Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Alabama's Morning News. I'm JT. And you talk about a
badass Dave Burke joining us now top gun instructor ex
Marine Corps who uh a fighter pilot. I mean, come on,
this is just incredible. You are the real Tom Cruise
top gun instructor. Am I right in that? Well?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I appreciate the enter, JT. That's pretty cool. Man.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Well, I got to tell you you're you're pretty awesome here
with your uh your background here, First, I do want
to talk about you being a top gun instructor.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
California obviously is where you were stationed with this one
San Diego and a next Marine uh officer and a
fighter pilot instructor. Uh. Talk to me about what the riggers,
you know, protocol is for these guys that come in here.
Not everybody makes it that comes in.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, being a top gun instructor, it was just a huge, huge,
huge honor. And obviously there's a lot of hoops to
get through. You gotta get into the military, get into
fight school, get into jets, you know, get into fighters. Uh,
you to go as a student. So there's a lot
of wickets to get there. But I will tell you
that those of us that end up being a Top
Gun instructor. We're just regular normal people. And if there's
(01:05):
one thing that maybe sets top Gun instructors apart, which
is a little counterintuitive, is that these are some of
the most humble, open minded people to recognize that they
are on the road to self improvement, on road of
being better. They are not perfect, they are not flawless,
and they learn to learn from their mistakes and teach
others from their mistakes as well. It's a really humbling
group of people to be.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
A part of. Well, you're quite humble in saying the
fact that you're just normal people. No you're not. You're
you're part of the elite. It's like my friend, you know,
who's a Navy seal, Jared Hudson, who's just he's very
humble guy and a solid believer in Jesus Christ and
he's just family guy. But I got to tell you,
you know, his background is just incredible, like yourself here.
(01:46):
So now I guess you're out of this. Your your
former instructor with the Top Gun program and now you're
out back in the real world. And I love what
you're doing now and teaching others about leadership and the
need to lead? What is this project all about and
you're working with is you know the book the Need
to Lead? What are the factors and principles that you
(02:08):
teach in this book?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, well, obviously there's a nod there to top gun,
you know that, the pop culture reference. But I was
just coming up with even why I even bother to
write the book? And did I feel it it's something
I needed to do. Was I understood from my own mistakes,
my own failure, is my own shortcoming. Is that the
thing that is the most important in life to be
successful is the ability to lead. And if we want
(02:30):
to work a way through the challenges and problems that
life deals with us, we need to lead. And so
what I really centralize this book around is four key themes.
Is that one is that every human being is a leader,
every single person. That leadership exists in every capacity, not
just at work, but at home, within community, within yourself.
That every problem is a leadership problem, literally every problem
(02:52):
in life, which means leadership can solve every problem. And
then lastly, that leadership is a skill to be taught.
You're not born with it, it's not bestowed upon you. You
can learn it, which means you can get better at it,
which means you can solve the problems in your life.
This book was an attempt to help people do that,
to create the mindsets of behaviors to make their lives better.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
You know, you make such great points, no matter who
you are, no matter what you do, start with yourself
and be a leader of yourself and be the best
you can be. You know, and what God's purpose has
for you. Start leading with yourself and taking on some
adopting principles in that direction. So somebody's listing now, obviously
get the book. It's fantastic the need to lead. But
(03:30):
what would you say to somebody right now just riding
to work this morning as they're trying to figure out
ways to lead themselves and get to the job and
be a better leader.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I think you just said it extremely well, that idea
of leading yourself. Oftentimes people overlook that is the recognition
is how important that is, even just getting up making
good decisions, small things like exercising and eating right, bigger
things like how can I contribute? How can I grow?
How can I get better? What can I do to
improve myself in all aspects of my life that will
(04:02):
contribute to the team and the people around me and
help them get better too. We overlook the value of
leading ourselves. It's such an important thing. I love that
you brought that up. That's something we all have control over.
We can all live a life where we improve ourselves
as individuals and that helps the people and the communities
around us.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Are you available at coach Penn State? They need a
new football coach?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I know there's a vacancy there absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
All right, Well, you're the chief development officer and leadership
instructor at Echelon Front. What is this? An organization that
helps companies, helps people, helps charities? Do you speak and
have courses.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
All of the above? We literally do all the above.
