Episode 480 Michael Allison Why Veterans Make the Best Leaders Transcript

This transcript is from episode 480 with guest Michael Allison.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] You’ve been through hell and back. Making the shift from the battlefield to civilian life can feel like navigating unchartered territory. Finding a job is one thing. Rediscovering your purpose is another. You create that sense of mission, [00:00:15] that clarity under pressure. But out here, everything feels like a never ending fog.

Leadership doesn’t come with a rank anymore and adversity, it doesn’t come with a warning. And today we’re gonna be [00:00:30] talking with Michael Allison, a Marine Corps veteran, purple Heart recipient, and CEO of the Adversity Academy. He’s here to show you how to turn life’s toughest moments into fuel for success.

We’re gonna break down real [00:00:45] world leadership, mental resilience, and the mindset shift you need to lead at any level, whether in business, family, or just life itself. And if you’re looking for direction. This is it. Stick around because this episode could change the way you [00:01:00] see adversity forever. And before we dive in, make sure you’re subscribed at Drive On Podcast dot com slash subscribe.

You’ll get my five favorite episodes sent straight to your inbox, no fluff, just the best insights to help you [00:01:15] drive on. Now, let’s get into it.

Michael, I want to welcome you to the show. Really glad to have you here.

Michael Allison: Man, Scott, thank you so much. It’s an absolute pleasure to be here with a fellow veteran too as well, man. Thank you.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you bet. Um, so tell us, you know, [00:01:30] how your time in the Marines and your experiences in combat have shaped your approach towards adversity and leadership. You know, I’m sure that played a big role in, in your approach going forward, right?

Michael Allison: Absolutely. Most definitely, man. Uh, being in the space that I’ve been in [00:01:45] for over 20 years in leadership in regards to serving in the military and working in a corporate space and now with my company, it really has taught me a lot, you know? So, My time in the Marine Corps was foundational in shaping the resilience and leadership [00:02:00] philosophy.

When I think about the combat zone, it’s always high stakes, right? And every decision comes down to some real serious consequences that’s always going to be tied to that. So I think that these experiences taught me what is it like to just to be adaptable [00:02:15] whenever facing these circumstances, what it’s like to have some emotional composure.

In regards to knowing how to deal with things in tough times. And then also the, the biggest component I would say that’s tied to that too, as well, is that trust within your team. I think facing [00:02:30] adversity becomes a way where you have to learn how to like clarify things under pressure and you cannot have too many things out here.

That’s going to cause confusion as well, too. So, fostering some of those unyielding type of mindset, that focus, um, helps you solve problems much more [00:02:45] faster when you have some of those things are aligned as well, too.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And you were talking about, you know, combat and, you know, trust and, and all of those things in, in those situations. And I think anyone who’s served in combat. Uh, certainly [00:03:00] knows what you’re talking about. You, you gotta be able to trust the people around you. And if you can’t trust them, then you’re gonna have some problems with, uh, you know, situations.

When, when, if you can’t trust them in a garrison environment, uh, how are you gonna trust them when things get really, uh, heated, right? [00:03:15] So, um, and, and you, uh, you know, of all people, should, should probably understand this. Um, you know, as a recipient of a Purple Heart, you’ve been in situations where you got to lead under extreme pressure.

Um, what are some lessons that the [00:03:30] listeners, you know, service members, veterans, or, you know, anyone who is listening really, uh, can pick up from that type of experience that you were just talking about?

Michael Allison: Yeah, definitely. You know, when it comes to someone that I’ve served, you know, Being a Purple Heart recipient, yes, [00:03:45] I am proud that I served and I was one that was injured and got blown up by a car bomb and shrapnel injured me from that car bomb, knocked me out, which gave me a traumatic brain injury too as well, you know, but when I look at it and I think about it, and I Some of the [00:04:00] principles that I’ve gained from serving, you know, when I designed this company and wanted to create this company, I always looked at what it was like from a leadership standpoint.

And what are some of the things that stood out for me as a leader? And when you try to lead under extreme pressure, it [00:04:15] requires you to be extremely decisive. But also what I learned was that. You have to understand your team. We’re speaking about trust earlier. So that comes with another level of empathy as a leader to as well, understanding your people.

And I think that that leads down to the trust aspects of [00:04:30] things. As a Purple Heart recipient, you know, I’ve learned the importance of just prioritizing your well being and just remaining like mission focused, which is something that I always keep top of mind for myself and my company and the people that I’m serving to as well.

And I think whenever you do those things and start making it important, start [00:04:45] prioritizing some of those things. That’s when you could start worrying about and focusing on your team. You could work on your colleagues and all those people that you’re serving at an extremely high level. I think building the trust and communication.

Under high pressure situation creates an environment where people [00:05:00] feel like they’re supported. You’re fostering much more of a, uh, stronger and much more resilient community too, as well, man.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. And I know just before deploying to Afghanistan when, when I was going over there, um, we did all sorts of [00:05:15] training. For situations that may or may not come up, right, but a situation like you just talked about with with yourself getting blown up, um, you know, on occasion, a vehicle will roll over, you know, especially if there’s a bomb going off underneath it, the vehicle is going to roll [00:05:30] over.

