Soaring Beyond the Cockpit: Leadership Lessons from Pilot Commander Adam Jones

In this episode, Nika speaks with Adam Jones, a Team Acceleration Strategist with a rich background in leadership and team development. Adam discusses the importance of discipline and structure—principles he became intimately familiar with during his tenure in the U.S. Army, notably as a Black Hawk Pilot and Company Commander. He argues that the same rigorous discipline and structured approach taught to soldiers are invaluable tools for achieving a high-performing, healthy life outside of the military context. 

With experience leading from a young age, starting with small teams at a civilian flight school, and later serving 10 years in the Army, Adam has honed his leadership skills across diverse environments. Now, leveraging his extensive experience as a Project Manager, Army Pilot, and Consultant for Fortune 500 companies, Adam dedicates himself to empowering business leaders to overcome challenges and enhance their leadership capabilities, helping them to lead high-performing teams and achieve their goals.

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• Website: Unfortunately, since this episode was originally recorded we have not been able to find Adam or his company Mountain Movers Consulting online.

Transcript

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Building Mental Stamina With Military Strategies

Nika Lawrie 0:32

Hey everybody , welcome to the show . I'm super excited to have you here today because we have an amazing guest with an amazing background and kind of near and dear to my heart too . But he's got some really interesting techniques and tools that you can use to really build up mental stamina and I'm just so excited to have him here . Adam , welcome to the show . Thank you for joining us .

Adam Jones 0:54

Oh , it's awesome to be with you , thank you .

Nika Lawrie 0:55

Yeah , so you spent about 10 years in the US Army First . Thank you for your service . I think that's amazing and such a great thing to US Army First . Thank you for your service . I think that's amazing and such a great thing to do , so thank you .

Adam Jones 1:06

No problem , no thanks for the support . We need it yeah definitely so .

Nika Lawrie 1:11

can you tell me a little bit about your experience and you know kind of how that led you to where you are now ? I know it's a long , long story , but kind of just give a little bit about your background .

Adam Jones 1:20

Yeah , I love that you said it's a long story , because that's definitely how it works when you tell the military story . It's like I went through this training and then , before I know it , I'm stationed here . So yeah , my whole life I wanted to fly for the military . I always wanted to do that , but when I commissioned as an officer , that wasn't what I was given . I was actually given a position to be a military police officer .

Adam Jones 1:40

I was like man that's not what I wanted . I wanted to fly helicopters , but I did well in that position and once I became a first lieutenant , my commander started noticing that hey , this is really where Adam wants to be and he's doing well , let's give him a shot , let's give him a chance to interview . They call it going to the board , the flight board to go see if it's going to work out . And it did . And , uh , I'm just so thankful it did . It's funny how how things play out , because I think sometimes no's are just temporary . They're temporary for a season . I needed that no for a little while so I could get my bearings down and I could actually meet my wife , which is awesome . None of that would have happened if I would have went straight to flight school . So I'm very thankful for it . But , um , now , but now I'm out of the cockpit and starting to pass those lessons on and helping people accelerate their teams using these military flight strategies .

Nika Lawrie 2:32

So what was it like flying the helicopters ? What was the experience ? I'm sure it was exciting and fun , but tell me a little bit about that .

Adam Jones 2:41

Yeah , people are funny because , you know , sometimes people want this fighter pilot . You know , I'm like oh , I'm sorry , I'm not a fighter pilot , I'm a Blackhawk pilot . Not as cool , Right , but no , it's . It's so cool because I always wanted to fly helicopters . I just thought it was the coolest thing that they could . They could go from point A to point B , but they could also just stop in the middle of the air and just hold the hover .

Adam Jones 3:01

I was like how do you do that ? And then landing on a mountain top . You know , my company , mountain movers consulting , is about helping people break their mountains . So to be able to land on mountains , I thought that was pretty exciting as well . So , yeah , it's , it's really cool , nika . You know , I think , um , one of the most exciting parts is when you realize that every day is different .

Adam Jones 3:21

That's why mentality is really one of the most important things with being a pilot . It's not being rigid and going through a checklist , but instead using that checklist to guide your flow , guide your decisions . But after that , every day is different . You could have had a perfect landing one day and the next day . Just a little bit of a shift of the winds , a little bit of different direction , different intensity . You have a different crew on board . You're different .

Nika Lawrie 3:44

You're sitting differently .

