USMC Officer Leading in Combat | Battle-Test Leadership Expert | Joe McNamara

About This Episode
Today we hear the Combat Story of Joe McNamara, a former Marine Corps officer who experienced a unique kind of violence from his time on campus at Virginia Tech during the horrific 2007 shooting to leading Marines in combat in Afghanistan.
After leaving the service, Joe founded a leadership development company called Impact USA that trained both elite athletes and private sector leaders. Impact was recently acquired by Mike Sarraille’s Talent War Group, where Joe is now a partner and Chief Revenue Officer.
Many will recall a fantastic interview with Mike (episode 70 https://youtu.be/v4TPJtkZrek), the former enlisted Marine who went on to Force Recon then served as an officer in SEALs and, eventually, Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU). The fact that someone like Mike who went through that crucible of leadership experiences went on to acquire Impact says a lot about what Joe does to develop leaders.
This episode dives between combat experiences and the leadership lessons we can apply to our lives, from the foxhole to athletics to the office. In fact, Joe answers two questions I’ve always had: how do you create a sense of shared adversity in a corporate setting and how do you find time to train corporate leaders without taking them off operations for a full six to 12 months the way the military does it.
Show Notes:
The video is all about Marine Corps Officer, Joe McNamara. If you want to learn more about Combat Story, you can click: https://www.combatstory.com/
This video covers the following subjects:
- Marine Corps Officer, Joe McNamara - Marine Corps Infantry Officer - Talent War Group - Platoon and Company CDR Joe McNamara is a former combat-decorated U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer, Partner, and Chief Revenue Officer at Talent War Group.
During his service, Joe led elite teams through multiple combat deployments in Afghanistan, orchestrating and leading hundreds of combat missions throughout enemy strongholds. Through the lessons learned from his time as a military and business leader, Joe also founded a leadership development firm – acquired by Talent War Group in 2022 – that has partnered with elite athletes, coaches, and corporate teams around the nation. Focused on turning passive followers into active leaders.
If you would like to learn more about Marine Corps Officer, Joe McNamara I suggest you look into our various other video clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCyApoJr-mNmdMNwdk22xEQ _________________________
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Joe McNamara
Chapters
- 0:00Intro
- 0:35About our sponsor, Let's Get Checked
- 1:57Guest Introduction (Joe McNamara)
- 3:46Interview begins
- 5:13Childhood and path to the military
- 10:04Support for Combat Story brought to you by Manscaped
- 11:24Somber stories of courage and leadership from the school shooting at Virginia Tech
- 22:08When certain experiences harden you emotionally
- 25:10The most impactful leadership advice from Marine Corps mentors
- 40:31Being in a leadership role at 20-21 years old and the most important attribute in leadership
- 44:12Combat Story - What it is like as infantry men when your vehicle gets hit by massive IED
- 53:47Combat Story - First time someone in his platoon was hit while on foot
- 1:00:24What an "XO" is in the military and what the role entails
- 1:04:24Combat Story - How leadership planning and drills show up after a mass casualty event
- 1:14:29Formative Company Command time at Parris Island
- 1:24:55Where the idea for Impact Leadership came from
- 1:28:10Replicating shared adversity and military training in corporate sector
- 1:36:03The biggest challenges seen in corporate leadership
- 1:39:55What did you carry into combat?
- 1:40:39Would you do it again?
- 1:43:26Listener comments and shout outs