You don’t really want the first time figuring out how to get out of a vehicle that’s just rolled over. To be the time that the bomb is still smoking on the ground, just underneath it. So we did rollover drills, right. And we had to practice that to figure out, you know, how do [00:05:45] I unbuckle myself? And, oh yeah, by the way, I’m upside down.

My head’s going to hit the ceiling. And then how do I find the door? And, you know, meanwhile, I got my, my rifle, like the butt of my rifle is like in my face now, and I got to struggle my way out of there and [00:06:00] nobody. Going through that, I don’t care if it’s their first time or a hundredth time, no one comes out of that vehicle gracefully.

It’s like, it’s a, it’s a pretty much a nightmare. Um, but you, you wanted to be able to do that so that in the back of [00:06:15] your head, you have some of those, those unknowns, those things that you just wouldn’t have known had you not gone through that experience at least once. And thank God it’s in a, uh, you know, safe environment where, where the.

Uh, [00:06:30] you know, the ammo cans weren’t, weren’t real. They’re, you know, foam or whatever. So that, okay, I got hit in the face with an ammo can. Okay, good. We got to tie those things down. So if that

Michael Allison: Right, right, right.

Scott DeLuzio: you know, so you prep for those types of things. And when, when, [00:06:45] when you’re in a real life situation, then you’re able to handle that thing a little bit.

Easier than had it been the very, very first time. And I think from a leadership perspective, there’s some important [00:07:00] takeaways there because. You don’t want your team to be struggling to figure out how to deal with this high stakes situation. I don’t, I don’t suspect that we’re talking about, you know, IEDs or anything like that in that kind of situation.

But to a [00:07:15] business, um, there are, there are high stakes situations. You might lose a high value client or, or something if your team isn’t, uh, you know, on, on top of their game and know what to expect and know what to, you know, present to that, that potential client. Um, [00:07:30] And, and how do they, how do they handle it?

So like, yeah, running them through some, some drills like that might be beneficial to make sure that, okay, when these situations come up, as rare as they may be, um, you’ll know what to do [00:07:45] when, when these things come up, right. Does that kind of like, kind of resonate with what you were talking about there?

Michael Allison: Most definitely. I totally agree with that. You know, One of the biggest things that I learned when I served was prior planning prevents piss poor performance and Understanding what that meant [00:08:00] meant for us to always plan and prepare for every single circumstances every single scenario or situation That could be ideally possible in the situation that we’re about to get into I remember when I came back from Japan and we went out [00:08:15] to our California and I’m there with Captain Venning and I’m there with third tracks and He comes out to us and tells us, boys, it’s time for us to invade Fallujah and go into Iraq.

And understanding the magnitude and the [00:08:30] seriousness of what was about to take place, this is when we started training and preparing for every single thing that could actually happen, being Amtrakers and going into that situation and then taking all of the information that was given to us and seeing how we could apply that.[00:08:45]

And being fully prepared in regards to going to those circumstances and situations, Made us much more confident in regards to reacting to whatever may come to us when we’re over there for us to be successful in combat, especially in that high stress [00:09:00] environment.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, same thing with, I mean, there’s so many things that we do in the military that likely. Few people really needed to actually utilize, um, you know, we [00:09:15] go into like the gas chamber, um, you know, in basic training and, you know, subsequently, you know, if you’re, you know, getting deployed, a lot of times you have to go through that, that kind of training all over again.

Um, I never had to wear my, my gas mask in [00:09:30] combat. Like, thank God I never had to wear it. Right. Um, but I still had the confidence to know that, Hey, that thing. That thing’s there to protect me, and it’s gonna keep that gas out, should You know, that inevitable thing, or that unfortunate [00:09:45] thing happened, um, it’s, it’s going to help me.

And so I had that, that bit of confidence, um, and, you know, we all, we all need to be able to practice all sorts of different skills, whether it’s in business or life or whatever, we’ve got to practice these things. [00:10:00] Um, you know, I remember coming back from Afghanistan, I hadn’t driven a car since. I, I left for, uh, you know, the training to, to go to Afghanistan.

I didn’t even drive, you know, any of the MRAPs or anything like that while we were over there, that [00:10:15] somebody else was driving. I got back home, I got behind the wheel. I was like, this feels awkward. Like I hadn’t done it in, in so many months. I like, everything just felt weird. And so like, but that, that had been something at that point I’d been doing for years and years, you know, [00:10:30] on a daily basis.

And then I came back months later. I’m like, man, wait, like, what? Where is everything? Like this just feels awkward. Um, and so like it, it’s important to keep training, you know, even, even though it may not be something that you need [00:10:45] all the time, it may not be 100 percent mission critical, but you want to stay on top of your game.

Right. So, um, I think all of those things are, are pretty important. Um, now, now tell us about your, the unleadership and, uh, break the bottle, like this challenge that you have, [00:11:00] um, you know, tell us about that and, and, you know, kind of how that fits into this whole, uh, equation. Yeah.

Michael Allison: Yeah, definitely, man. So these two concepts, uh, was birthed from my own personal journey in life and [00:11:15] business. I do believe that personal development and professional development do correlate and you cannot separate them. And I say that as in when my personal life was going great, my professional life was going a little bit in flux and it [00:11:30] caught up with me.

And I was saying I need to have a better balance in regards to how I structure my personal life and my professional life. And I say that when the young leadership aspect started was when I was in Iraq, there [00:11:45] was a guy by the name of Puckett and at the time he was a Lance Corporal. And he was a Lance Corporal.

