterati Get withpeople who've gone through it.
Find people and reallyunderstand the process and make
(48:50):
sure you're developing thoseskills, just like we would in
the military.
So I think that's importantbefore we jump into connecting
with me, and I think it'simportant we just learn that
process.
I really point people forgetting in touch with me.
As to my LinkedIn profile, I'mthe only Don with a middle
initial, l Gleason.
There's like 65 Don Gleasons,donald Gleasons but if you put
(49:12):
the middle initial L and we'llhave the link for you, I'm sure
on the show notes, so I'd loveto send me a note from there.
So I saw you on the transactingvalue podcast.
I just want to have aconversation.
It's complimentary for military, not a charge at all.
I want to pay back.
I don't want to see peoplefrustrated.
I want to help them take thesteps forward.
(49:34):
I will give you feedback on yourLinkedIn, on your resume.
I will give you networkconnections.
We'll talk about mindset.
We'll talk a lot of differentthings.
You will walk out with a lot ofvalue, even if you decide not
to come back.
But if you want to keep comingback, we'll figure out a way to
keep working together and thatdoesn't always have to mean
being charged.
I'm going to have a whole bunchof resources this year.
I'm creating a couple of eBooksbased upon a course that I've
(49:57):
just about finished creating,and I'll be able to give people
a lot of information that willsupplement and go farther.
Based upon my experiencehelping 200 people, having been
nine years in corporate hiringpeople, I hired well over 200
people.
Josh Porthouse (50:11):
I reviewed thousands of resumes and got
tons of stories about that, so Ithink I really understand what
the companies are looking forand where people are falling
short, yeah, absolutely, whichis the biggest thing, because
it's the feedback luke that,like we were just talking about,
it's um, uncommon, and so, yeah, for anybody who's watching or
(50:34):
listening to this.
Obviously, like don justmentioned, he's exactly right,
depending on the player you'restreaming this conversation on,
click the drop down arrow whereit says see more or show more.
That's the show notes that he'sdescribing if you're new and
unfamiliar to that format, andin there you'll see a link to
get you to Don's LinkedIn aswell.
Now I think it's really reallyimportant, don, for me to speak
(50:55):
for as many people as I can inthis particular capacity and
just say thank you, because whatyou're offering and what you're
doing, based on your experienceand your insight and working
with other people, I thinkcounts for a lot, but the fact
that you're willing to do it andstill helping people when it
sounds like really you don'tneed to is huge man.
(51:16):
So I really appreciate whatyou're putting together and what
you're doing and why you'redoing it, because, like I said
when we started thisconversation, it is underrated
and, I think, undervalued andunderstated, and so I appreciate
it.
So, thank you for all that.
Don Gleason (51:34):
You're welcome.
If I can stop one suicide, if Ican stop one divorce, if I can
stop one even you knowdepression, it's more than more
than worth it.
More than worth it.
Josh Porthouse (51:46):
Yeah, and that's the thing, man.
Occupational hazards are morethan slip and fall.
I think we're starting to comearound to that reality, albeit
probably later than necessary.
But it's not meant to be amental health plug by saying
that, but I think there are alot more corroborating factors
when it comes to people that,like I said earlier, happen to
(52:08):
be shift workers or firstresponders, service members,
either during their periods ofservice, in whatever capacity
and field and industry, orduring the transitions after the
fact, or decades after the fact, when they get done working in
corporate and they're like well,actually I never stopped to
think who I am.
I'm an empty nester.
(52:35):
I own my house, I don't.
I think the point that you'restanding on to actually make
these changes is very important,so I hope you do it for as long
as you're willing and able, butI appreciate it.
And to everybody else obviously,who tuned into the conversation
.
Thank you, guys for tuning.
(52:55):
In the last piece.
I'll leave you with all of ourconversations, this one included
, so you can go back and listento it, or on our website at
transactingvaluepodcastcom.
Now here's what's cool On thehomepage, in addition to the
conversations, you're going tofind in the top right corner a
button that says leave avoicemail.
Now, if you click on thatbutton, you get two minutes of
talk time.
Now, if you click on thatbutton, you get two minutes of
(53:17):
talk time.
That's all you.
I won't interrupt and I won'ttry to steer, but I'll leave you
with these two recommendations.
One, let us know what you thinkof the show, let us know your
feedback, what you think of myquestions, the conversational
style, the topics Is it actuallydoing anything for you?
What you think of my beardAnything, I don't care, I'm an
open book and I'm down to takefeedback.
But two, in this particularconversation oh, it is Ole Mista
.
In this particular conversation, let Don know what you think
(53:41):
about what he's describing,because there may be updates
that he's unaware of.
There may be new programs, newaspects that may translate more
effectively to what he's tryingto accomplish that he's not as
aware of as you are.
Let him know what you thinkabout what he's doing or just
tell him thanks, and whenever weget those audio files, we'll
forward them along to him aswell.
But I appreciate everybody myteam, obviously, you guys,
(54:03):
everybody coming on to the showto talk about all these cool
topics, and so I guess reallyall I can say is until next time
.
That was Transacting Value.
Thank you to our show partnersand folks.
Thank you for tuning in andappreciating our value as we all
grow through life together.
To check out our otherconversations or even to
(54:24):
contribute through feedback,follows, time, money or talent,
and to let us know what youthink of the show, please leave
a review on our website,transactingvaluepodcastcom.
We also stream new episodesevery Monday at 9 am Eastern
Standard Time through all ofyour favorite podcasting
platforms like Spotify, iheartand TuneIn.
You can now hear TransactingValue on Wreaths Across America
(54:45):
Radio.
Head to wreathsacrossamericaorg.
Slash transactingvalue tosponsor a wreath and remember,
honor and teach the value offreedom for future generations.
On behalf of our team and ourglobal ambassadors, as you all
strive to establish clarity andpurpose, ensure social
tranquility and secure theblessings of liberty or
(55:06):
individual sovereignty ofcharacter for yourselves and
your posterity.
We will continue instigatingself-worth, and we'll meet you
there.
Until next time, that wasTransacting Value.
The views expressed in this podcast are
solely those of the podcast hostand guest and do not
necessarily represent those ofour distribution partners,
supporting businessrelationships or supported
audience.
Welcome to Transacting Value,where we talk about practical
(00:22):
applications for instigatingself-worth when dealing with
each other and even withinourselves, where we foster a
podcast listening experiencethat lets you hear the power of
a value system for managingburnout, establishing boundaries
, fostering community andfinding identity.
My name is Josh Porthouse, I'myour host and we are redefining
sovereignty of character.
(00:42):
This is why values still holdvalue.
This is Transacting Value.
Don Gleason (00:49):
Typically what I'll hear military say is well, as
soon as I can get in theinterview, I can show them how I
meet the requirement, but it'sthe resume that gets you the
interview Today on TransactingValue.