Adam Jones 3:46

And all these things play into the way that aircraft performs , so the challenge of it really became the most exciting thing that one day you crashed it and the next day you're like do I even know how to fly this thing ? Right , it's funny how it works .

Nika Lawrie 4:04

So how did that lead you to become what you are today a team acceleration strategist ? Because that seems like a kind of a big leap . So tell me about the kind of the gap there . What happened ?

Adam Jones 4:12

Yeah , you know , leadership was always my main focus , and then flying helicopters was one way to lead . Nothing is more important to me than helping people become the leader that they were created to be , and that happens well in the military in a position of command . For me , that was my background , as I became an army company commander and was flying at the same time . But it was all leadership , whether it's leadership in a small team , in the cockpit , or it's leadership in a larger setting where you have multiple team members , right , multiple soldiers working for you and with you . So I think for me it's always been a matter of how do I take this experience and be able to relay this to people who haven't had the opportunity ?

Adam Jones 4:55

You know I'm not ignorant . I realize that only you know about 1% or so of the country actually serves . Within that 1% , you have about 1% that actually gets to fly , and even that I mean my numbers . They're even bigger than they really are . It's much more narrow than that . So , to be given that opportunity , but also to love people the way I do , to love leadership , I just feel like I want to pay it forward because I want you and your audience to be able to learn , what did it take to fly ? But , more importantly , what does it take to have that mentality of a Blackhawk pilot and of a company commander ?

Nika Lawrie 5:32

So what were some of the best lessons you learned from being in the cockpit ? What did you , what did you learn , and how are you translating that to the civilian world now ?

Adam Jones 5:41

Yeah . So there's this one lesson that I share with my clients , whether it's in a seminar , because I perform in speaking , training and consulting that's what my company does is those three functions . So in speaking , this tends to be the favorite one , so I'll share this with you . So I'm getting in the cockpit and I was just a little bit flustered for a second because , again , you're not put in there in a situation when you're all prepared and perfect . That is not how it works . And he just went from leading some soldiers going to a company training meeting , handling some kind of fire drill . That just occurred , right . Something just went wrong .

Adam Jones 6:14

And then now , by the way , you have a flight scheduled . You got to get to the aircraft and go pre-flight that thing and get in . So you're not always in your best state of mind . You have to actually put yourself through a process very similar to like a pro athlete , to where you're getting yourself ready to . Nothing else matters right now other than the fact that I'm going into an aircraft and I'm taking a crew along with me , right ? So I remember strapping up into the aircraft and my instructor pilot , who was the most senior instructor pilot in the unit . He looked at me . He said you know what , let's do that again . Let's do that again . And I was like do what again ? He said how you strap into the aircraft . I want to change that , and he knows me , he's flown with me before .

Adam Jones 6:54

Okay , and he said one thing you're doing wrong , captain Jones , is , instead of actually getting in the aircraft and strapping , strapping into the aircraft . I want you to do this From now on . I want you to think of yourself as strapping the aircraft to you and you're not getting in it . You're strapping it to your body and then you're telling your body where to go from now on . And it's such a powerful point . I hate to go right past it , because just think about this Instead of going into a machine that is going to take me places and I'm going to do my best to control it I'm going to strap this thing right , because I mean , it's not a buckle , it's not a seatbelt , right , there's a little bit more to it I'm going to strap it to my body and I'm going to say okay , aircraft , here's what we're doing today , here's where we're going . I don't care about the conditions outside . I don't care about , you know , the winds and the temperature and the storm coming right . We're going and we're going to accomplish this mission together and it is so cool how that mentality plays into the whole crew .

Adam Jones 7:53

I was never the senior pilot , I mean , I was only in for 10 years , right . But to be able to learn from people like that and then to help other people in their life to understand , hey , with your business , the direction you want to take , it , you have to strap it to yourself . It has to be a part of you . You can't just be in it once in a while . It needs to be normal for you , almost like you're a transformer or something . Just think back to when you were a kid . It's part of who you are .

Nika Lawrie 8:20

I love that . I think it helps also with the fact that it kind of gives you the power to you know , drive it the way you want it to go with your business , opposed to feeling like it's you know you're just being pulled along . It gives you that strength or that power to make those decisions and be confident in the decisions that you're making , opposed to feeling uneasy about them .