And if you think of like traditional leadership aspect in regards to like a company or an organization, if I’m the [00:12:00] CEO or I’m the executive for a company, you know, most people, when they start in as an entry level employee, they think that leadership just stays at the top. And I serve, I don’t, I serve any, no other purpose in regards to just taking orders and doing whatever I’m told to do.

And I [00:12:15] just move around like a robot. And, and. That philosophy on leadership is looking at untraditional ways of looking at leadership as in respecting the fact that every single person at every single level does have a level of [00:12:30] leadership capabilities that they could have within themselves and within that organization.

And I say that in regards to Puckett, when he was over there in Iraq, as a Lance Corporal, you could think of the rank structure as Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Gunnery Sergeant, you name it. And at [00:12:45] his level, he was the assistant to our Corporal Combs on his track, but we were in a firefight, and Corporal Combs was getting shot at, and eventually, he had to go and save Corporal Combs life, and if he was to not take it upon [00:13:00] himself to act and react as a leader, In regards to saving his life, then that whole situation could have been a whole lot worse.

But, Puckett was the one that grabbed him, saved him, and then there were other people that were stuck as they were getting ambushed, and he saved a whole bunch of other [00:13:15] people’s lives. And from there, that really taught me the aspect of every single person at every single level does have the capability to become a leader and actually utilize those type of leadership skills and abilities that they do have.

But it’s within us as leaders, [00:13:30] either at a senior executive level to start empowering people and give them that trust that we’re speaking about earlier in regards to other people that could leave. So that’s where it comes in at whenever we work with companies and organizations, how we could look at things where things could be streamlined, where things [00:13:45] could be filtered through and given other people different leadership responsibilities throughout their organization.

I’m going to look at the break the bottle concept. I looked at things in my life where things were not going well for myself when I was a grew up as a kid [00:14:00] and was going through a whole bunch of adversities, either getting bullied. Uh, having some things occurred to me in the Boy Scouts. And then, when I served in the military, you know, I dealt with, uh, PTSD and a whole bunch of other things when I got out.

Because I, uh, so my life kind of [00:14:15] transitioned and it was spiraling downwards. And I had to work on myself in regards to having that transition to better myself because it led me down to the brink of trying to commit suicide and taking my life. And from then, that’s when I started saying, How can I start participating in my own [00:14:30] rescue and change my life?

And I had to start changing the decisions that I was making to go in the direction I wanted to go in and get into the destination of where I wanted my life to be. And I realized that I was one decision away from changing my life. One decision away from going in the direction that I wanted to go. One decision away to [00:14:45] actually going after what I want to the destination of where I wanted to be in life.

And that’s where the framework came in at in regards to some of the things that we structure. So we formulated that into our leadership development programs. For coaching, we’ll formulate that into our workshops and we formulate that into some of [00:15:00] the keynote speeches that I do deliver to it as well.

Absolutely.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah. I want to go back to the, the unleadership thing, because as you were talking, um, it got me thinking of something that, that we, we did kind of [00:15:15] was instilled in us, uh, you know, early on in the military is, you know, if you see something that’s wrong or out of place or something, something needs addressing, you don’t need to wait around to be told to go, you Fix that situation [00:15:30] right in the, in the, in the case of, of that firefight that you were talking about, where you had a Lance corporal who just kind of took it on himself to say, well, I’m, there’s somebody who’s getting pinned down and they need help.

I’m going to go help him. You know, he didn’t have to wait for an order to be given to say, Hey, [00:15:45] you are the one who now has to go do that. Um, I think it’s important that, that we kind of shift our mindsets on, on some of this and we in and do the things that need to be done. [00:16:00] Whether someone tells you to do it or not, um, if, if you see, uh, like news footage sometimes of like a car accident that takes place and you have all like the onlookers who are standing around and they’re all just standing there watching and it’s like security video [00:16:15] like from a store nearby or something like that and you just see people just standing there watching, nobody’s going to the car to it.

See if the person needs help, nobody’s, you know, calling the police or, you know, an ambulance or, or any of that, like, they’re just standing there. Well, they might have their phones out, but they’re [00:16:30] recording it because they want to post it on, you know, Facebook later or whatever, but they’re not doing anything.

Like nobody’s, they almost have to like, wait for somebody else to be like, Hey, you call, call 9 1 1 Hey, you, you know, come over here and help me get this person out. [00:16:45] Like that type of, of thing is just, um, you know, we can’t have that. Uh, you know, in, in your personal life, in your professional life, it doesn’t matter.

Um, you gotta be the, the type of person who just takes charge and says, Hey, I’m, [00:17:00] this, this needs doing, nobody else is doing it. I’m going to go do it. Um, you know, and when you look at like inside of a business, you have, you know, maybe an executive who’s walking by and, you know, maybe there’s some trash on the floor and they just walk by [00:17:15] because, Oh, well, it’s not my job.

Well, that sends a message to the whole rest of the company. It’s like, well, if it’s outside of your lane, That’s not, you don’t focus on that, right? That’s a janitor’s job or something like that. You know, that’s somebody else’s job. If that, if that executive is a [00:17:30] guy who stops and picks up the, the piece of trash on the floor and puts it in the, in the garbage can, well, that’s going to send a different message.