Josh Porthouse (01:03):
How do you value your time, your experience or
maybe even yourself at the endof a career or at a midlife
career change, especially if youhave military experience, if
you're a first responder, ifyou're a shift worker, if you're
a student or anything inbetween, and that experience
comes with a title?
How do you put a price on it?
Sometimes you can't, but intoday's conversation we're
(01:25):
talking with Don Gleason.
He's the founder of a lifetransforming company called
Achieve New Heights and we'regoing to talk all about it how
to translate your career, yourexperience, your time and,
ultimately, find value inyourself.
I'm Josh Porthouse, I'm yourhost and from SDYT Media.
This is Transacting Value, don.
How are you doing?
I'm doing host and from SDYTMedia.
(01:45):
This is Transacting Value, donhow you doing.
Don Gleason (01:47):
I'm doing great and I appreciate the opportunity to
get together with you and talkabout this subject, because I
think it sounds like it'simportant to you and I know it's
important to me, so hopefullyit's important to the audience,
as they're listening as well.
Josh Porthouse (01:59):
It absolutely is right, and I can't speak for
everybody who's going to watchthis video or who's going to
listen to the show, but to me,specifically, unequivocally, is
it important and it's sounderrated and it's so
understated and it's soubiquitous, which is the
craziest sort of paradox I thinkyou could put into anything.
But before we get too far intothe conversation or too far
(02:20):
ahead of anybody who's jumpingin to listen and watch, I'd like
to start with you and thenwe'll roll into the conversation
here in a second.
So if you could just take thenext couple of minutes for the
sake of a baseline here and sopeople can get to know you a
little bit, who are you, whenare you from?
What sort of things are shapingyour perspective on life as it
applies to all these things?
Don Gleason (02:39):
Okay, well, there's a big, there's a big thought
there.
Um born in Michigan, raised inWisconsin, so I am a uh.
I'm a I'm a sports nut.
So right now, with the Detroitlions doing so well in this last
year, the Detroit tigers doingso well, and then I'm a Packers
fan, right.
So, um, it's kind of a kind ofon a heyday right now, two teams
going in the playoffs.
(02:59):
I'm a big sports nut, and thatcomes from back in 1972.
I started on a path.
I wanted to play in the nfl.
That's a whole nother story.
We'll get there, but it didn'tmake it, obviously.
But that led me to really beinvolved in sports, interested
in sports and and develop myself, and weight has been important
(03:20):
for me, especially since Ialmost got kicked out of OTS on
day three because of weight.
That's a whole nother story,and uh, but what really got
important to me was back in thefifth grade the first earth day
in 1970, and it inspired me toreally be involved in the
environment.
And even when I got out of theservice in 2009, what I wanted
(03:44):
to do was get back into theenvironmental field.
I really want to help cleanAmerica's waters.
Through that whole journey,though, I've really jumped into
leadership.
I love leading teams.
I love leading people.
Of course, that means I have tolead myself, so I'm constantly
improving myself, constantlygrowing and challenging myself.
So I'm constantly improvingmyself, constantly growing and
(04:05):
challenging myself so I canchallenge others.
You know, it kind of goes backto being a commander.
When somebody came in for uh,for weight, and we were to the
point of an article 15 and Imade a comment and he said, sir,
can I speak freely?
And I said sure, and he said,um, I'm having a hard time
talking to somebody about weight, somebody who's so skinny.
And I closed the paperwork andI said can I tell you my story
(04:28):
Almost getting kicked out of theservice on the third day,
having to constantly change mydiet, do all these different
things physically at the gymevery morning at five o'clock
and I'm still only about 10pounds under.
And he says I didn't know.
I said you're right, I don'ttalk about it that much.
Maybe I should.
I said but this is about meleading me so I can lead you,
(04:51):
and I have tons of stories likethat about how that has come out
in my life.
So I love the environment, Ilove being outside, I love
birdwatching now and hiking.
We were just in SouthwestHouston last week birdwatching.
We already have seen 42 speciesof birds this year, that's on
the 6th of January as we recordthis.
So we have a little competitionwe play every year amongst my
(05:13):
wife and I not each, not againsteach other, it's us against.
Time is trying to see 365 birds.
We won ahead of the number ofdays in the year, so it drives
us to get out to Arizona and toColorado and all these other
places where we see a number ofunique birds.
We're going to go to Alaskathis year so hope to see some
(05:34):
unique birds up that way.
So that's kind of who Don isEnvironmental guy, outdoors guy,
leadership guy and love helpingpeople, service.
I am a service-oriented person.
That's probably why I'm in thisbusiness Seeing a number of my
people.
I call my people my tribe right, the military.
My peers struggle with theircareer transition to the point
(05:58):
of frustration, depression,suicide.
They say it's one of the numberone ideation for suicide is
this career transition westruggle with and I'm trying to
understand it and how I can helppeople through that process.
And I'm 65, but I can't juststop working because as people
are struggling, I want to helpand I know I'm 15 years since I
(06:21):
retired from the military but Ithink a lot of that is still
pertinent and I've helped over200 and some people the last
eight years in that process.
Josh Porthouse (06:31):
What is it that you found?
Do you think to be, I guess, acorollary or or a major
corroborating factor to go tothat kind of an extreme where
career transition is literallylife or death?
Don Gleason (06:47):
I kind of take it back to in the military, we
always talk about, you know,being humble.
There's no I in team.
We don't talk about ourselves,we talk about our team.
So when it comes to the jobinterview, when it comes to the
resume, when it comes to theLinkedIn profile, we all
struggle with being able to talkabout ourselves, what we've
done, how we've solved problems,how we've achieved things.
(07:11):
And if you can't talk aboutthose things because that's what
the hiring manager wants, youstruggle with getting a job.
What I see most resumes are isa list of responsibilities.
What I see most resumes are isa list of responsibilities.
I was responsible for it.
I managed a budget of 55million.
I led 465 people Okay, thoseare good, but what did you do
(07:37):
with that?
How did you leverage yourknowledge and experience to
solve problems?
Right, when I was in Baghdad,iraq, leading the reconstruction
I could talk about, you know,started 2,000 projects, $12.8
billion program Okay, those areneat, they're big.
But what did I do?
Right?
There was one week where theboss challenged me to baseline
the program, to figure out thecosts, where we were wasting
(07:59):
money and make recommendations.
And we walked through and wesaved on a $12 billion program.
We probably saved about 1.25billion dollars in just a
five-day review, just makingsome simple tweaks.
That now is a little bitdifferent, but a lot of people
are uncomfortable talking aboutthat because it's talking about
themselves and I think that's abig piece of it the culture, the
(08:22):
value, transacting values, thevalues we created and be and
what it became impacts us.
And now being able to talkabout ourselves later.
And it's not so much bragging,it's talking the facts, it's.
This is what we did.
If you get into a lot of theback pounding, it was all me and
blah blah that goes to the nextstage, right, but if you're
(08:45):
just talking about, this is whatwe did.
Here was the challenge, you'retelling a story.