It is a pure leadership consultancy. We exist and it
was founded by two Navy seals, Jocko Willink and Leith Babin,
who wrote the book Extreame Ownership the foundation of what
we teach at Echelon Front, and we teach the skill
of leadership and we help people understand that just like
you described earlier, they can improve as individuals that become
(04:57):
better leaders and help the teams and the people around
and they're a part of all right.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
This book Extreme Ownership the Need to Lead. Is this
the book that you're a part of or that you
work with Jacko on being a best selling author.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, so Jocko wrote Extreme Ownership ten years ago. This
is the third book in that series. Jocko wrote the
Ford and like he promises, if you get them Need
to Lead, at least you know the forward will be
good because he wrote it and it was definitely central
to this process.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, I got to tell you, I love all the
different points in this, cultivating effective leadership traits and building
effective teams, balancing long term vision with immediate actions, and
there's so many different angles to go in this and
so much growth of potential here. And I got it.
I mentioned football, but I got to equate this to
coach Saban at Alabama. My son played there for five
(05:45):
years with him and he came out of that whole
program with the great skills taught by coach Saban, not
just how to be a fullback, but how to lead
your life is growing into adulthood as a man. But
following the process is his Coach Saban's mantra. You know,
follow the process, stay committed to the process, and bettering
(06:07):
yourself in every aspect of your life, and it sounds
like being a leader is right in line with that situation.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I could not agree more. I was not athletic enough
to play sports, but it does not surprise me in
at least bet someone like your son can end up
working with a guy like Nick Saban who obviously on
the field the teams perform incredibly well. But the biggest
takeaway is the life lessons that you learned that doesn't
just apply to the football field, but to every aspect
of life. I think it's an absolutely it's the same
(06:32):
thing as leadership. I could not agree more. That's an
awesome anecdote there. I think it's perfect. Well.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I got to tell you folks get it. It is
a great book. David Burke is the author the gentleman
we're speaking with. It is called The Need to Lead.
A former top gun instructor and now helping others out
in the in the you know, secular world, if you will,
in improving their lives. David, it's great to catch up
with you. Thank you for spending time with me this morning,
and I'd love to have you back sometime.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
There is such an honor absolutely anytime
Alabama's Morning News. I'm JT. And you talk about a
badass Dave Burke joining us now top gun instructor ex
Marine Corps who uh a fighter pilot. I mean, come on,
this is just incredible. You are the real Tom Cruise
top gun instructor. Am I right in that? Well?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I appreciate the enter, JT. That's pretty cool. Man.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Well, I got to tell you you're you're pretty awesome here
with your uh your background here, First, I do want
to talk about you being a top gun instructor.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
California obviously is where you were stationed with this one
San Diego and a next Marine uh officer and a
fighter pilot instructor. Uh. Talk to me about what the riggers,
you know, protocol is for these guys that come in here.
Not everybody makes it that comes in.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, being a top gun instructor, it was just a huge, huge,
huge honor. And obviously there's a lot of hoops to
get through. You gotta get into the military, get into
fight school, get into jets, you know, get into fighters. Uh,
you to go as a student. So there's a lot
of wickets to get there. But I will tell you
that those of us that end up being a Top
Gun instructor. We're just regular normal people. And if there's
(01:05):
one thing that maybe sets top Gun instructors apart, which
is a little counterintuitive, is that these are some of
the most humble, open minded people to recognize that they
are on the road to self improvement, on road of
being better. They are not perfect, they are not flawless,
and they learn to learn from their mistakes and teach
others from their mistakes as well. It's a really humbling
group of people to be.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
A part of. Well, you're quite humble in saying the
fact that you're just normal people. No you're not. You're
you're part of the elite. It's like my friend, you know,
who's a Navy seal, Jared Hudson, who's just he's very
humble guy and a solid believer in Jesus Christ and
he's just family guy. But I got to tell you,
you know, his background is just incredible, like yourself here.
(01:46):
So now I guess you're out of this. Your your
former instructor with the Top Gun program and now you're
out back in the real world. And I love what
you're doing now and teaching others about leadership and the
need to lead? What is this project all about and
you're working with is you know the book the Need
to Lead? What are the factors and principles that you
(02:08):
teach in this book?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, well, obviously there's a nod there to top gun,
you know that, the pop culture reference. But I was
just coming up with even why I even bother to
write the book? And did I feel it it's something
I needed to do. Was I understood from my own mistakes,
my own failure, is my own shortcoming. Is that the
thing that is the most important in life to be
successful is the ability to lead. And if we want
(02:30):
to work a way through the challenges and problems that
life deals with us, we need to lead. And so
what I really centralize this book around is four key themes.