It’s like, okay, well look for those things, those opportunities outside of. My, my designated lane, whatever it is [00:17:45] on my job description that I’m supposed to do, look at those opportunities that might be able to help and make an improvement somewhere along, along the way. And so, um, I love that example that you gave with, with, uh, the Lance Corporal who took it upon himself to go in and help those [00:18:00] people because, you know, God only knows what would have happened had, had he not done that.

Michael Allison: Absolutely, man. I’ll add to that just a little bit, man. When I think about it, you know, being that type of person in that leadership level, it’s up to you to take action. And I think it’s those [00:18:15] inactions that actually causes a whole bunch of adverse things to as well. You know, when you mentioned talking about like the person that walks past something inside of an office as a leader, You know, that talks about the environment or the culture that you’re creating for your organization.

And what are some things that’s tied to the [00:18:30] expectations? I remember when I first got to Iraq, one of the first sign that I saw was complacency kills. And if you create, if you create that level of complacency where this is status quo and this is how things are, Then [00:18:45] things will always stay that way. But if you’re the person that decides to act and go into action, this is where you get the opportunity to go on your hero’s journey and decide to make a difference and decide to go into action.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. Um, and, [00:19:00] and you’re right. I kind of laughed as you were saying it, but complacency does kill and, and it’s, it’s more so than just on. You know, or more so than just in a combat zone, um, you know, combat, complacency when you’re driving your car, [00:19:15] it’s like, well, I, I always drive this way to work and, uh, you know, I, I get up early in the morning to go to work and there’s never anybody, there’s never any traffic or anybody walking on the street.

So that stop sign, uh, you know, that’s just, that’s a stopptional. I don’t, I don’t need to really focus on [00:19:30] that. Right. But then, but then that, that one morning that you happen to blow through that stop sign, there happens to be, you know, a guy out for, you know, a morning jog or something and, and you hit him, right.

Because you were, you just got complacent and you’re, you’re just like, Oh, [00:19:45] you know, this is the way it always is. So it’ll, it’ll be okay. You know, you really do have to, uh, you know, stay on top of things to make sure that you aren’t. Getting complacent and you know that applies to all sorts of different areas of your life.

[00:20:00] Yes for sure in combat Yeah. Complacency kills because, Oh, I’ve driven down this road, you know, a hundred times and there’s never been any IEDs or RPGs or anything like that, that I had to worry about on this road. So it’ll be fine. Well, until it’s not, it is [00:20:15] until it’s not. And you know, that, that’s what you kind of do have to keep that, uh, that mindset where today could be that day

Michael Allison: Always got to be vigilant,

Scott DeLuzio: to be an issue.

Exactly. But take it, take it a step further now into your, [00:20:30] your personal life. You’re back home now, right? Yeah. You have, you have a job and I’m just, I’m taking it for granted. Yeah, that job will be here cause I have this job. Well, you, you might get laid off. You don’t know what’s might be happening with that company.

Right. And, and if you [00:20:45] aren’t doing things, you know, planning for the future savings, uh, you know, for retirement and things like that, putting some money aside for that rainy day. Um, so that should you get laid off? Um, you, you got a little padding there that you can live off of for, you know, a little [00:21:00] while in.

You know, until you find that next job, but, um, you know, getting, getting complacent and just. Oh, yeah, I’ll just spend everything as it comes in. Like, that’s not, um, that’s not a great idea either, right? And so there’s all, I mean, you can [00:21:15] come up with so many different analogies and, and, uh, you know, examples for, you know, how this, uh, fits into, you know, data, day to day life.

But, um, you know, I, I think for, for most people, um, especially those who have [00:21:30] served, they understand that complacency kills mindset, right?

Michael Allison: A thousand percent,

Scott DeLuzio: they, Yeah. Um, so we’ve talked a little bit about, uh, you know, the type of work that you do and, and, and everything, but so [00:21:45] you’ve, you’ve launched multiple businesses, um, you know, since getting out, um, can you share a few strategies that helped you, uh, helped you in developing these businesses?

Um, you know, maybe it’s pulling from your military history or, or [00:22:00] some other, uh, you know, things from your, your background. What, what are some things that, that helped you make these businesses a success? Thanks.

Michael Allison: Yeah, definitely. I would say there’s two things that stuck out. I will be transparent with you, man. When I got out, that odd transition was not the easiest transition for me. [00:22:15] I had to navigate things and try to figure things out, but once I did figure things out, One of the two things that stuck out in regards to like me starting the franchise and starting my own company and building these companies was mission [00:22:30] alignment.

I think having some clear goals and just having consistent communication, creating alignment with the accountability for myself, for my team, for the people that I was going to put together was one of the biggest. Core things in regards to what I valued, you know, [00:22:45] so when I wanted to create the Adversity Academy, the mission for me was to go out and empower people and serve people in regards to some of the things that I learned and developed to identify by myself and what I wanted to help empower other people’s [00:23:00] companies and organization and individuals to as well in regards to like, what is, what is important to them and understanding that so I made sure that I was aligning my mission with other people’s mission to as well.

And then bringing those types of people into my organization and then working [00:23:15] with people that are like minded like myself, where it’s always beneficial. Um, the next thing I would say to you would be the adaptability aspects of things in this world that we’re in now, things are shifting and things are changing.