Here's the challenge, here'show we did it.
Josh Porthouse (08:57):
Here's the results.
It seems kind of simple, butvery few people do it Well.
So how does that, let's say,ability or maybe inability to
effectively and accurately tellthat kind of a story then lead
to that kind of an extreme as a,as a behavior and outcome?
Don Gleason (09:11):
So think about it.
If the recruiters, for everyjob application, get 200 resumes
and that's that's a number thatI hear tossed around a lot, 200
applications, resumes for everyjob and they quickly start
sorting through it and they takethe the uh, the job
advertisement and they take theresume and say quickly, in six
(09:31):
to eight seconds, does thisperson qualify?
And if it's not well written,if it's not targeted toward the
job ad, what you quickly say isno, we toss it aside, and
they're looking through those200 to find somebody who meets
that requirement that they cantake forward.
Typically what I'll hearmilitary say is well, as soon as
(09:53):
I can get in the interview, Ican show them how I meet the
requirement.
But it's the resume that getsyou the interview.
You have to be able to sayyou're looking for this, I have
this.
You're looking for B, I have B.
Looking for C, I have C.
But typically what I'm seeingis resumes that you have to hunt
and peck through.
(10:13):
I was talking to a gentlemanabout a month ago and I said I'm
not seeing that you're reallytargeting.
He said, well, I targeted it.
I said yeah, but I had to go topage three to find the most
important thing.
It's probably page two.
It's only a two-page resume.
You had to go to the bottom ofpage two to get to what looks
like the most important thing inthe job advertisement is your
(10:34):
skill in this.
Why don't you put that in thesummary?
Hit them right on the head withit?
When I was looking at it today,I got five years experience
working service.
Now that's what they want.
Put it right there in thesummary.
But we tend to hide it downbelow and we make this generic
summary.
So it leads to because we'renot targeting the resume,
(10:57):
because we're not reallyarticulating our value, we're
not really showing how we'vedone the things they're looking
for.
It leads to being tossed out ofthe pile.
Knowing how we've done thethings they're looking for, it
leads to being tossed out of thepile.
John Maxwell I'm on the Maxwellleadership team, certified
speaker, trainer, coach and getto use John's material number
one leadership expert in theworld, and by many some people
(11:19):
debate it, but by manyorganizations and he talks about
getting out of the people pile.
There's 200 people in thepeople pile.
There's only two ways to do itright.
You got to be able toarticulate that you have the
experience, knowledge degrees,et cetera, so that you get
separated and they quickly seeit, or somebody else has to help
(11:39):
you get out of the pile througha connection, right, that's the
whole networking piece, but yougot to get out of the pile.
I think as long as we do whateverybody else is doing, we stay
in the pile and we stayfrustrated, and when that goes
on long enough, it leads todepression.
When it goes on long enough, itleads to the wrong action.
Josh Porthouse (12:01):
Alrighty, folks, sit tight, we'll be right back
on Transacting Value.
Tampa Bay sun-kissed beaches, athriving art scene and a
community that embracesdiversity it's more than just a
place to live.
It's a lifestyle.
At Porthouse Tampa Bay Realtor,I understand that finding the
right home is about more thanjust square footage.
It's about finding the rightcharacter, culture and community
(12:24):
.
It's about finding a placewhere you can truly belong,
alongside a network ofexperienced marketers,
inspectors, realtors and lenders.
We're not just experts in theTampa Bay market.
We are your neighbors and we'repassionate about helping you
find the perfect place to callhome.
Follow along on YouTube,facebook and LinkedIn at
(12:45):
Porthouse Tampa Bay Realtor.
Porthouse Tampa Bay Realtor,where values start in the home.
Don Gleason (12:53):
I think as long as we do what everybody else is
doing, we stay in the pile andwe stay frustrated, and when
that goes on long enough, itleads to depression.
When that goes on long enough,it leads to the wrong action.
Josh Porthouse (13:08):
I think maybe there's some sort of falsity or
inauthenticity in the rewardsystem, or maybe just promotion
metric within the DoD, or maybejust promotion metric within the
DOD.
And for anybody who's new to myshow, most of my professional
career and development has beenin the Marine Corps, specific to
the infantry.
But that's where this nextpoint's coming from.
So you know, in order to getpromoted, even in relative
(13:30):
degrees of meritocracythroughout the DOD, the
Department of Defense, you haveto submit at minimum once a year
and this is almost every rankbut a report that says here's
what I've accomplished.
And it's very transactional,it's like you said, it's sort of
objectively fact-based, and theonly way that that gets
grounded is in numbers andquantity, or quantifiers over
(13:54):
qualifiers, unless they're verycolorful adjectives that are not
any sort of backstabby typenuanced meanings.
Well, in those reports, I thinka lot of this, to the point
you're making, don, is what setsus up for that kind of
expectation.
Because, well, that's all wedescribe, that's all we get used
to, and you know, say, 17 to,well, 28 years old, while our
(14:20):
brains are still forming, we'reconditioning our habits of
thought into.
This is how I articulate myworth, then, because that's what
gets me more, whateverresponsibility, money, free time
, any number of allowances orincentives in the process, a
duty station preference right,allowances or incentives in the
process, a duty stationpreference right.
(14:40):
Does that translate outside ofa resume, even maybe just in
public discourse or aconversation like this, let
alone on paper, to get us out ofthe people pile?
Or is that an inaccurate way totrain ourselves to be able to
do that?
What have you found?
Don Gleason (14:53):
So I think it definitely does have a
connection.
As we're saying, when you gothrough your career and you're
writing, like you said, theperformance report, the FITS rep
efficiency report, whatever itmight be, every service is a
little bit different, right,we're all shooting for that top
1%, 2%, 5% stratification andI've seen it way too often.
(15:16):
You've probably seen it 30% or40% of the people get that 5%
strat, unfortunately.
So we, we over inflate theperformance report.
I remember back in the earlyeighties on the uh I know it was
on the enlisted side, for sure,it was rate one through nine,
but the nine was the average,eight was marginal, seven was
(15:39):
unsatisfactory, maybe separatedout of the service with a seven,
but on a scale of one to nine,shouldn't seven be pretty darn
good, right?
So now everybody's a nine andwe start going through life
thinking that we are, we areawesome, we're great.
And when you start having thatmindset, you don't separate,
(16:00):
separate in your own mind.
Where are your challenges?
What are you growing?
What do you need to do toimprove?
Um, I remember going on, we haduh in the early 2000s.
We had a feedback process in theair force and you had to, once
a year, sit down with your boss,I think every six months sit
down with your boss, and most ofthe time what I got was doing
great job, Don keep it up.
I looked at my boss and I said,sir, I know there's things I'm
(16:24):
not doing right.
I know there's things that Ican improve on.
What would those be?
And he goes, I can't think ofany.
I said, but I didn't say this,but I wanted to say this On your
this, you know, on yourpromotion recommendation form,
to get to be a general officer,you had to have a number as a
colonel and maybe as lieutenantcolonel, you had to be set up
(16:44):
for this high rank.