Adam Jones 8:44

Oh yeah , one thing that comes to mind too is when you make a decision , that decision has been made . Now you need to make it the right decision . You can't waste energy on that kind of stuff . I know too many people in my life and clients that I have where they make decisions and they go back and rethink it , put some limits , some parameters on hey , we're making this decision , but if one of these three things happen , we will reevaluate it . You can do that Absolutely , but once a decision is made , you need to fully commit to that ?

Nika Lawrie 9:16

How do you suggest people really fully commit ? Because I see a lot of times people make decisions and then they instantly second guess themselves or they get you know I know I always joke that I'm a commitment phobe and so you know it's like the grass is greener , the what ifs or you know , and so it's hard not to second guess or question or is this the right decision ? How do you work on really making that commitment and sticking to it ?

Adam Jones 9:43

Yeah , that is a really great question

Flight Planning for Business Success

Adam Jones 9:45

. I think of it in terms of the aircraft . Again , to where you are loading out your aircraft . It's called the loadout . You're conducting your loadout and your inventory of what needs to go on this aircraft , including people , based on that mission much fuel and you're going from point A to point B or Z or whatever it is , and you know what B is . You got B down very , very well . You know what it's going to take when you get there and you map out your path .

Adam Jones 10:15

You can't afford to just stay in a flight pattern anymore and to keep going back on your decision . You honestly like , if we look at life this way , which I don't think enough people do I think they think they can just add everything they want onto their aircraft or into their loadout , when really , the more weight you have , the heavier you get , the less power you have . A Blackhawk is limited by a power margin and we only have so much power we can pull . So if I want more power available in a mission , what I need to do is I need to start cutting weight , and I should do that before I take off . So I think when you make a decision and then you realize , look , we are in motion , we can create a milestone .

Adam Jones 10:58

That's what we do . We create a checkpoint where , hey , when I get to this checkpoint , that is when we decide if we're turning back , shifting course , or we're staying on this exact course , and you can have these little moments where it requires a check-in . So that's what I recommend for people with my consulting services is hey , just make a decision , require a certain amount of commitment for a while let's say it's a timeline for two weeks , no changing , two weeks and then you have this checkpoint that's coming up , and when you're at checkpoint alpha , let's call it . That is when you decide one more time if this is still the right course or if it needs to be reevaluated . But I think people pull back too quickly and then you're not really seeing if this is gonna gain traction .

Nika Lawrie 11:41

You know it's like marketplace validation right .

Adam Jones 11:44

You're not gonna know if something works until you validate it in the marketplace .

Nika Lawrie 11:53

I think it's also . I love the idea of you know just the simple um metaphor of using feel , that we only have so much feel to use . You know , the , the aircraft only has so much , but we as individuals , as people , only have so much feel as well , and and we don't want to waste that or burn that up on on tasks or projects or decisions that aren't necessarily going to , you know , bring a benefit to us in the long run or may end up holding us back or , you know , even just spending energy thinking about things that aren't healthy for us , that kind of a thing .

Adam Jones 12:21

Yep , yeah , exactly .

Nika Lawrie 12:23

So it kind of sounds like this is almost like flight planning strategy that you're using . Is that kind of the same template that you use with your clients in planning for the business world or growing their business ?

Adam Jones 12:35

Yeah . So the way we look at it at Mountain Movers Consulting is there's three steps to really accelerating your team . The first one is we got to align the people .

Adam Jones 12:44

And this takes actually seeing deeper than their experience . Too many people this is just my belief are only looking at experience to see what's going to be the right fit for someone , instead of looking at what is their God-given gifts and passion . And if we can see that first , okay , and we take a step back from well . They don't like my example as a project manager . You know what ? If I didn't really want to do project management my whole life , People only saw that as my experience . So it's a logical step . People don't stay in businesses for just logic . It's a heart thing , right , Right , right .

Adam Jones 13:16

You got to align to these pieces of them and there's a lot to that and that's something I provide one-on-one . But just to kind of summarize it , you got to align first . Once you align and people are in the right seats , as we say it , and you actually are going off of the gifting and the strengths and the passion within someone , you're going to find they're going to probably start selling out to you more than anyone else , and the reason is you're the person who gave them a chance based on more than just their experience , and it's going to take some trust and you're going to mess up more . You're going to slow down . You're going to realize that maybe things aren't accomplished as fast .

