39. Leadership in Practice with Colonel George Reynolds (US Army Retired) and Colleen Mizuki Part 1

Mission First People Always's podcast

On this special two-part episode, you’ll hear from two seasoned leadership consulting professionals who come from very different backgrounds, but work incredibly well together. One is a retired US Army Infantry Officer who has served in and prepared others to serve in combat zones for a number of years, while his colleague is an expert on the practice of mindfulness techniques; brain-mind-body-optimization, and self-regulation techniques for for greater wellbeing and improved performance. It’s a wide ranging conversation about leadership and teamwork, and how to do both in incredibly challenging situations.

About Our Guests

Colleen Mizuki has a deep passion for helping people be at their best, to engage with the world in a way that fits their values, and strives to always provide the most up-to-date information and research-based techniques to optimize the brain-mind-body system. She has 20-years of experience in coaching and designing/delivering performance-enhancement, learning and development, and resilience programs. Her expertise and passion centers around programs based in the science and practice of mindfulness techniques; brain-mind-body optimization; and self-regulation for greater wellbeing and improved performance. She brings a unique background in psychotherapy and body-based therapy, coaching, training mindfulness/yoga practice and hard science. She has experience working a very diverse client base, including corporate, military, academic, diplomatic, social services, cyber (hackers), information technology R&D, and non-profit organizations with clients from over 25 countries.

Colleen has a B.A. in French/Chinese/Economics, an A.A. in Laser Electro-optics Technology, and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology. Her certifications include the Hudson Institute of Coaching; Cultural Intelligence Center (CQ® and Unconscious Bias); Myers-Briggs (MBTI®); MHS (EQi/EQ360); HeartMath® Institute; Institute for Social and Emotional Intelligence (ISEI®); Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT®); Somatic Experiencing® International (body-based trauma resolution); and, Idea Connection System, Inc. (ISPI®). She speaks fluent French and gets by in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

Colonel (Retired) George Reynolds has accumulated over 43-years of combined experience within the Department of Defense (DoD) in uniform – U.S. Army – and as a federal employee, both civil service and contractor. During his Army career spanning thirty-one years – 28 as an officer –his key military areas of expertise included leadership development; force management and development; and tactical, operational, and strategic planning and execution in peacetime and combat. Throughout this entire period, George was a change manager, mentor, and developer of leaders.

As a Department of Defense civil servant, George supported the NATO-led military operations in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Resolute Support) as a senior advisor. In this capacity, he provided critical guidance, advice, and mentorship in the areas of good governance and sustainable institutional capacity building to key leaders within the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan security ministries. As with his time in uniform, these missions called on his skills in change management and leadership development, and leveraged his emotional and cultural intelligence.

Since 2015, George has served as program and course manager of the Defense Security Cooperation University’s (DSCU) Ministry of Defense Advisors (MoDA) and Defense Advisors Program (DAP) training endeavors. During this time, he has planned, managed, and executed the training of over 400 career Department of Defense career employees and United States military service members enabling them to effectively serve globally with strategic partner countries at the ministerial/cabinet level.

George Reynolds has a B.A. in Business Management, M.S. in Strategic Studies, and an M.A. in Military Studies. He is also a graduate of both the US Army War College and the US Army Command and General Staff College as well as the US Army Force Management School.

Colleen and George are co-founders of Trellis Life Management, LLC., a leadership consultancy that teaches science-based techniques and use highly researched tools to bridge the gap from desiring improvement, increasing self-awareness, setting concrete goals, and, ultimately, to attaining sustained, meaningful change. They split their time helping people through Trellis Life Management and full-time jobs managing an intense 7-week program preparing senior DoD employees to work as advisors to ministers of defense across the globe.

For a period of time, Colleen moved to another project under a different manager, in that case a 2-Star Marine General (Retired). What a lesson that was for Colleen in the impact of vastly different leadership capacities. The retired 2-Star created a hostile, toxic work environment, in sharp contrast with the leadership abilities and style of George. It’s a great illustration of how we can all learn to become more effective relational leaders--no matter where we are in our careers.

Connect with my Guests:

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On this Episode You’ll Learn:

• Why mentors matter

• What it means to be a mission first people always leader

• How empathy makes us better leaders

• How to develop empathy

• What does it mean to integrate your brain-mind-body system into leadership practice

• Centering techniques that can reduce stress and improve how you respond to stressful situations

Connect with Dr. Mike:

• Website: https://www.drmikepatterson.com

• Book: https://www.missionfirstpeoplealwaysbook.com

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmichaellpatterson

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealdrmikepatterson/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/drmikepatterson

• Buy The Book!: Mission First People Always

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:00 Dr. Mike’s introduction to Colonel George Reynolds and Colleen Mizuki

• 6:53 The 2 things can Colonel George Reynolds boil success down to?

• 13:43 Doesn’t being mentored require a good dose of humility?

• 16:34 How important is empathy to effective leadership?

• 23:27 What does it mean to be a Mission First People Always leader and what does it look like?

• 28:18 What are we talking about when we say Brain, Mind, Body System?

• 31:12 How is the Brain, Mind, Body System practical applied for leaders?