Right, you become a low number?
Right, he's my number one, mynumber five, whatever.
It had to be a real low number.
I never had a number I didn'thave a low number.
I didn't have a number, so Iwasn't even close to being
considered for general officer,right, right.
But if you read everything elsein my performance, my
performance reports, you wouldthink that I am walk on water.
(17:08):
And it does relate into thecivilian sector, because we
don't put in the work at thatpoint.
We let that militaryperformance reports.
Because what do we do inresumes?
We cut and paste.
It's a cut and paste out ofperformance reports into
(17:32):
LinkedIn, out of performancereports into the resume, and
we're not really thinking intowho is the audience for this.
Because for a performance reportfit rep, whatever the audience
is the promotion board, theywant to see certain things.
For the resume, it's the hiringmanager and he has a job he
wants done, very specific, withcertain skills, certain
(17:53):
qualifications, and you have towrite to that.
So you've got to consider whoyour audience is.
Right In a media company,what's your most important thing
?
Know your audience.
What's your message, what'stheir pain point, what are they
looking to get out of this?
And if we don't consider thatin the resume, I think we'll
mess it up.
Josh Porthouse (18:21):
So you have mentioned sort of this inflated
mentality of maybe just even alack of an ability to develop
inquiry or self-awareness orinsight and critical thought
around it.
But if everybody, like you said, on this nine scale being the
high end, if everybody's a nineout of nine and that's how you'd
sort viewing well, objectivityand these types of qualifiers
got me a nine out of nine, I'mdoing pretty good how do you
(18:43):
even develop or counteract thatsort of sense of entitlement
when it's totally inflated andwrong?
I mean, what do you?
What do you do?
What are their steps?
Is there a manual or something?
Or do we just have to trial anderror through conversation with
people and fail a few timesover Because that doesn't sound
like it's going to help anydegree of depression or that
kind of a mindset either?
Don Gleason (19:03):
That's right.
So think back to what we did do.
What we came up with wascertain words we would use for
somebody who's really a top 10%or a top 20% or top 30%, and
then we started coming up with astratification top 20% or top
30%.
And then we started coming upwith a stratification.
So if you were in the top 5%,we would say in the bottom line
(19:23):
of your senior Raidersendorsement, he's in the top 5%.
Might be your Raider, it mightbe your senior Raider, but we
started putting this percentage.
So you got just use the number200 people that are all rated
nine out of nine, but nowthere's only 10 who are in that
top five percent, and those onesare eminently qualified or
something yes yeah, so we've hadto.
(19:46):
We've had to create all thesequalifiers within the document,
and that's where a lot of peoplestarted saying, oh, this is the
good old boy network.
Because you had to.
Josh Porthouse (19:56):
You had to be brown nosing doing this and that
to be able to get that top fivepercent yeah, but some of these
30 people that maybe shouldn'thave been promoted are the ones
who got promoted and now they'rethe ones writing the reports.
So it comes across that waybecause their critical thought
or leadership style or whatevermaybe isn't as well developed or
isn't as well suited to theposition they find themselves in
(20:17):
sometimes.
And so you know from from uh,the leadership, uh, like you
mentioned, sort of the hiringmanager perspective or the uh
applicant perspective, right,all of these roles, I think when
we get out into the privatesector or public, I guess it
doesn't matter.
When we get out of the DOD andour careers shift, for that
(20:38):
matter, any midlife career shifthow do you recommend we build
some degree of awareness aroundthe new system?
I mean, is it a totally newskillset that I have to learn
and go to school for, or do Ialready possess some degree of
skills or strengths or anythingthat I can stand on to mitigate
(20:59):
some degree of burnout orfrustration or depression?
I mean, what do I?
Do?
I have anything to offer atthat point?
What's my value?
How do I find out the answersto those questions?
Don Gleason (21:08):
The ability to say no In the military.
Could you ever tell your bosswhen he came down and said, hey,
can you take this project on?
Absolutely not.
Can you say no, absolutely not?
Right, it could be the kiss ofdeath.
I remember when I was a captainand I was down here in San
Antonio and I was working for acivilian boss and he had loaded
me up with all kinds of stuffand it was Tuesday and I was
(21:30):
trying to scramble hard to get abunch of it done on Friday,
which was the due dates, and hewalked in with another big
project.
I just stopped and I said, dave, I just need to ask the
question.
I said, I think with what I'vegot done, what I've got on my
plate, I can get it done byFriday.
When do you want this done?
Because if you add it to thisweek, it's not going to get done
, not unless I'm here untilmidnight and I've got some
(21:52):
things at home.
I got to get done this week.
So, and so he, he picked it upand he walked out and I was like
well, I'm looking for aconversation here, boss, I'm not
looking to upset you.
Well, he didn't give me anotherassignment for like three or
four weeks.
So now my plate is clean and Iwalked in.
I said, dave, I'm ready forsome more stuff.
And he goes.
You said a couple of weeks agothat you were overloaded.
(22:12):
I was overloaded that week.
Right, those things all gotdone.
You're managing what I'mworking on beside the bigger
projects.
So it was a lack ofcommunication between he and I,
and I think that probablyhappens way too much where we're
not really clearly articulatingsubordinate to supervisor, team
(22:34):
member to boss, right, or theflip side, the other way around,
leader to the team member.
And that's just that piece ofbeing able to say no.
I remember walking in.
I was filling in as a deputychief of engineering in Germany
and I was a captain.
And I walked up to a friend ofmine who was a captain I was the
deputy, so I was in charge thatweek because the boss was out
(22:54):
of town and I said Ray, can youtake this on?
And he said no, I wasn't usedto that.
And I said, can you give me alittle bit more on that?
And he said same thing.
I basically said just a minuteago.
I said he said I got these fivethings on my plate.
I got to get them all done byFriday.
I think I can get them all done.
That's going to be one morething.
(23:22):
Are you telling me that that'smore important than these?
Josh Porthouse (23:22):
and I said no, it's not more important than
those.
He goes, then I'm gonna have tosay I shouldn't be your first
choice, because these are allpretty important.
Yeah, but that's the difference,right, it's presented in a way
that you're willing tounderstand and interpret in a
tactful manner that's not overlyabusive to your relationship or
to the, you know, to thesetting or whatever, and
articulate it that way, and Ithink that's a well, I know
that's a big point you'rebringing up too, because it is
(23:44):
saying no, but it's not sayingno, right, it's, it's, it's,
it's portraying it in a way thatmakes sense.
And I think that kind of thoughtprocess and ability to
translate what's happening inour head, to communicate it more
effectively, also applies tohow we're selling the skills and
selling the things that we haveto offer, even if we don't
realize it.
