Ryan Burke, Leadership by Example and BOLA

What are the challenges of leading 600 soldiers in a battle situation??

What are the parallels for business leadership??

What of the vulnerabilities in leadership??

These were some of the questions put to Ryan Burke, Colonel-retired in the US Joint Special Operations Command, when he led a conversation for Band of Leaders Australia (BOLA) members entitled Leadership by Example at the group’s monthly meeting on Thursday 6 February at Casa Nostra in Osborne Park.

BOLA is a peer membership group for business owners and chief executives.? We seek to take our members beyond achievement to success—the essence of leadership.? Inviting Guest Conversations is a key activity in our day-long group meeting.

Ryan said that the leadership challenges in battle situations often related to trauma among armed personnel.? Early in his command he learned that applying compassionate, active listening brought a significant effect on the followership of the rest of the group.? He said that within the context of orders and standard operating procedures, you have to be across each person and their personal challenges and anticipate what they are capable of in any given situation.?

And what of the parallels for business leadership?? Ryan said that there were many—among them that a ?high performing team makes sacrifices for the other members of the team.? And the team leader needs to ask those who make a sacrifice how you can best compensate them—for instance giving them a specific day off may not be a reward if they couldn’t match up with someone to share it with. ?Also, in the business context, it is vital to watch for individuals’ stress signals and use the leader’s authority to relieve that stress.

You need to get to know your people—their strengths and weaknesses when needed, their personal motivations and to invoke specialist psychological help when needed.

He also added a favourite maxim: Trust but verify.

Ryan said that the vulnerabilities in leadership included not having someone trustworthy to vent to, being lonely at the top, perceiving a gulf between practice and the relevant theory, constant stress, the exhaustion of leadership and extreme peer pressure.?

Ryan recommended mindfulness training, working out, routine calming activities, self-reflection, listening to ?trusted observations, getting a mentor or a coach, providing support for others and not taking issues home—risking the same pressure on family and loved ones.

Now living in Perth, Ryan’s first career was in the US where he served in infantry and intelligence roles, leading the most elite teams during every rank of his 20+ year career in some of the most volatile and austere locations, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and the African Sahel. He was personally selected for an exchange as the Deputy Director of the United Kingdom’s Defence Intelligence Security Centre, commanded a Special Mission Unit (SMU) in Paris, France, and represented the Commander of Joint Special Operations Command within the dynamic and complex US National Capital Region’s Defense Intelligence Agency.

Ryan rose in the corporate environment to become an executive leader at one of Australia’s largest corporations, combining his business acumen, leadership, security and risk management, health / safety theory and his extensive practical experience to evolve his department’s structure and culture to service the organisation’s 15,000 employees.

Ryan’s accomplishments include executive leadership coaching, optimizing teams and leading elite organisations to perform in the most complex environments. He has deep expertise in bringing together multicultural, dynamic and often competing stakeholders to accomplish the most challenging of projects and tasks. He has worked with multiple ASX listed companies and their executives, as well as both foreign and domestic dignitaries to help optimize their teams and processes.

BOLA members will next meet on Thursday 6 March, again at Casa Nostra and the Guest Conversation will be led by Craig Musson, MD of Wafex, followed by lunch.

Typically, our agenda also includes the processing of strategic opportunities raised within the group, wide ranging business issues, and leadership reflection, discussion development tools and activities.

Prospective members and referrers are invited on request as Paul Manning is building a BOLA Growth group.

In the meantime, each BOLA Prime member will have a monthly coaching session with their BOLA Chair, Jeff.

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Next week:? The Story of Us

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About the Author

Jeff Bell?is Principal of executive consultancy ResultsWise in Perth, WA.?To boost your leadership, ask Jeff about Band of Leaders Australia (BOLA) [email protected] and his consulting, coaching and strategy facilitation, or his Advanced Leadership Course [email protected] Mobile 0439 988 662. ?