MacGyver Doc: Leading in Chaos, Finding Purpose in Pressure with Dr. Josh McConkey

Transcript from https://podmenti.com/t/0b3aa4c8a9ec3ddf

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Shake the room fire nation JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down McGyver Doc, leading in chaos, finding purpose.
in pressure. And to drop these value bombs, I brought Dr. Josh McConkey into EO Fire Studios. Dr. Josh McGyver Doc is a Pulitzer Prize nominee, tele award winner, combat veteran, and emergency physician. He's an award winning author of Be the Weight Behind the Spear.
The heart of a leader, inspiring resilient leadership. And today we talk about leadership under fire, emergency medicine, and decision making, building resilient teams, the weight behind the spear, teaching feature leavers, and oh so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Dr. Josh and our sponsors.
Fire Nation, if you have a high ticket offer and need more quality leads, Nexus Install is designed for you. We'll book you eight to twenty qualify calls each month, then train you to run the system yourself. Email my team at John at EOFIR dot com to learn more and see if Nexus is the right fit for you.
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Dr. Josh, say what's up to Fire Nation, and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.
Well hello out there, Fire Nation.
I believe success has far less to do with talent.
than it does with service.
I believe ambition is overrated.
And service is very much
Underrated. Most people chase titles, money and recognition
The people that I see the most successful are the ones that chase responsibility.

And
If you
become indispensable to your family.
your team and your organization.
Success has no choice but to find you.
We're talking about leading in chaos and finding purpose in pressure. And I want to start by talking about leadership under fire, Dr. Josh, because you led teams in combat zones where decisions had to be immediate. They had real world consequences. So
What did those environments teach you about leadership under pressure?
When you see that type of pressure, when you see those life and death situations, I see that in the emergency department as well. And
What you realize like in the business world.
In in the environment.
You have time.
And
that ability to adapt and overcome, you know, you take that from some of the military training and some of the special operations background, but for your organization.
Don't micromanage.
Because when you micromanage your people, you're not letting them make decisions, you're not letting them make some small mistakes. I mean, that's how people learn.
And
When the time comes and you get those pressure situations, if you haven't given them those tools to be successful and you've been micromanaging them,
they're not going to be able to perform under pressure.
So talk about emergency medicine and decision making within that because after over twenty years.
As an emergency physician
How has rapid decision making shaped the way that you actually approach leadership and performance?
In the emergency department, it it it really is
the ultimate pressure situation. So
They are literally life and death decisions.
And what you learn in in business
is that everyone wants an answer immediately and everyone's looking to you as the leader.
Take a moment and step back.
You have time.
It might not be much time. You know sometimes you're gonna have more time than other situations, but there's always time.
So sit back.
Have a nice checklist that you run through in your head, call them the people that you trust in your organization.
And with the best information that you have at the time, you're gonna make that right decision for your organization.
But there's always time. It just might not be much, but take that time.
Let's talk about building resilient teams. I think this is a critical component that a lot of people just don't understand how to even start because you teach leadership principles across industries, and what are those key ingredients of
Resilient.
high performing teams.
I've done some amazing things in a in a very long career in medicine and education in the military.
My favorite by far was
the time that I met Coach K.
So when I was a professor at Duke University
He came and gave a lecture to our residency program.
And I thought he probably just owes someone a favor and this was gonna be just just a publicity stunt.
But he literally sat down and he gave us a nearly two hour lecture.
on on building teams and that resiliency. And he just had five really key steps. I I used I used it in my own uh assumption of command speech when I took command at Andrews Air Force Base. And he talks first about ownership.
So just taking ownership in your organization and in business right now.
The
The generation Z.
If you don't get them involved and have ownership in your business or feel like they're a big part of that, they just walk quickly.
So ownership is huge.
The second part was talking about accountability.
And it starts with the person at the top. So you have to hold people accountable. It starts with you as a leader. I know for me and my military organization as a commander had to make some difficult call with some senior uh level
Lieutenant Colonels that just weren't
pulling their weight and they they had to get let go. So that accountability, if you show people
It it means a lot to you, though mean a lot to them.
And then the third part was talking about
Standards.
Not rules.
Nobody likes rules.
Everyone wants to find a way around the rules, but for Coach K
That's
Having
the standards. It's an honor to be part of this team, to be part of that organization. And then the last two, when you talk about empowerment and not micromanaging.
You know, for me as as a as a leader as well.
don't micromanage. And I know I talked a little bit about that earlier as well, but you have to take ownership and and and empower your people. So if you have to micromanage in your organization, then you haven't made a good decision as a leader. So you need to step back, you need to take more time to
Coach them up.
to mentor them and find a way to empower them or
You either have to make a tough decision and find someone else.