Adam Jones 13:50

That's what I did as a company commander . We started seeing these strengths in people , but their experience and their training was only aligned to , let's say , aircraft maintenance , when really they're actually a better computer engineer . Well , okay , how can I get them that experience a little bit more and start showing ? I trust them to develop into that . Maybe we're going to slow it down a little bit , but at the end of the day , we have a higher retention rate . We have more people not only being retained but that are sold out to the fact that this is the team that's giving them a chance .

Nika Lawrie 14:20

It's pretty cool . Retention rate is probably the most important thing when it comes to a high-functioning business too is when you have that turnover . It's almost impossible to build that momentum . So even if it's slowing you down just briefly to get somebody in the role that really matches their passions , it's almost worth taking that hit , opposed to having a revolving door of staff or employees .

Adam Jones 14:48

Yeah , no , it really is . I think it's risk , right , but you can't spell faith without risk .

Adam Jones 14:53

And we got to have faith in our people . We have to have faith in that there's something within them that they're meant to do with their life . And if we can help discover this and then actually not only discover it , but if they're going to fit well in the company , keep them there and then just put them into that alignment a proper alignment it's going to produce confidence . One of the biggest things I learned , nika , is that when you're properly positioned , it produces this unreal amount of confidence within someone to where it's not about just how hard they work even though I know we all have a hard work ethic and we like to hustle but if you were properly aligned , you'll just have this confidence about you in your company and what you do , because you know this is what I was meant to do , so , anyways .

Adam Jones 15:35

So once you align , then you can activate the people . And that's where the flight planning comes in , like you're talking about . Like let's actually get some procedures together , such as a flight planning procedure you know a pre-flight procedure and do that specifically in a customized way for your company . Once that's done , now we can begin to accelerate . People are trying to accelerate . They're trying to just speed up , speed up their team and their results , without ensuring those two are first aligned .

Nika Lawrie 16:05

Yeah , I see that a lot actually , absolutely . So what are some things that individuals can do to help , kind of one , identify their you know what they're really passionate about or what their maybe their purpose is ? And two , when they kind of identify that , how can they maybe bring that to the forefront for their leaders or their bosses ?

Adam Jones 16:25

Yeah , you're talking about things that I'm super excited about , so I'm glad you asked . No , I just think we have to go back to when we were kids , just to be honest . I mean , go back to when you were a kid and what were some of these things that just naturally stood out about you before the world started criticizing you , before the world started saying you know that maybe , or actually , let's take this out . What about comparison ? Let's just put that into it before you started comparing yourself to others who did it . So , in this example , for me , with leadership , since I was 12 , I was leading teams . I was teaching karate instruction , I was leading a search and rescue team , and it's funny because you can go into college and kind of forget those things and start learning some new curriculum , but when you look back on it you're like man , I always loved leading people . Well , why ?

Nika Lawrie 17:12

did .

Adam Jones 17:12

I always love leading people , and this is where everyone knows Simon Sinek . Start with why right ? I try not to skip over things , but everyone knows that one . But starting with why is not just about attracting people to your cause , if you think about it .

Nika Lawrie 17:27

When you start with why , for your purpose , your gifting these kinds of things , it's so permanent , the what doesn't matter as much anymore , as long as you're doing the why , yeah , no it's funny because when I became a coach , I realized when I looked back in my life that I had had many instances where it was kind of screaming at me that this is what I wanted to do , but I kept feeling like no , this isn't right .

Nika Lawrie 17:54

Like you know , society is not going to appreciate this . You know , some people kind of think it's a joke career , all these things , you know , and so I was always worried about what the rest of the world was going to think . And I can think all the way back to probably when I was in middle school , about having these things , that I want to help people , I want to coach people , I want to do something , and so I think there really is something to you know , setting aside the comparison , setting aside , you know , the worries of the judgment of the outside world , and really looking back to when you were young and the things that stand out .

Adam Jones 18:26

So yeah , yeah , there is . And then you make the decision and you make it the right decision . You find someone who's going to support you in that . You know you really do have this one life to live here on earth , right ? So if that's the case , why would you want to waste it ? You know , I know a lot of people on your podcast . I'm sure they get that . They get not wasting it , but go back to your childhood to figure out what it might be , because for me , man , it was always helicopters and it was always leadership . And now I got the helicopter thing and I checked the block and I'm glad I did it . But now it's time to actually take that and scale it to a larger level , to help other people learn hey , what was it like to do that ? It's a very rare experience that most people don't get to have . How can I help you learn from what I what I , you know experienced ?