And when I [00:23:30] was in the Marine Corps, you could sit around for 8 10 hours, nothing happens, and all of a sudden, you gotta be up on the go, ready to move, type of, type of thing, and we used to call it hurry up and wait type of, uh, uh, situations and circumstances. But, you have to be flexible and [00:23:45] adaptable within, uh, within, on a dime, you know?

So, We spoke about being prepared and always being prepared for scenarios and situations, so you never know what is really going to happen. But obviously, you could always plan for those types of things, but you always got to [00:24:00] be adaptable. And I think having that level of flexibility for unpredictable times, unpredictable changes and things like that.

is a keen aspect in regards to just you being able to adapt to adversities and challenges and being much resilient for your team, for your [00:24:15] organization, and for your company. And that’s how I had to be, you know, so when I got out. You know, I worked for, uh, for the government for a couple of years and I was one of those people that was planning knowing that I wanted to exit this company, exit working for this company [00:24:30] and start my own company.

So for me, I said, Hey, I want to start my own construction company, start my own, get into a franchise. And I planned my exit six months out. And once I did that, save up my money and put things in the places where I needed to put things that [00:24:45] I invested in a franchise, built that company up down here in South Florida.

And the company did really great, did really, really well. And when I was doing that, I had the chance to put a team together and understand what it’s like to really build a company, put a company together, and then [00:25:00] getting the blueprint of what it’s like to actually run a company. Cause understanding a franchise comes with a model in regards to kind of like plugging and playing what that looks like.

You know, that’s when I felt much more of a call in regards to. What I truly need to be doing and after running that franchise for several [00:25:15] years, I sold the franchise and that’s what led me to building and creating the Adversity Academy. So I had to start adapting some of the skills that I learned from the military, adapting some of the skills that I learned when I was working on the railroad, when I was working for the government, when I was working at [00:25:30] a university level and seeing what are some of the things that I learned, what are some of the adaptable skills, what are some of the transferable skills that I could bring into this company.

In regards to getting it to the level where I need to build it and grow this company, where we could go out here and serve people. So I think [00:25:45] that’s one of the things that I had to do when it comes to adaptability. And then, With what we are creating, what we’re doing, uh, innovation was on the rise, so we had to know how to incorporate what are some of the things that we could continuously grow with and be innovative with at the same [00:26:00] time simultaneously in regards for us to not get stagnant, not get complacent or any of those things as we continue to grow to as well, man.

So those are the two things that stood out for me.

Scott DeLuzio: yeah, absolutely. And I, as you’re talking, it got me thinking about how [00:26:15] kind of the diversity of your experiences, the, the, the wide range, you know, working government and, you know, all these other, uh, you know, things that you, you did, uh, I would imagine opened you up to, uh, A [00:26:30] broader array of ways of doing things, right?

And maybe that’s not the most eloquent way of putting it, but I was a grunt. So deal with it. Um, um, you know, it, it, it opened you up to a lot of different [00:26:45] ways of doing things. And so I got to imagine that. That has kind of played a role in, in what you’re, you’re doing now. And you’re able to now go back to all those different experiences and different industries and different [00:27:00] backgrounds and everything.

And you’re able to kind of pick little pieces from here and there and put them together and say, okay, this worked here. This didn’t work there. You know, this, this worked, this didn’t work. And then you’re able to kind of use those things to help you now [00:27:15] in your future and continue to grow. Right.

Michael Allison: Absolutely, man. I think of all of the transferable skills. So when I got out of the military for eight years, I served and is an amphibious assault vehicle section leader. So I drove tanks for eight years operating and leading people. [00:27:30] But there’s so much skills that I learned in regards to what I was doing in regards to like leading so many different troops.

And operating multi million dollar vehicles and those different types of things that’s tied to that too as well. And then working with different officers when it comes to like [00:27:45] training them and doing workshops and those types of things. So when I got out, you know, I thought my skills was only going to be adaptable to work in somewhat similar space.

So I ended up working on the railroad. And funny thing is I worked on the railroad for [00:28:00] six months, then I got laid off. And after I got laid off, you know, I think I’m thinking, Oh man, did I make a bad decision? And all of a sudden the supervisor called me and said, Hey, I saw the skills that you portrayed out here while you was working on the railroad.

And I think you’d be a [00:28:15] great person for management. And he asked me, would I want a management position? And I said, heck yeah, I want that position. So I took it. Yeah. And, um, from there, they sent me straight off to Atlanta to get into management. And this is when I saw a different scope and a different aspect [00:28:30] of what it’s like to see things from a top level as a senior executive within the company.

And I have some opportunity to run a railroad from Atlanta, Georgia, all the way down to Valdosta, Georgia, covering over 200, 200 miles of territory, have over [00:28:45] 250 employees working for me at 28 years old. And now I’m working with men that are in their 50s and their 60s. So this was much more diverse in regards to the adaptability of what I was doing.

In regards to understanding the entire operations of [00:29:00] working with your vendors, working with customers, working with employees, working with the, uh, the police department, working with the news for derailments and suicides, you name it. So it was a whole different aspect of what this opened up my door to, in regards to just learning these different types of [00:29:15] things.