(24:04):
So, like I said, most of mycareer was in the infantry and
if I wanted to go get a job andI go tell somebody well, I
worked with, you know, dozens ofpeople on a daily basis, from
sunrise to sunset, to manage andmicromanage In some cases their
daily routines and habits andwhatever they're like, dude, I
wouldn't pay you 20 an hour tobabysit my kids but it's the
same.
You know, like what I'm sayingisn't necessarily what comes
(24:28):
across to whoever's interpretingit, and so it requires, I think
, a degree of discernment, maybe.
So how do we build that?
Because that's not in thetransition program at the end of
your service, that's not evenduring your service something
you get.
So is it just like a magicbeanstalk and you hope for the
best?
Or where do we get that degreeof insight?
Don Gleason (24:49):
yeah, this.
This comes down to a veryimportant question is it the
military's responsibility tohelp us in our transition?
Now, definitely, when we comeinto the service, we spend a lot
of time training, adjusting,manipulating, whatever the word
word is to make sure that thesailor, soldier, airman, marine,
(25:13):
guardian has the right skills,the right mindset, the right
attitude to do the job we needthem to do in combat and in
day-to-day Yep.
Is it the military'sresponsibility, on the way out
the door, to train them in theway that they're going to have
to operate in the future in thecivilian sector?
(25:33):
Now we've said yes becausewe're putting a lot of money
into career transition workshopsand we're now doing the skill
bridge program.
We're paying for people to bethree to six months in a
civilian company trying thingsout, learning this, learning
what a company is like, ifthat's the right company, the
company, learning if that's theright member for them, right,
(25:55):
we're paying that bill and sowe've said yes and in that case
then we need to do a good job toreally train them.
But as I go through the careertransition workshops and listen
particularly to the resume piece, it's very vague wording and
what most people do coming outof there, 95% and I've talked to
(26:17):
a number of people who reviewresumes.
95% is all they'd list is theirjob responsibilities in the
experience section.
They don't get to thatquantifiable, impactful,
results-oriented, transferableskill it really shows.
This is how I performed.
Josh Porthouse (26:44):
This is how I performed 95% is all they'd list
is their job responsibilitiesin the experience section.
They don't get to thatquantifiable, impactful,
(27:06):
results-oriented, transferableskill.
It really shows.
This is how I performed.
This is why I was in that trulythe top 5%.
But they don't know.
Is it ever explained?
Has it ever actually been?
I don't know if justified isthe best word, but justified and
that's just the DOD.
(27:27):
I mean that doesn't apply tolaw enforcement, firefighters,
anybody in a similar sort of,you know, hierarchical type
industry.
Don Gleason (27:34):
Yeah, there are certain things that tell you
where you rank in that nine outof nine right.
If you're getting the 5% or 2%,if you're getting certain
awards, you're getting that nextjob right.
You get pulled up to the wingto be the wing executive officer
.
Or you get in the Air Forcecivil engineering.
If you got Langley Air ForceBase Air Combat Command, you got
(27:57):
to be the base civil engineeror the mission support group
commander.
There you were clearly on topof the game because they would
only put the best of the best inthat job.
If you were, you know, at asmall base as a base civil
engineer, lieutenant colonel,squadron commander, um, and
you're a small base without,without a really important
mission.
(28:17):
It's an important job butyou're not in the top five
percent or ten percent.
So there are ways that you cansee, if you're paying attention,
where I fit in thatstratification.
Just like I was saying, youknow I didn't get a number on my
promotion recommendation form.
That was a.
That was a sign I was not inthat top percentage to to be
considered for general officer.
(28:37):
The bad part was I was acolonel before I even ever heard
that a number existed.
Nobody ever told me the gameright.
So, from that perspective, Ididn't know.
Other people knew.
So we got to pay attention.
You got to have bosses who arewilling to talk about.
This is how the game works, andI hate to use the word game,
(28:58):
but it is a game.
You could use the word process,you could.
Where's the system?
This is how the system works.
This is how the process works,but this is how this works.
This is what you got to payattention to.
This is what you got to bedoing and unfortunately it could
go back to something else.
You said burnout.
Right, burnout is a lot of time, is a?
Is priorities mismanaged?
Is priorities mismanaged when?
(29:23):
When we start hanging aroundthe office, because the I
remember being a squadroncommander, I was in meetings
until five or six o'clock Iwould come back, I'd do some
paperwork and then I wouldwander the squadron just to see
if anybody's around.
Lights are turned off, thingsare secure.
I'm ready to leave the building.
Right, it's not really my jobto secure the building, but I'm
just kind of doing a quick check, making sure everything's okay,
and I'll find some people thatare working Well when people are
(29:44):
hanging around, just in caseColonel Gleason comes walking
down the hallway so that I seethem working.
That's the wrong reason to bethere.
But we did it so that we wouldhave a few minutes to talk to
the boss, to talk about whatwe're doing, to show them that
we care and somewhere we createda culture.
Talk about values, culture.
(30:04):
We created a culture that thatwas the way things were supposed
to be done.
So now we're giving up time.
The workers are giving up timewith their family, they have
dinner, giving up time withtheir family to go to activities
, whether it be a youth group ora sporting event or drama music
in the school, and all in thehopes of being promoted.
(30:25):
I think we've created that.
I think that culture is aproblem and the reason I jump
into this is because we've nowbeen trained in that culture.
It's now become our value towork late, to give more, to skip
family time, value to work late, to give more to skip family
time.
We get on the outside and whatdo we?
(30:46):
What do we start?
Josh Porthouse (30:47):
to do?
Don Gleason (30:47):
we start to do that exact same thing well, the
habit, yeah, yeah, that's not ahabit.
So what I do in my process is Ireally get people to think back
to just forget about whatyou've been doing.
What do you want going forwardmost?
Most everybody says I want ajob, good pay and benefits.
I want a good impact, but Iwant to be able to leave by 5.30
(31:08):
or so so I can go home and havedinner with my family.
I can be with the kids A lot ofthem are still teenagers, maybe
younger I want to be involvedas a parent.
I want to be able to go tosporting events.
It's okay.
So now we go back into what hashappened and how do we need to
change that mindset so that,going forward, you can make that
(31:29):
happen?
And what questions do you haveto ask in the interview to make
sure that they have the samevalues?
The company has the same valuesthat you have?
Josh Porthouse (31:39):
Yeah, so that was my next question.
We talked a lot in thisconversation about the
individual, the applicant, forexample.
What about the company?
What are we looking for?
Because I feel like to askquestions, or appropriate or
effective questions about any ofthese types of cultures and
climates.
We have to at least havethought about what we want and
what we're looking for, right.
(32:00):
So what are the steps?
How do you do?
Don Gleason (32:02):
it.
The first part is knowing whatyou are looking for.
I help people create what Icall a life description.
Right, this is how I want mylife to play out for the next
once I leave the service, forthe next 20 years or, however,
depending on how many years ofservice you get out at, just in
20 years.
So you get out at 38 to 45, gotanother 20 years or so in the
(32:26):
workforce.
What do you want the next 20years to look like?