Nika Lawrie 19:10

Absolutely yeah . So when so people , once they kind of identify what they're interested in and those kinds of things , how do they kind of bring that to the forefront with their , their company , their employers , so they can get placed in those positions ? And then does that also feed into building a good company culture ? How does that kind of work together ?

Adam Jones 19:33

Yeah , so with building , I call it a contagious company culture . I actually have a checklist for that that I'll be putting out here very soon , but it talks about the five C's , the five keys we'll just call it the five keys to creating a contagious culture , and these are the same things the military provides , but then we leave the military and we miss it and we're like , man , I wish I had this . So camaraderie is one , community challenges , correction and coaching we can go deeper into any of those if you have questions on them , but those are really key to that culture thing . Now , in terms of having the conversation that you're talking about , we got to start being more real with the people we work for , right , we got to actually share that .

Adam Jones 20:17

Even though this is what you're good at and even though this is what you have experience in , you'd really like to start trying this . I'd really like to start shadowing someone who does this and , honestly , if we have the right leaders which I know a lot of the time we don't , but if we do , they should want to support that and if they don't , then that's your truth . That's your truth about okay , I know what I need to do . I can feel it . I was talking about trusting your peace . So you know you feel peace about this decision .

Adam Jones 20:47

If that's the case , then it's really time probably to look somewhere else , to someone that will support it . Or if you feel like you're happy at the company and you just want to get that experience , do what most of us do . Go do it for free . You know , john Maxwell says in terms of leadership , one of the hardest things to do is to lead a volunteer organization . So why don't you just go get a new challenge and go lead a volunteer organization that can quit on you and just do it outside you ?

Adam Jones 21:12

know do it outside of what you're doing full time .

Nika Lawrie 21:14

Yeah , yeah , absolutely . How does so ? If I'm in the leadership role , how do I , you know , help identify those aspects of my employees ? And then also , how do I kind of use the five C's to kind of build that culture so that I can move my company forward ?

Adam Jones 21:34

Yeah . So when I think about being in a leadership role to encourage this kind of conversation , I think the most important part is that and I want to highlight something real quick that I've been learning , and that's the word learning . I have not learned probably anything yet . You know what I mean . We learn line upon line , right ? We learn as we go . So what I'm learning is this could be a good technique , and it's really to have the lens to see the gifts . Put a lens on to where you're not looking for what they're failing at for a moment , but instead you're looking at wow , they're actually really good at connecting with people , and the role I have them in doesn't have anything to do with connecting with people , but I notice it when we're in certain meetings . That's a gift , right there .

Adam Jones 22:19

Whether they know it or not even that employee , that team member . They don't know it . You can let them know . You know , hey , I wanted to point something out to you that I noticed . Did you notice that you're really good at connecting with people ? Yeah , you know I have . Okay , well , hey , how do you want to do ? You want to use that in this company ? There's ways we can help you so that you can use that strength , that gift , and you never know . Just the encouragement of the conversation might let them be more real with you , more upfront with you . It's really about just making things comfortable for the conversation . It's up to the team member to actually say yes , that's what I want , but why not at least ask some of the questions ?

Nika Lawrie 22:58

Absolutely Talk a little bit about stewardship

Embracing Stewardship and Leadership Growth

Nika Lawrie 23:01

. I know that's kind of an important thing . And how do you , how do you increase your engagement through stewardship ?

Adam Jones 23:08

Yes , stewardship . So I think too often we take responsibility for things right , like and this sounds so weird coming from a Blackhawk pilot and an army company commander , someone who read the book Extreme Ownership . But my point is , at least for me , I believe that in my life , god is responsible for the results . I'm responsible for getting properly positioned and being a steward of what's been provided to me . So that's just my faith . I'm very open about that because I want other people to be open about theirs with me . I want to encourage that conversation , you know .

Adam Jones 23:40

So , that being said , stewardship is really about governing what we've been entrusted with . You know , I look at myself as a father . I'm a steward of my daughter , right , I'm entrusted with her care . I mean , how amazing is that ? Now , also the ball . Sometimes , like we all do , we're like , oh man , I wish I didn't respond that way . You know , I understand , I'm just a steward . I got to improve in my ability to govern and to be a steward in her life .