And from there, man, my career transitioned. Um, I went back to school, got my bachelor’s degree, got my master’s degree, and then I got, uh, an opportunity to go work in Washington, D. C. where I became an IT project managers and now I’m building multi million dollar [00:29:30] projects and I’m putting some systems and softwares in the hospitals all across the globe and to understand what it’s like to know what is to take care of our veterans from that standpoint and knowing the magnitude of the seriousness of what I’m dealing with when someone like [00:29:45] myself has to now get a top secret clearance to understand what’s going on.

In regards to how we serve our veterans and how we work with our doctors and how we work with insurance companies, how we’re working with companies like your Microsofts, your Amazons, you name it, and how they’re working with us was a bigger, [00:30:00] uh, adaptable skills for me to learn because all those things were transferable as I was going along the path.

And then I had the opportunity to go work at a Florida Atlantic University and work with Our veteran community, but now I’m working, understanding what it’s like to deal with the veteran [00:30:15] community, the VA hospital, and understanding what it’s like to utilize your GI bill and help, uh, empower our veteran students, help empower their dependents and their families.

And after I learned all of those skills, this is when I decided that I want to get into entrepreneurship because I’ve learned so many [00:30:30] skills and now I can apply some of these things and take it into business too as well, man.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, that’s awesome. Yeah, it’s a lot of times people get, you know, I think like this kind of old school way of thinking where it’s like, okay, get, [00:30:45] you know, go to school, get whatever education you get. And then you’re now you’re going to work in this job for from now until you retire. And that’s, that’s kind of like that, that mindset that that people used to have, but [00:31:00] things, things have shifted where people are Uh, moving jobs, uh, you know, a lot more frequently, and I think that’s kind of a good thing to kind of stir the pot a little bit to, to get people from different companies, different industries, bringing [00:31:15] people in and, and getting all of those, those variety of experiences and, and have them, uh, have them be able to benefit some other companies, other industries.

And even in this case, now it’s benefiting [00:31:30] yourself with, with your business. And, you know, I’m sure you have people working for you and things like that, which it’s helping those people as well. So, you know, I, I think that. That’s a, uh, you know, an incredible thing, um, that, that you’re able to take all these experiences and now you can apply them and, and kind [00:31:45] of mesh them all together.

It’s pretty awesome. Um, one, one topic that I don’t think that we really covered too much is, um, the focus on like mental wellness, mental health, that type of thing. And, uh, even resiliency. We talked a little bit about that, but, [00:32:00] um, You know, talk to us about how the Adversity Academy helps, uh, you know, with enhancing folks with their mental wellness and resilience and that type of thing.

Michael Allison: Yeah, so this is something that is extremely important to me. Um, you know, I struggle with my mental health. When I [00:32:15] got out of the service with PTSD and a traumatic brain injury, got up to being on 13 different medications, and trying to take my life after I was going through my second divorce. And this is when I said, you know what, let me understand the [00:32:30] true concept and the aspects of like your brain, understanding what’s going on with PTSD, and really understand what’s going on with the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.

And this is when I realized that, you know, you cannot separate either one of the two. And I [00:32:45] think in regards to having that mindset and having that mentality as a leader, as a business owner, as a person that’s trying to strive for greatness within your own personal life, you really got to tap into your mental health.

So I think adversity actually does help develop that character [00:33:00] about yourself, about your organization. So our program is centered around like fostering. Resilience. So how could we deal with tough times and tough situation? And the framework of tough things that we deal with is tied to the framework of the [00:33:15] 3D methods of identifying the decisions and directions of where we’re trying to go with our life.

And whenever you get into that aspect of things, it teaches us how to start reframing things and start looking at challenges and looking at opportunities. I always had the mindset [00:33:30] of a can do attitude and not be someone that is defeated whenever adversity hit. And that’s something that we incorporate in our training and that’s something that we instill into the leaders that we work with as well too.

In regards to scenario base and real life [00:33:45] things that’s going to actually or could potentially take place in your business or in your life, and how could you prepare for some of these things? How could you deal with some of these things? So it could be a family situation. It could be Something that’s going on within your business, your sales, your marketing.

It could [00:34:00] be your marriage, your divorce. It could be with your kids in school. When these are real life scenarios, real life things that could actually happen to you either in your personal life, either in your business, one of your employees and those types of things. And how are you going to deal with some of these things?

So these are some of the [00:34:15] strategies and tools that we implement into our programs to help leaders get through some of their tough times and tough situations.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I think that goes back to what we were talking about before, about some of the training that you might need to do, um, [00:34:30] to help build some of that resilience. Um, if you have never been in a certain scenario, uh, I don’t care how resilient you are, you’re going to be like, Um, you know, deer in the headlights, not, not knowing what to do and, [00:34:45] you know, when, when you have some experiences and stuff that, that will start to build that resilience that you’re talking about, I think, and, and so the more exposure you have to it, and I’m not saying, you know, go and intentionally put yourself in [00:35:00] adverse situations just for the practice of it, right?

But, um, but when you have exposure to those, those adverse situations, um, and, yeah. And what you do with that will help [00:35:15] with the next adverse situation, because we’re all going to have some adversity in our lives at one point or another. Um, you know, things may be going great, but that may not last forever, right?

So we, you have to kind of be prepared for that. Um, but. You know, [00:35:30] if, if you handle it with like a defeated attitude or, you know, just look at it like you’re the victim in, in, in a situation, well, you’re going to probably look at all these adverse situations that, that come along as, or in that way. [00:35:45] Um, if you look at it as, um, well, this is an opportunity for growth.

