From The Green Notebook

Send us Fan Mail General Christopher Donahue, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa joins Joe for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, culture, and what it takes to drive real change at scale across massive, dispersed organizations. Having led at the division, corps, and now theater Army level, Donahue reflects on what doesn’t change as responsibility grows. Regardless of rank or...

Send us Fan Mail Alpha Coffee co-founder and retired Army lieutenant colonel Carl Churchill joins Joe for a candid conversation on leadership, resilience, and what it really takes to build something that lasts after the uniform comes off. After serving more than two decades in the Army, Carl found himself facing an unexpected second career shaped not by careful planning, but by crisis. In the wake...

Send us Fan Mail Retired Marine Corps fighter pilot, Top Gun instructor, and leadership consultant Dave Berke joins Joe for an honest conversation about ego, responsibility, and what it truly means to lead—both in the arena of combat and in everyday life. As the bestselling author of The Need to Lead , Dave pulls back the curtain on the high-pressure world of fighter aviation, the chaos of ground...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Joseph Loconte joins Joe for a powerful exploration of faith, imagination, and courage in times of crisis—how two Oxford professors used story to resist the darkness of their age and inspire generations to come. As a historian and author of The War for Middle-earth: J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945 , Dr. Loconte reveals how the trauma of...

Send us Fan Mail Phil Gilbert joins Joe for a masterclass on leading lasting change—how to move large organizations, overcome cultural antibodies, and build systems that make transformation stick. As the former head of design at IBM, Phil was tasked with one of the most ambitious corporate transformations of the last decade: to reignite creativity, collaboration, and speed inside a century-old com...

Send us Fan Mail Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer joins Joe Byerly for a candid and provocative discussion about power—what it is, how it works, and why more good people need to learn to use it. Drawing from his influential books Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t   and The 7 Rules of Power , Pfeffer challenges listeners to see the world as it really operates—not as we wish it to be...

Send us Fan Mail New York Times bestselling author Ryan Holiday returns to From the Green Notebook for his third conversation with Joe—this time diving into the themes of his latest and final book in the Stoic Virtues series, Wisdom Takes Work .  In this wide-ranging conversation, Ryan and Joe discuss the importance of curiosity, humility, and deep reflection in a world where shortcuts and surface...

Send us Fan Mail This is the longest episode ever of From the Green Notebook —and for good reason. Joe brings you a special LANDEURO Talks edition of the podcast, recorded at AUSA’s inaugural LANDEURO conference in Germany back in July. While at LANDEURO, Joe participated in both the Generation Next Forum and the Leadership Forum, hosted by the AUSA Center for Leadership. These gatherings were des...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Galena Rhoades, coauthor of Fighting For Your Marriage , returns to From the Green Notebook to talk with Joe about the strain that deployments, training, and time apart place on military marriages—and how couples can stay connected through it. Drawing on years of research and her work helping couples strengthen relationships, Galena explains why separation creates unique chall...

Send us Fan Mail In this special Notebook Notes episode, Joe sits down with Sergeant Major Urzua and Sergeant Major Brady to discuss the Army Directive 2025-18, with a guest appearance from Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer. The intent behind the new Army directive and what it means for Soldiers and leaders Why appearance reflects discipline, professionalism, and Army values How commanders...

Send us Fan Mail Author and researcher Dr. Colin Fisher joins Joe to unpack the invisible forces that shape teams—and why leaders ignore them at their own risk. From his book The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups Dr. Fisher shows how group dynamics are always at play, whether in a locker room, a boardroom, or on the battlefield. Together, he and Joe explore why the myth of the...

Send us Fan Mail Military strategist and author George M. Dougherty joins Joe to unpack how robotics, AI, and precision weaponry are reshaping the future of warfare—and what history can teach us about navigating this transformation. From his book Beast in the Machine , George traces the roots of military robotics back over a century and shows how concepts like remote-controlled systems and autonom...

Send us Fan Mail Army officer and Harvard-trained scholar Laura Weimer joins Joe to unpack leader identity—how it’s formed, why it matters, and what happens when we never stop to question it. From leading Soldiers in the field to earning a PhD in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, Laura has navigated both the operational Army and academia. Along the way, she’s learned that one of...