Adam Jones 24:07

And again , I know it sounds weird , but but the point is when you , when you really realize that we're being trusted with something in our life , whether you believe who that's from or not , still , you're being trusted with a job . You're being trusted with something in our life , whether you believe who that's from or not . Still , you're being trusted with a job . You're being trusted with a family . You realize it's not really up to you to get the results right now . Instead , it's just using those resources that you have within yourself , externally , within the other people , to bring out the best in them . So I'm very passionate about stewardship their people to bring out the best in them . So I'm very passionate about stewardship . It's really been something I've had to learn , because the reason I care about this is we're putting too much pressure on ourselves Absolutely , and this weight is overwhelming .

Adam Jones 24:48

It causes frustration , it causes stress , but if you realize , hey , I'm a steward of where we're at right now and I just want to help get it to the next point I think it takes a lot of pressure off , especially when you're in this hustle hustle mentality , like a lot of us are .

Nika Lawrie 25:03

Yeah , I absolutely agree , I think . I think one of my favorite things that I heard was that I'm responsible for my input , but I'm not responsible for what happens and so or the outcome , basically , and so I think that's a really important thing for people to understand , because we do , we build up this expectation for ourselves and expectation for the way the world's supposed to be , or we think it's supposed to be , and it ultimately ends up burning us out and can really take a toll on our health and our relationships , and so I love that idea kind of easing that stress on yourself .

Adam Jones 25:43

Yeah , it freed me . So that's why I'm like I need to let people know about this . You just take that weight off of your shoulders , which , again , I know it might be a little bit counter to what others are saying , but you got to find what works for you that's actually going to bring . Others are saying but you got to find what works for you that's actually going to bring out the best side of you .

Nika Lawrie 26:01

So I saw when I was preparing for our interview here that you talked about reading between the lines to find the right fit . What does that mean exactly ?

Adam Jones 26:14

Interesting , all right . So I didn't know I had that on my profile . You never know what you put on there anymore . You know , it's just like the days go by . I was looking through some things I wrote down two weeks ago and I'm like who wrote this whole page ? I don't recognize any of it right , yeah it's funny , it's the importance of reviewing things .

Adam Jones 26:32

but yeah , you know , what comes to mind for me is this art , that's between the words . So there's people who read the checklist and there's people who read the people and then read the checklist right In the military , we have checklists for everything we do . I have checklists as a company company commander , for my training meetings , you know I have . I have a checklist for my convoy operations , my flights themselves . Um , while I'm flying , I have checklists for what needs to happen next and where we're going and how we're going to land . I mean , all these things are checklists . But there's an art to that and I think it's so important that we have structure to help guide us from how we need to proceed through maybe a mental thought process and it becomes written down . But you got to read the people too , and that's the , that's the white space between the words , between the font itself .

Nika Lawrie 27:27

It's how do you connect this to that group of people ? Absolutely , what are some of the the best tools that you've found along along the way um , outside of your , uh , military training , that have really helped you build up your mental stamina Books or podcasts , or just tools that you found along the way ?

Adam Jones 27:46

All right . So I am a personal growth junkie , for sure . I love studying books , podcasts , all of it , so there's a lot of great podcasts that I follow , but also with reading . One of them that really helped me with leadership was the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership , because that was such a practical guide for me to be able to help others . That's by John Maxwell , where I could actually look at the law of navigation and I was like , wow , I need to get better at helping my team navigate . And then I went into that chapter and I just kind of made that a focus and right away I just took it and applied it within a week and charted out a course for the team to navigate , not for me . So that was really cool .

Supporting Veterans' Transition & Identity

Adam Jones 28:29

Other than that , though , again , reading and podcasts are big to me , but I think a lot of this is about you got to take that information and make it your own revelation . It can't just be regurgitated information . It needs to , it needs to be internalized and become your own revelation . So you got to go deeper with it , and then it becomes part of who you are , and then you can just share it . Right , then you just release it One of our values at Mountain Movers Consulting is it's the final thing that we want from our clients is we want them to be able to release a sound that's within them . There's a specific sound to who they are as a leader , who they are as a team . But there's so much information we got to take that and bring it into the revelation side so it can be released .

Nika Lawrie 29:12

Mm-hmm . I think that's such a cool thing , the idea of kind of having your own sound or your own strength within you , if that makes sense . Yeah , yeah , so you also . You help veterans struggling to adapt with civilian life now outside of the military . What does that look like and what do you do to support them ?