I can, I can learn something from this. I can, I can make improvements. I can do better. And I can, I can grow from this. You’re probably going to come out a little bit better off than the other person that, that I was just talking [00:36:00] about. Right. So, um, you know, those are the things that in my head, uh, when you start talking about resilience and, uh, you know, adversities and things like that, it’s like, really, how, how are you dealing with those things?

Like in, in, in the back of your head, what, what’s that voice telling

Michael Allison: [00:36:15] I agree with you, man. I think about, you know, whenever adversity hits, right, it’s going to hit on how do you manage stress, right? How are you going to deal with some of these complexities? How is it going to affect your productivity? Because you’re navigating through some of these [00:36:30] things that is really going to test you and see who you are.

As I’m here talking with you, man, I remember a couple weeks ago, this happened to me as the owner of my own company. I get the call that my dad cannot walk anymore. [00:36:45] And now I’m trying to navigate that as my dad is going through this situation. I have a company to run. I have a son. I have a wife. All of these different things that I have to deal with.

So these are real life things that are occurring in my own personal life and this is now becomes a challenge. [00:37:00] This was unexpected. I didn’t plan for this or anything like that. Right. But how am I going to react and how am I going to respond to this scenario in this situation and take care of it? Right.

So me as a leader, I have to start assessing these things and seeing what are some of the best case [00:37:15] scenarios and what are some of the things and created a road map and follow that road map and follow that plan. And try to execute that to the best of my ability to continue to get my dad healthy, work with my, my doctors, my caregivers, my family members, to get them into the situation where he needs to be at, [00:37:30] to get him back comfortable and get him back walking.

Then I have to look at the scenario of my family. How can I get my son to school? How can I make sure that. I have the support of everybody that’s around me that knowing that this could be potentially mentally stressful for me as well too. [00:37:45] Then now I have this company in this organization that I have to run.

I have customers. I have clients. I have interviews. I have all these things that I’m dealing with. So how can I be transparent with these people and work with them in regards to keeping things going, keeping the business going and not, uh, injure or hurt our [00:38:00] relationships or anything like that too as well.

And I think this is where it shows your character, shows your resilience. It shows you as a leader. With your company organization that deal with some of these things and these are some of the things that I had to navigate myself now, you know, as a business owner, and this is what we [00:38:15] had to do. We had to get my dad here, get him into the hospital and get him back to where he’s now home now.

And he’s now in therapy and he’s doing a whole lot better. This is something that I had to do with working with my clients and business partners to keep our business going and keep our business operating. This is something [00:38:30] that I had to do in navigating with my son. My son tours ACL and MCL, so part of that was taking him to physical therapy too as well after school.

You know, so we’re trying to navigate all of these things and making sure that all of these things are taken care of on a home front too, as well.[00:38:45]

Scott DeLuzio: When it rains, it pours, right?

Michael Allison: Absolutely, man.

Scott DeLuzio: You know, but, but that goes back to what you were talking about before, about making sure that you have the right people with the right values, the right, uh, the right team around you, right? And, and that, that’s, I think that [00:39:00] is true, not just in business, but in any relationships that you have that you’re, you’re entering into with people, you want to make sure that, are these people going to be there and, and are they going to be supportive of me when, uh, Um, when things go, go sideways, [00:39:15] um, when those unexpected things come up when I can’t necessarily be a hundred percent present for everything that they might be relying on me, are they just going to, you know, ditch me and run, or are they going to, you know, stick around and [00:39:30] are they going to be helpful?

Uh, you know, say, Hey, you know what, don’t worry about this. Uh, you know, this client we’ll take care of it. You go take care of your dad, do what you got to do. Take your son, you know, do all the things that you needed to do. Um, And we’ll handle it. Don’t worry [00:39:45] about it. We got you. And, and, you know, now that things are kind of getting back to a, you know, better situation, uh, you know, with your dad and everything, um, I’m sure if the roles were reversed and they’re like, Hey, I had this emergency come up in, in my family, [00:40:00] you’d probably be like, you know what?

Don’t even sweat it. Go, go take care of what you got to do. And I’ll, I’ll handle your stuff on this end. Um, it’ll, it’ll be here when you get back, you know, that type of thing. And. And um, you know, if, if you didn’t have that kind of relationship going into this, um, yeah, of course you’re [00:40:15] going to be stressed.

You’re going to be like, this whole thing is going to come collapsing down around me because I got to take a day off. Like, you know, like that, that, that would be awful, you know? And so, um, so it’s a good thing that, that you have that. But I think, you know, more importantly for the, the listeners who [00:40:30] are, uh, you know, maybe hopefully taking away something from this is like, You know, think about those people who are around you and, you know, imagine a scenario where you have a family emergency.

You know, maybe it’s something like you described. You gotta, you gotta take some time to [00:40:45] go take care of a, you know, a parent or, you know, some other family member or something. Um, do you have those people in your life that, that would be like, hey man, we got you. You’re, you’re good to go. Go take care of family first and, uh, you know, we’ll, we’ll hold down the fort [00:41:00] until you get back.

Um, and if you don’t I started thinking about like, okay, well, who, who are some of these people that I’m associating with, uh, that I, you know, maybe a, a business partner or maybe somebody else that’s in your life. Who are these people? And if I can’t rely on them, [00:41:15] then, you know, really, what are they, what are they doing here?