And then be able to think aboutwhat are the right questions
that I need to ask the companyto get a feel for it.
So for me, what was reallyimportant for me was I want to
develop my people, I want to bedeveloped.
I want to develop my people.
So, Mr Company, talk to meabout your personal development
(32:47):
process.
And when I talked to Booz AllenHamilton, they talked to me
about the 360 degree assessmentprocess they use and that every
quarter, once a year, we wouldrate everybody.
Every quarter we would rate 25%of the people and we'd spend
five days rating that 25%.
And it was five minutes perperson, two minutes looking
backwards, three minutes lookingforward and we would have.
(33:09):
You know, somebody has gonethrough and interviewed five or
seven people that thisindividual has worked for say
it's me.
My rater goes back and talks tofive or seven people who have
worked with me.
It's a feel for how I'veperformed, where I've done well,
where I haven't, Puts it downand we talk about how we're
going to develop that person forthe next year.
Josh Porthouse (33:28):
I thought that was fantastic.
You're saying take an actualvested interest in somebody
else's well-being other than theorganization Correct.
Don Gleason (33:38):
Well, that's different too, Because if you
develop the people, theorganization is going to succeed
.
Right, that's the whole concept.
Josh Porthouse (33:43):
It depends on your perspective, I guess.
Look at the Department ofDefense.
It's not people-driven, it'sindustrial-driven,
industry-driven.
You know what I mean.
It happens to include everybodyand there's programs to help
people and manage your family,manage your finances, manage
your time, but it's all rootedin professional development for
the sake of the organization andthe industry, not for the sake
of the people.
Don Gleason (34:04):
generally speaking, I can agree with that.
But if you want to raise theperformance of your company, of
infantry in your case, rightyour company, your regiment, you
start at the people level.
Make sure the people understandthe values, understand the job,
understand how they perform.
They perform together as a team.
So you're doing all thosedifferent aspects to make sure
(34:25):
that each individual is doingthe best they can.
Each individual is the team isdoing the best they can.
It's almost irregardless of thetechnology or, when you say,
the industry, other contractorswho are supporting us.
It's that military piece of howwe work and perform and develop
each other.
So if the leader is working toidentify weaknesses or
(34:49):
challenges or areas ofimprovement you know, and works
to improve those, theirperformance should go up and the
team performance should go upand therefore the company
performance goes up and the teamperformance should go up and
therefore the companyperformance goes up, company
being either the military,company company regiment
battalion squadron, the unit or,on the outside, the
organization, the company BoozAllen Hamilton.
(35:15):
If I'm focusing on Don Gleasonand the people he works with and
they're doing better onproposals and they do better on
contract performance, then thereputation of the company will
go up.
Thus the revenue of the companywill go up.
The profit of the company willgo up.
You'll have less problems.
But I think we're seeing a lotof things is, where we don't
(35:35):
develop the individuals, all ofthat starts to fall.
Josh Porthouse (35:39):
Yeah, well, I think that's the aspect of the
training programs, right, thatget delineated or pushed down to
, uh, let's say, lower tiers ofleadership within the rank
structure of any particular unitin the dod.
But then the how, why, theactual critical thought and
discernment behind the metricsisn't always communicated as
(36:01):
well either, and I think then tobuild that kind of insight may
be the biggest gap, based onwhat you're saying.
Don Gleason (36:09):
I think you just hit a key point right.
Leadership is aboutcommunication.
It's about casting a vision.
It's about seeing more.
John Maxwell always saysleaders see more and they see
before.
Right, there was a.
There was a great video goinginto the 2009 housing crisis is
they were putting mortgagestogether into junk mortgages and
(36:30):
the one company fell.
I can't remember the name ofthe movie, but the CEO is there
and he says you know, my job isonly one thing is to see, six to
nine months down the road,what's going to happen and how
do we, how do we either takeadvantage of it or stop it from
killing us?
Right, and that's what a leaderdoes.
The leader is thinking of allthe things we're doing, what's
(36:51):
going to happen in the nextthree to six months.
What do I?
What new resources do I need tobring?
What new training do I need tohave?
What's the what's the enemygoing to do?
You know all these differentpieces.
Do I need to have?
What's the enemy going to do?
All these different pieces?
And if the leader really getsout ahead of that, then they can
be training their people anddeveloping their people to make
sure that those things are goingto happen.
But you bring that back to thecareer transition for a second.
(37:13):
So if the military is not reallyfocusing in on the individual
leaving the service, and I thinkwe can say, even though they
have a program, they reallydon't.
Because when you go to yourboss and say, hey, I want to
take the TAP program, it's fivedays, it's five weeks from now.
I want to take the TAP program.
I'll be out of the office thatweek and a lot of bosses say no,
(37:37):
why do you need that?
All you have to do is write aresume.
There's going to be plenty ofcompanies outside the gate
waiting to hire you.
This is going to be so simple.
This is not a hard concept atall.
So what do we do?
I think the numbers that I sawand I think this came out of a
letter from Congress to thechiefs of staff and the chairman
(37:59):
of the joint chiefs of all theservices you know, chairman and
chiefs of all the services andsaid you're failing.
And they did a study and 45% ofthe people, as they're
transitioning out of the service, do not attend TAP, even though
it's a mandatory program.
You cannot separate or retirewithout having completed it.
But 45% are not doing it.
(38:20):
And then there's another 35%,something like that, that while
they're attending theyconstantly are stepping outside
doing work, taking phone calls.
So they're present but they'renot present.
Surely about 15% or 20% werereally paying attention and
really completing TAP program orETAP program in any good means.
(38:42):
That shocked me.
But so what's the expectation,what's the accountability?
And are we really trainingpeople?
Because I can tell you numbersof people who didn't do anything
for their transition until theday they literally retired and
they wanted to take theirpermissive TDY and their
terminal leave.
(39:02):
So it was really on theirretirement date that they
finally said, okay, now I'mready to start looking for a job
, and they're shocked that ittakes.
Six to nine months is a typicalstandard.
So I don't think we we are,we're doing things, but we're
not really doing the rightthings to get people where they
need to be on the transition.
(39:22):
I was lucky I got to interview.
This is for a job as a majorand two jobs as a Lieutenant
Colonel.
By the time I made Colonel Iwas no longer allowed to
interview.
So previously I had written, Iwrote my own resume.
I had gotten feedback on myresume, I tweaked it.
I had showed it to my boss.
I used it for interviews.
(39:43):
I got feedback.
So when I got out of theservice 10 years later, I had
some of that experience.
Today you don't get any of thatexperience.
It's all handpicked, chosen foryou.
Don's going to go here, fred'sgoing here, jim's going here.
Josh Porthouse (39:59):
Well, you mean within the DoD, within the DoD?
Don Gleason (40:00):
Yeah, that's going to go here, fred's going here,
jim's going here.
Oh, you mean within the DoD.
Within the DoD, yeah, that'skind of that.