Send us Fan Mail Author Roland Allen joins Joe for a deep-dive into his book, The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper , and the surprising legacy of one of humanity’s most powerful tools: the humble notebook. Whether it’s a green notebook in your cargo pocket, Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches, or a modern writer’s Moleskine , notebooks have shaped how people think, learn, and lead for centuries....

Send us Fan Mail Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author Matt Richtel joins Joe for a powerful conversation about his new book, How We Grow Up: Understanding Adolescence . Blending neuroscience, history, and real-life stories from teens and families across the country, Matt offers a transformative understanding of adolescence—not as a problem to fix, but as a critical phase of gro...

Send us Fan Mail Retired Marine Raider and author John Dailey joins the podcast to discuss his memoir, Tough Rugged Bastards , and the hard-earned lessons from a lifetime in Marine special operations. In this episode, Joe and John explore: The story behind the founding of Marine Special Operations—and what it took to prove they belonged Why breath work, meditation, and reading became essential too...

Send us Fan Mail Army veterans and leadership experts Brandon Young and Blayne Smith join the podcast for a powerful conversation about their new book, Perseverance > Endurance: Lead with Resilience. Grow Through Adversity. Win Together . Blending combat-tested wisdom, lived leadership experiences, and hard-earned insight from both military and civilian life, Brandon and Blayne break down what...

Send us Fan Mail U.S. Army Special Operations Command Sergeant Major JoAnn Naumann returns to the podcast—this time from the range at Fort Bragg—for a conversation on leadership, transformation, and enabling the next generation of special operations forces. With nearly three decades in uniform and two years as the senior enlisted leader of USASOC, CSM Naumann shares the mindset shifts, hard-won le...

Send us Fan Mail In this special Army Birthday Week episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson joins Joe to explore the deep roots of the U.S. Army and what its 250-year journey can teach today’s leaders. Known for his Liberation Trilogy and now two volumes into his Revolution Trilogy , Atkinson brings the American Revolution to life—warts, wonder, and all—and makes a compelling case...

Send us Fan Mail In this candid conversation, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll joins Joe to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to modernize a military while staying grounded in soldier-level feedback. From wrestling with “irrationality and stupidity at scale” in the Pentagon to launching the Army Transformation Initiative, Driscoll shares why he’s flipping tables—sometimes almost lite...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful conversation, award-winning journalist turned Army officer Sarah Blake Morgan joins Joe for a raw and reflective discussion on identity, purpose, and what happens when we step away from the life we always thought we wanted. From chasing stories as a national correspondent for the Associated Press to standing in formation at Army basic training at age 31, Sarah ope...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful conversation, retired four-star General Stanley McChrystal joins Joe to discuss his new book, On Character: Choices That Define a Life . Drawing from decades of military leadership and personal reflection, General McChrystal breaks down why character is more than just a word—it's a daily practice rooted in conviction and discipline. In this episode, they expl...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Joe sits down with Lieutenant General Mary Izaguirre, the 46th Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and Commanding General of Army Medical Command, for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, vulnerability, culture, and purpose. Drawing on over three decades of service, LTG Izaguirre shares hard-earned lessons on how to lead authentically and navigate professional...

Send us Fan Mail In this Notebook Notes episode of From the Green Notebook , we sit down with Bob O’Brien, the Army’s lead for the Command Assessment Program (CAP), to take a deep dive into how CAP is transforming how the Army selects and develops its future leaders. Bob explains how this multi-day assessment process captures over 1,800 data points per candidate to provide a more complete picture...

Send us Fan Mail In this Mother's Day episode, Joe sits down with Danny Ricker, Emmy-nominated comedy writer, producer, and author of Wow, You Look Terrible!: How to Parent Less and Live More , for a laugh-out-loud conversation on the highs and lows of parenting young kids. Drawing from both personal experience and sharp comedic insight, Danny unpacks the pressure modern parents face to do it...