So those five things right there were just awesome.
That's so powerful. And you know, being a massive college basketball fan, like I definitely love the source of that. But I will say like looking back on my time as an officer in the US Army
The officers that I respected the most by a long shot, not even a little bit, but by a lot, were those that took accountability. That was so huge for me because here I was a second lieutenant or first lieutenant, a captain. And listen, I was making mistakes, my platoon was making mistakes, every you know
And it was those leaders in my chain of command that said, you know what?
That's on me because you definitely made a mistake, but I'm taking ownership of that. I'm taking accountability of that because
Maybe I didn't train you the right way. Maybe I wasn't clear in my communications. And I was like, man, I respected the crap out of that. I mean, I was personally taking ownership for my personal mistakes. But the fact that they were putting it on them, I was like, I wanna be that kind of leader. And then there's other officers, unfortunately, who were the flip side, who everything was like.
Nothing was their fault. Everything was the whoever was below them in the chain of command's fault or above them in the chain of chain of command's fault. There was zero accountability.
And those were the individuals that I
Absolutely just respected the least. So do you have an example, Dr. Josh, that you can give in that specific scenario of accountability where you really believe just shines in its importance?
So for me in Iraq in two thousand seven, we had some medics in some very remoteations. So uh Talil, Al Kut, just not a lot of medical resources out there.
And so I really expanded their scope of practice to things that they could do.
And literally about two weeks after I left theater, I
There was a
uh a horrific accident on one of the routes, IED that that went off and the Medivac helicopter gets called in. They couldn't get the individuals out of the vehicle. And at that point you're worried about snipers and secondary IDs and you know just, you know
Things get crazy very quickly. And the medic made a decision.
to try to amputate a leg.
Uh in in combat.

You know, operations with craziness going on everywhere.
And it didn't go well.
And it was a third country national that that actually died.
So the people that were investigating, you know, they wanna they wanna point fingers, point a lot of blame, everyone wants to throw that medic under the bus.
And they had the person that had kind of stood in for me when I left country.
had called me up and I his his name is Joe and I say, Joe, listen.
This is on me one hundred percent.
You know?
Things are crazy.
You have them call me and everyone wanted to kind of pass that blame or sacrifice that medic. I was like, no, I trained him.
I gave him the latitude to do that. It didn't do well. You know, things happen in combat sometimes. It's just not ideal situations, so I own that.
And you know
Everybody sees those leaders that wants to
Pass the blame.
And they don't take accountability for things and everyone is someone else's fault. They're trying to climb that ladder. I can't stand those types of leaders. And so yeah, I took ownership for that. And at the end of the day
Nothing could have been done differently anyways. They had to get the individual out.
You know, there's live fire coming in and just crazy situations while that stuff happens. But yeah, you gotta take that ownership. Wow. I mean that's a story that brings chills literally. And you know, that's does really kinda grind my gears as well when there's just people that are, you know, maybe back in the US or somewhere else that's you know not in the quote unquote line of live fire.
And they're like making
calls and making decisions and making judgments on somebody who's literally getting shot at, who's literally in the line of fire, who's literally probably, you know, inches away from death. And
To me, it's just like if that other individual that's making the judgments is not in that situation and and has probably never been in an exact situation like that, like it just is really frustrating to see because, man, when you have it in that situation as I was, we did overlap in Iraq. I was there in two thousand three to two thousand four. I had a thirteen month tour of duty then. Um
I mean, I could just never ever
Like judge harshly people who are acting.
For for what they believe is in the best interest in a situation especially like that. Exactly. So this person that wants a Monday morning quarterback, they're sitting at some nice air conditioned office like in Tampa.
It's sent com command and you know it's it it's crazy.
It's exactly what it is. It's a Monday morning quarterback. They're not getting charged, you know, a hundred miles an hour from three hundred pound linemen, you know, as they're trying to scramble out of the pocket and make a pass. No, it's Monday morning quarterback. They don't get it. It's sad. But we're gonna talk about the weight behind the spear, teaching future leaders and more when we get back from thinking.
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Dr. Josh, we're back. And as I kind of teased before the break, I want to talk about being the weight behind the spear. I mean, your Pulser Prize nominated book, it focuses on purpose driven leadership. So what's the core message behind that title?
So for me, that's it's been my personal leadership ethos. Be the weight behind the spear.
And
When you talk about
The tip of the spear, you know, the special operations. I was medical director for combat search and rescue. Or you talk about the CEOs of some some big high level companies. That's the tip of the spear.
What I learned is that every single person that gets to that level has a tremendous weight behind them. So whether it was teachers or coaches or some mentors throughout their career.