Is that one is that every human being is a leader,
every single person. That leadership exists in every capacity, not
just at work, but at home, within community, within yourself.
That every problem is a leadership problem, literally every problem
(02:52):
in life, which means leadership can solve every problem. And
then lastly, that leadership is a skill to be taught.
You're not born with it, it's not bestowed upon you. You
can learn it, which means you can get better at it,
which means you can solve the problems in your life.
This book was an attempt to help people do that,
to create the mindsets of behaviors to make their lives better.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
You know, you make such great points, no matter who
you are, no matter what you do, start with yourself
and be a leader of yourself and be the best
you can be. You know, and what God's purpose has
for you. Start leading with yourself and taking on some
adopting principles in that direction. So somebody's listing now, obviously
get the book. It's fantastic the need to lead. But
(03:30):
what would you say to somebody right now just riding
to work this morning as they're trying to figure out
ways to lead themselves and get to the job and
be a better leader.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I think you just said it extremely well, that idea
of leading yourself. Oftentimes people overlook that is the recognition
is how important that is, even just getting up making
good decisions, small things like exercising and eating right, bigger
things like how can I contribute? How can I grow?
How can I get better? What can I do to
improve myself in all aspects of my life that will
(04:02):
contribute to the team and the people around me and
help them get better too. We overlook the value of
leading ourselves. It's such an important thing. I love that
you brought that up. That's something we all have control over.
We can all live a life where we improve ourselves
as individuals and that helps the people and the communities
around us.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Are you available at coach Penn State? They need a
new football coach?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I know there's a vacancy there absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
All right, Well, you're the chief development officer and leadership
instructor at Echelon Front. What is this? An organization that
helps companies, helps people, helps charities? Do you speak and
have courses.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
All of the above? We literally do all the above.
It is a pure leadership consultancy. We exist and it
was founded by two Navy seals, Jocko Willink and Leith Babin,
who wrote the book Extreame Ownership the foundation of what
we teach at Echelon Front, and we teach the skill
of leadership and we help people understand that just like
you described earlier, they can improve as individuals that become
(04:57):
better leaders and help the teams and the people around
and they're a part of all right.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
This book Extreme Ownership the Need to Lead. Is this
the book that you're a part of or that you
work with Jacko on being a best selling author.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, so Jocko wrote Extreme Ownership ten years ago. This
is the third book in that series. Jocko wrote the
Ford and like he promises, if you get them Need
to Lead, at least you know the forward will be
good because he wrote it and it was definitely central
to this process.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, I got to tell you, I love all the
different points in this, cultivating effective leadership traits and building
effective teams, balancing long term vision with immediate actions, and
there's so many different angles to go in this and
so much growth of potential here. And I got it.
I mentioned football, but I got to equate this to
coach Saban at Alabama. My son played there for five
(05:45):
years with him and he came out of that whole
program with the great skills taught by coach Saban, not
just how to be a fullback, but how to lead
your life is growing into adulthood as a man. But
following the process is his Coach Saban's mantra. You know,
follow the process, stay committed to the process, and bettering
(06:07):
yourself in every aspect of your life, and it sounds
like being a leader is right in line with that situation.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I could not agree more. I was not athletic enough
to play sports, but it does not surprise me in
at least bet someone like your son can end up
working with a guy like Nick Saban who obviously on
the field the teams perform incredibly well. But the biggest
takeaway is the life lessons that you learned that doesn't
just apply to the football field, but to every aspect
of life. I think it's an absolutely it's the same
(06:32):
thing as leadership. I could not agree more. That's an
awesome anecdote there. I think it's perfect. Well.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I got to tell you folks get it. It is
a great book. David Burke is the author the gentleman
we're speaking with. It is called The Need to Lead.
A former top gun instructor and now helping others out
in the in the you know, secular world, if you will,
in improving their lives. David, it's great to catch up
with you. Thank you for spending time with me this morning,
and I'd love to have you back sometime.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
There is such an honor absolutely anytime
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