So when you separate or retire,you have no knowledge at all of
how to write a resume, how todo interviews, how to do a lot
of those different skills thatyou need.
Josh Porthouse (40:14):
Alrighty, folks, sit tight and we'll be right
back on Transacting Value.
What if your whole identity,your success, your worth was
built on running from your ownpain?
In this gripping episode ofTransacting Value, financial
coach and trainer, sarah Jonesgills back the layers of
generational trauma,narcissistic abuse and
(40:35):
self-abandonment that left herconstantly shapeshifting to feel
safe.
But the most shockingrevelation was that she didn't
even know who she was until sheburned it all down Quitting
corporate, walking away fromtoxic love and finally facing
her own reflection.
Now, through her brand, keepingUp With the Joneses, sarah
(40:55):
helps others reclaim theirnervous systems, rewrite
self-beliefs and live withunapologetic authenticity
through values-based financing.
This episode isn't just a story.
It's a wake-up call to stopperforming and start becoming.
Don Gleason (41:13):
So so when you separate or retire, you have no
knowledge at all of how to writea resume, how to do interviews,
how to do a lot of thosedifferent skills that you need.
Josh Porthouse (41:22):
Yeah, even to that point, what qualified you
to be in those positions?
Yeah, it's a, it's just a facevalue, I don't know Well.
Like that's where I gotassigned, so that's where I went
, that's what I was told to do,so that's what I did.
And then I'm sure there's a.
So that's where I went, that'swhat I was told to do, so that's
what I did.
And then I'm sure there's avariety of reasons that I'm just
unaware of why Skillbridge, forexample, is 180 day transition
(41:44):
process at max, but of what'sallowed.
To the point you just made,though, it did take about six
months for me to get my feetunderneath me and find some
degree of self-worth orsatisfaction, or self-soothing,
or self-awareness andself-actualization to be able to
do a job effectively outsidethe DOD.
You know it's easy to say I canfulfill a task whatever it is,
(42:07):
and I'm the kind of person whereif you tell me something and
you show me once, I can go do it.
I don't need you to micromanageright.
Those comments, I think, arepretty easy to throw around for
most people getting out of themilitary, regardless of time and
service, again, could beanybody, first responders, any
occupation.
But then to stop and think fora second what happens if you're
(42:29):
not told what to do, or if you,like you said, have to get
yourself the interview and thenmaybe a second interview before
you even get the job andsomebody tells you what to do.
All of those other steps in theprocess don't generally exist,
(42:51):
and so I guess Don, really, forthe sake of time, this is
probably going to be my secondor third, third to last question
here.
But how do we develop them,that degree of insight or that,
those kinds of self-assessments?
Don Gleason (43:06):
I remember being in baghdad.
I talked about this job, youknow, doing the reconstruction
of baghdad, and I was, uh, Imade colonel.
In fact I got frocked to becolonel right, I was a colonel
selectee so they promoted me tocolonel to fill the job.
Um, coming in there, coming inthe air, in the army, in the
marines, not coming at all inthe air force.
So it was unique.
(43:28):
And, uh, about halfway throughit, a buddy of mine who was at
air war college, wrote me a note, an email, one night, said hey,
we're, we're working on aproject here to figure out how
to train people to do the jobthat you're doing.
And I thought about it for aminute and I said I don't think
in two weeks you could trainanybody to do what I'm doing.
(43:48):
It has been the number of yearsof experience, the types of
jobs that I've had, theexperiences that I've gone
through to prepare me for this.
So don't think you can takesomebody who's always been a
staff officer, just to use anidea who has no field experience
(44:09):
, to be able to come out hereand excel in what is a field
experience job, or vice versa.
Right, if I'm all fieldexperience and I'm going to a
headquarters.
I'm not going to be able toexcel because I'm not familiar
with that environment Right.
So I think it's the same type ofthing.
So I think we are doing adisservice.
(44:29):
We've made it easy for themilitary to move people around
in key jobs, but I think we'velost the ability for them to
write a resume, to interview, toget that feedback.
We have to think back to whatis the process that we're going
to ask people to do when theyget out.
Not we, we're not asking this.
The civilian companies areasking this is what I'm looking
(44:51):
for.
And if we don't get thatfeedback back into the system
and prepare them and make surethat they've done it somehow,
you're not going to get there.
The Air Force Civil Engineercommunity through the Society of
American Military Engineers Igot a banner behind me for those
that don't see the videoSociety, s-a-m-e Society of
(45:12):
American Military Engineers wedo a career transition workshop
on top of the tap right.
This is for this engineercommunity, all services and in
February we started doingclasses and then people write
their resumes and then they getassigned to a mentor and they
get feedback on their resume andthey update the resume and then
(45:32):
they've gotten more feedbackand then we do somewhere in the
april time frame.
I think it is.
We get together and we do jobinterviews.
So it's been a two-monthprocess and this is well before
skill bridge right.
This is getting ready for thatskill bridge rating, getting
ready to get out of the service.
So it is a hands-on leadershiplab, transition lab, getting
(45:54):
people ready for the process.
We talk about the interviews,we talk about how to how to
negotiate right, and we actuallydo mock interviews.
We do mock negotiations.
We're preparing people reallystep by step to do that and all
we get in the department oflabor dod tap program is five
days of somebody talking aboutit maybe five maybe five.
Josh Porthouse (46:19):
That's assuming you don't want to just go be a
student or start your ownbusiness and then you only get
two and a half.
Don Gleason (46:24):
That's true, that's .
Yeah, that's all changed sinceI got out of the service.
Yeah yeah.
Josh Porthouse (46:28):
So there are a lot of uh deficiencies but, all
that being said, there are a lotof good things too that prepare
people, like, for example,getting the experience learning
to translate.
It may be a gap that's going tobe addressed, I'm sure, in the
future, as that uh, you know,gets reconciled over time.
But for all the experiences andopportunities that you do get
you, they're irreplaceable.
(46:48):
I mean, you can't get themanywhere else.
You can't fabricate them if youwanted to, and you certainly
can't replicate them with ai.
It has to be, oh yeah, hands on.
So you know there's going to besome interesting challenges, I
think, across the board, bothinto and and from the department
of labor, for example, into thedod for some late bloomers and
(47:09):
joiners, but then from the dodinto the department of labor or
education, or, you know, sba oror even federal, you know SBA or
or even federal jobs.
You know the culture may remainpretty similar, but I mean, can
you well, you probably can'timagine, but for anybody else
who's listening to watching thisconversation, can you imagine
having to take eight, four,eight, 10 years, however many of
(47:30):
experience, and trying tocustom tailor it one piece to
one piece, to a job description,for every bullet point that
they put in what they want tosee.
That's a federal resume, though.
That's what you have to do, andif you miss a bullet point it's
tossed out of the pile.
You're not even considered.
So you know, there there are alot of expectations that aren't
necessarily as well managed, Ithink, when it comes to those
sorts of opportunities.