That is what gives them the confidence and the skill to do what they do. That's being the weight behind the spear. And for any organization, that's always your best resource.
It's it's your people.
And you know, for me it's it's been
very successful in the military and in business as well. And that's being the weight behind the spear.
Let's talk about teaching future leaders. I mean, as a former Duke University professor, I'm getting the the Coach K connections here. What did mentoring future leaders teach you about accountability?
And growth.
In the emergency department, uh Duke University.
You know, we have
A lot of high acuity.
Yeah, there's always like the crazy cases that would come from all around North Carolina and the region looking for a a Duke miracle.
And in those types of environments, that that really is the ultimate accountability.
Because in the emergency department you have split second decisions.
And when you make a mistake, people die.
And that's something that's very hard to live with.
But
When you
have that ability to
Really
Compartmentalized.
And you make critical decisions with limited information, sometimes no information.
You're making the decision.
at the time split second with the best information that you had at the time.
It's easy to Monday morning quarterback that and someone always criticizes you later, but you learn to compartmentalize.
Yeah, otherwise it eats you alive. So I know the first time I ran a pediatric code
And a young baby died. This was a Cid's death. And I just went home and we did everything we could, but you're thinking about it, you're second guessing things. I just had a monster headache. I had to run about seven miles until I was going to throw up and just exhaust myself. And then you just realize that if you can't find a way to compartmentalize when you make difficult decisions,
And realized that you did the best that you could at the time.
You're not gonna survive in whatever career field that you're in.
So you have to find a way. You gotta have your stress relievers and
Find a way to compartmentalize.
Let's talk about the McGyver Doc mindset, because you're known for adapting and executing in absolute chaos. So how can entrepreneurs become better problem solvers when everything just feels so uncertain, which to be honest,
Let's just say we mostly live in a world of uncertainty.
Absolutely. So that McGyver doc mindset, just that ability to to adapt.
So some of the biggest mistake the leaders make
And when you have uncertainty is is waiting for certainty.
in emergency medicine and combat operations and crisis response and business, you know, I've just learned that perfect information never arrives.
It's never perfect.
So the leaders who succeed are the ones
Not the ones with all the answers.
It's the ones that can make good decisions.
with incomplete information.
And then adapt quickly as those conditions change and you know.
Clarity doesn't usually come before action.
You know, clarity comes from action. And then you just reevaluate and be flexible. And that ability to adapt and overcome is is just really
Really important.
Let's close with one leadership principle.
That Fire Nations should adopt
Today, if they want to lead with more courage, more clarity.
More
Purpose.
You know, when you talk about being the weight behind the spear, you know, we live in a culture that celebrates that person in front.
you know, the CEO, the influencer, like the the number one person on the team.
But every successful person has had people behind them who taught, coached.
And mentored.
And that's what I really like to focus on.
So if you want more courage.
You know, stop asking what if I fail?
You know, if you're not pushing yourself towards failure at some point
Then you have a lot left to give your organization and you can't be afr afraid to fail.
If you want more clarity.
Focus less on yourself.
And more on serving your mission.
And your team.
And if you want more purpose, invest that time in people because titles fade.
Money comes and goes, but the impact you have on another person's life can last for generations.
And leadership isn't a position. It's a decision.
So life's a team sport.
Be the weight behind the spear.
Doctor Josh.
If Fire Nation wants to connect with you, wants to learn more about what you have going on, what should they do? What action should they take? Where should they go to consume your content?
You can go to Wait BehindThe Spear dot com W E I G H T
Waitbehind the Spear dot com. On Instagram, it's Josh McConky M D. I'm on LinkedIn as well. And on X, it's McConkey Double O seven. I'm a James Bond fan.
Fire Nation, you're the average. Of the five people you spend the most time with, you've been hanging out with 007 and JLD today, so keep up that heat. And for links to literally everything we talked about, visit EOFIR.com. Just type Josh in the search bar.
The show notes page will pop right up. And Dr. Josh, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge, and value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thank you.
Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Josh for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, are you an entrepreneur on fire who's looking to share your amazing message with the world? If yes, we are now accepting applications for EO Fire. So to learn more about becoming a guest, visit EOFIR.com slash guest, and I'll catch you there.
Or on the flip side.
Fire Nation, if you have a high ticket offer and need more quality leads Nexus install is designed for you. We'll book you eight to twenty qualify calls each month, then train you to run the system yourself. Email my team at John at EOFIR.com to learn more and see if Nexus is the right fit for you.
If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. Highlevel gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform, plus award winning 24-7 supports. Get a 30-day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com.
High level fire.
Dot com