Right.

Michael Allison: I agree with you, man. In the Break the Bottle program, in the last section, the destination, we talk about proximity and we talk about [00:41:30] sustainability. And who are the people that surround you that’s going to help you? Hold you up whenever you get into tough times and tough situations and start identifying those people and put those people in place and maintain a relationship with these people that you have in place and make sure [00:41:45] you’re sharing value that is on both ends in regards to you’re important to them as much as they’re important to you whenever you need them in a certain type of situation or circumstances you could count on them to as well.

Scott DeLuzio: you don’t want [00:42:00] to make it one sided where it’s like, what can I get from that person? Right? And, and only think of it that way. But also what, what can I provide to them? How, how can I be of service to them and benefit them? Because, um, You know, [00:42:15] yeah, sure, I may not mind that one time, you know, this is the first time that you’ve come to me and said, Hey, I need I need your help with something.

I might be like, Hey, you know what? Yeah, no problem. I got you. And I’ll, I’ll take care of it. Right. But if Okay, next week, you’re coming back to me. And the week [00:42:30] after in the week after, you know, so on, I’m probably gonna be like, All right. At some point, something’s got to

Michael Allison: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Scott DeLuzio: are you taking something off of my back so, so that I can, you know, kind of catch up because I I’ve been carrying all your weight all this time.[00:42:45]

I don’t mind doing it. You know, I said I would do it. I don’t mind. But at some point, something’s got to give and you got to be able to, you know, you know, kind of reciprocate at some point too. So, um, but not that it necessarily has to be a, uh, you know, scorekeeping thing either, but you [00:43:00] want to make sure that that you’re not, like you said, you’re not 100 percent taking, um, taking advantage of that person either.

Right.

Michael Allison: Absolutely, man. There’s many ways. So, you know, you don’t have to keep scores or anything like that. And if someone do me a [00:43:15] favor here, they have to do me a favor here. It’s not always like that. Some of the simple basic thing that you could do is actually just spend time with somebody. That’s it. Simply just spend time with somebody and they’ll value that so much, man.

So when you just point it to people and some simple things like that, it truly values a whole [00:43:30] lot.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. Um, this conversation I think has been really great with, um, you know, just the way seeing your mindset and how you’ve, you’ve adapted. [00:43:45] from, uh, one role to the next and been able to accumulate this knowledge as you, you’ve gone through all the different roles, um, that you’ve, you’ve served in over time and until you’ve gotten to where you’re at now, um, [00:44:00] and I think, you know, a lot of people listening, you know, we’ve had, experiences similar, uh, you know, to yours, you know, in that they are diverse.

We’ve, we’ve served in the military and we got out and we did, did something. It [00:44:15] probably didn’t go all that well at first, right? We had to deal with some things and get our lives straightened out. And, you know, maybe some things didn’t go as smooth as, as we wanted it to. But, you know, we, we eventually got to a place where, um, where we. [00:44:30] Kind of have things stabilized. Maybe we’re starting to kind of, sort of figure things out. You know, some of the experiences that you were talking about, I think really help, uh, drive home that, um, you know, we still, we still got that leadership, uh, you know, from, from [00:44:45] the military, what, whatever we learned, um, you know, basically from day one in.

You know, basic training where you, you can carry that stuff all the way through and you can continue using some of that, that stuff that you’ve, you’ve learned. [00:45:00] And, um, you know, just like that Lance Corporal that you were talking about, who, who just took it upon himself and, and took action when, when things needed to be done.

It’s like, we, we can, nobody’s stopping you from. Take an action like you can go and do things and take initiative [00:45:15] and, and, uh, you know, sometimes I think we, we forget about that. So, um, you know, I’m glad that you came on and we’re able to share, uh, you know, your experiences and, you know, kind of what it is that you do, but, you know, for the listeners who. want to find out more [00:45:30] about you, your, you know, the, your services and stuff that you offer, uh, where can people go to find out more about, about you and what you do?

Michael Allison: Yeah, definitely. You can find out more about me on my website, michaelwallison. com. And you can also learn about the [00:45:45] workshops, the programs, my books, and all the services that we do have there. On social media platforms, you can find me at iammichaelwallison on social media as well too. In regards to the academy, where we have more of a diverse leadership development, trainings and programs and curriculums and [00:46:00] assessments, you can just go directly to the website www.

theadversityacademy. com.

Scott DeLuzio: Excellent. And I’ll have those links in the, uh, the show notes for the listeners so that they can check that out and, uh, you know, get in touch with you. Um, you know, [00:46:15] maybe. maybe check out the Adversity Academy and figure out if that’s something that’s right for them. But uh, you know, I think, um, you know, for all the listeners, I definitely encourage you to, to, uh, to check that out, uh, because I feel like, um, you know, that that’s something that’s going to.

Definitely improved the [00:46:30] lives of a lot of people. So, um, so check it out again, links will be in the show notes. Uh, Michael, thank you again for taking the time to come on the show. Really do appreciate you appreciate all that you do, all the, all the hard work that you put in and, um, you know, looking forward to hearing more great things coming out of [00:46:45] you, I’m sure there’s going to be a whole lot more.

So, uh, so we’ll, we’ll be, we’ll be in touch.

Michael Allison: Hey man, thank you so much for having me here, Scott. It’s been a pleasure.