(47:50):
Um, don, where do you recommendpeople go if they want to get
in touch with you or any of theresources that you've described,
to better themselves, or maybeeven to become a client and work
with you?
How do people do it?
Where do they?
Don Gleason (48:06):
go yeah let me just hold on.
I'm going to hold on thatthought for a second.
I think it's important that yougo back to the point of we have
to own our own transition andwhat does that truly mean?
What does that truly mean andwhat does that truly mean?
We have to really startthinking about what we want to
do and what's it going to takeus to get there.
Not just they're looking for adegree I gotta get a degree.
(48:26):
They're looking for acertification I gotta get a
certification.
It's understanding the resumeprocess, understanding the
linkedin process, really workingthrough that, getting somebody
to work with on hands-on the ACPprogram, american Corporate
Partners program, what used tobe the Veterati, I think there's
now a post-Veterati Get withpeople who've gone through it.
Find people and reallyunderstand the process and make
(48:50):
sure you're developing thoseskills, just like we would in
the military.
So I think that's importantbefore we jump into connecting
with me, and I think it'simportant we just learn that
process.
I really point people forgetting in touch with me.
As to my LinkedIn profile, I'mthe only Don with a middle
initial, l Gleason.
There's like 65 Don Gleasons,donald Gleasons but if you put
(49:12):
the middle initial L and we'llhave the link for you, I'm sure
on the show notes, so I'd loveto send me a note from there.
So I saw you on the transactingvalue podcast.
I just want to have aconversation.
It's complimentary for military, not a charge at all.
I want to pay back.
I don't want to see peoplefrustrated.
I want to help them take thesteps forward.
(49:34):
I will give you feedback on yourLinkedIn, on your resume.
I will give you networkconnections.
We'll talk about mindset.
We'll talk a lot of differentthings.
You will walk out with a lot ofvalue, even if you decide not
to come back.
But if you want to keep comingback, we'll figure out a way to
keep working together and thatdoesn't always have to mean
being charged.
I'm going to have a whole bunchof resources this year.
I'm creating a couple of eBooksbased upon a course that I've
(49:57):
just about finished creating,and I'll be able to give people
a lot of information that willsupplement and go farther.
Based upon my experiencehelping 200 people, having been
nine years in corporate hiringpeople, I hired well over 200
people.
Josh Porthouse (50:11):
I reviewed thousands of resumes and got
tons of stories about that, so Ithink I really understand what
the companies are looking forand where people are falling
short, yeah, absolutely, whichis the biggest thing, because
it's the feedback luke that,like we were just talking about,
it's um, uncommon, and so, yeah, for anybody who's watching or
(50:34):
listening to this.
Obviously, like don justmentioned, he's exactly right,
depending on the player you'restreaming this conversation on,
click the drop down arrow whereit says see more or show more.
That's the show notes that he'sdescribing if you're new and
unfamiliar to that format, andin there you'll see a link to
get you to Don's LinkedIn aswell.
Now I think it's really reallyimportant, don, for me to speak
(50:55):
for as many people as I can inthis particular capacity and
just say thank you, because whatyou're offering and what you're
doing, based on your experienceand your insight and working
with other people, I thinkcounts for a lot, but the fact
that you're willing to do it andstill helping people when it
sounds like really you don'tneed to is huge man.
(51:16):
So I really appreciate whatyou're putting together and what
you're doing and why you'redoing it, because, like I said
when we started thisconversation, it is underrated
and, I think, undervalued andunderstated, and so I appreciate
it.
So, thank you for all that.
Don Gleason (51:34):
You're welcome.
If I can stop one suicide, if Ican stop one divorce, if I can
stop one even you knowdepression, it's more than more
than worth it.
More than worth it.
Josh Porthouse (51:46):
Yeah, and that's the thing, man.
Occupational hazards are morethan slip and fall.
I think we're starting to comearound to that reality, albeit
probably later than necessary.
But it's not meant to be amental health plug by saying
that, but I think there are alot more corroborating factors
when it comes to people that,like I said earlier, happen to
(52:08):
be shift workers or firstresponders, service members,
either during their periods ofservice, in whatever capacity
and field and industry, orduring the transitions after the
fact, or decades after the fact, when they get done working in
corporate and they're like well,actually I never stopped to
think who I am.
I'm an empty nester.
(52:35):
I own my house, I don't.
I think the point that you'restanding on to actually make
these changes is very important,so I hope you do it for as long
as you're willing and able, butI appreciate it.
And to everybody else obviously,who tuned into the conversation
.
Thank you, guys for tuning.
(52:55):
In the last piece.
I'll leave you with all of ourconversations, this one included
, so you can go back and listento it, or on our website at
transactingvaluepodcastcom.
Now here's what's cool On thehomepage, in addition to the
conversations, you're going tofind in the top right corner a
button that says leave avoicemail.
Now, if you click on thatbutton, you get two minutes of
talk time.
Now, if you click on thatbutton, you get two minutes of
(53:17):
talk time.
That's all you.
I won't interrupt and I won'ttry to steer, but I'll leave you
with these two recommendations.
One, let us know what you thinkof the show, let us know your
feedback, what you think of myquestions, the conversational
style, the topics Is it actuallydoing anything for you?
What you think of my beardAnything, I don't care, I'm an
open book and I'm down to takefeedback.
But two, in this particularconversation oh, it is Ole Mista
.
In this particular conversation, let Don know what you think
(53:41):
about what he's describing,because there may be updates
that he's unaware of.
There may be new programs, newaspects that may translate more
effectively to what he's tryingto accomplish that he's not as
aware of as you are.
Let him know what you thinkabout what he's doing or just
tell him thanks, and whenever weget those audio files, we'll
forward them along to him aswell.
But I appreciate everybody myteam, obviously, you guys,
(54:03):
everybody coming on to the showto talk about all these cool
topics, and so I guess reallyall I can say is until next time
.
That was Transacting Value.
Thank you to our show partnersand folks.
Thank you for tuning in andappreciating our value as we all
grow through life together.
To check out our otherconversations or even to
(54:24):
contribute through feedback,follows, time, money or talent,
and to let us know what youthink of the show, please leave
a review on our website,transactingvaluepodcastcom.
We also stream new episodesevery Monday at 9 am Eastern
Standard Time through all ofyour favorite podcasting
platforms like Spotify, iheartand TuneIn.
You can now hear TransactingValue on Wreaths Across America
(54:45):
Radio.
Head to wreathsacrossamericaorg.
Slash transactingvalue tosponsor a wreath and remember,
honor and teach the value offreedom for future generations.
On behalf of our team and ourglobal ambassadors, as you all
strive to establish clarity andpurpose, ensure social
tranquility and secure theblessings of liberty or
(55:06):
individual sovereignty ofcharacter for yourselves and
your posterity.
We will continue instigatingself-worth, and we'll meet you
there.
Until next time, that wasTransacting Value.
Popular Podcasts
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
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!