Adam Jones 29:34

Yeah . So I remember getting in the car after leaving a family barbecue and it was all of a sudden just thinking to myself man , no one gets me , I don't even get me anymore . I feel so lost , but no one can see it . You know , I mean I was someone who always had this kind of positive demeanor to me and yet at the same time inside I felt a little angry , I felt stressed , I felt just burnt out after getting out and I didn't realize there were things I lost to gain freedom back . Okay , I think it's amazing to serve , but once you get out you've kind of gained back some freedom that you gave up .

Nika Lawrie 30:11

Yeah .

Adam Jones 30:13

Even freedom of speech . I mean , we don't always have that in the military , it just depends , right ? So those are the five keys to creating a contagious culture . They're the same five keys that people lost when they got out of the military .

Nika Lawrie 30:24

And .

Adam Jones 30:24

I want to help them recreate that . So , in other words , you know how can I help them recreate camaraderie in their life , now that they fail .

Adam Jones 30:33

How can I help them find a community to where they're better together ? Because in the military , when you come in , there's a community ready to receive you . They know more about you than you do because of your position and where you're showing up to and the type of base it is , as you know , right , yeah , yeah , challenges how can we recreate challenges into their life ? Correction when I say correction , a lot of people we get out of the military and we start drifting . We kind of lose our motivation . And my challenge to people is you don't really lose your motivation , you lost your mission . The military gave you a mission . Every day , all day long , there's new missions and there's a high level mission . So if we can help you actually regain , recreate whatever you actually regain , a new regain , recreate whatever you want to call it , but let's get a mission that drives you to where your motivation has to come back .

Adam Jones 31:27

And again , with correction , we weren't taught self-discipline . Actually , people think we are . They're like , wow , you're so disciplined , we should see how we eat . You know , yes , actually , the way we live when we're not being corrected . I think it's so important to have that and this is the last part coaching to have a coach that helps correct . You know , I've always invested in coaching and coaching services because I needed that imposed discipline to not just self-discipline . I'm not strong enough to just force myself through all these . I'm sure I can create accountability , check marks and stuff , but there's nothing like having a coach , you know , like yourself , who actually points out your blind spot that you didn't know was there .

Nika Lawrie 32:12

Yeah , I mean , I think that's the biggest thing that comes from coaching is that it's one accountability , because the person that all of us are least accountable to is ourself , but we're all very accountable to somebody else , which I think is kind of odd and sad , but it's the truth and you see it quite often . But I think the thing that really stands out to me with your five C's is that this is something that anybody really needs , not just military individuals . You know , it's something that all of us , we all need that camaraderie , we all need community and connection , we all need a mission , we need a purpose to get out of bed every morning , and I think anyone who doesn't have those kinds of things is going to struggle . So I think this really translates to anybody .

Adam Jones 32:58

Yeah , thank you . That's why this became something where I was hurting so bad . I was trying to figure out what did I lose . And this is what was given to me over time of reflection and taking information and creating it into a revelation to where , wow , these were lost . I mean , you can't second guess this at all . Those five Cs , those keys , are gone when you got out and you're put into a new world and you got to just adapt somehow .

Adam Jones 33:25

When you lost all those things that you didn't even realize , the military provided you until you got out . You know the military provided some really great things for us . So I think we just we get out of the military with our guard down . I know I did . I was like , yeah , sir , for 10 years that was awesome . Let's go make another impact somewhere else .

Adam Jones 33:43

And then you realize I'm actually kind of lost . You know I'm a little hurting right now . I didn't even know I was . You just see it come out of you . Yeah , you have to get real with this . So I'm so passionate About , you know one , helping business owners create this type of team that people are they're excited to be a part of it's a contagious culture , right but then also helping those prior service members like myself regain these five keys so that they can actually find themselves again right , or maybe finally discover themselves , instead of having the military define who they were . Because I know for me you know , nika , I wasn't a Blackhawk pilot , I flew Blackhawks . I mean , I corrected people for years on that when they'd say , oh , you're a Blackhawk pilot , and I'd say I mean , yeah , I fly them , you know , because I never wanted my identity to become something that would change one day . You know .

Nika Lawrie 34:36

Yeah , I think that happens . I mean , I know that happened to me . I think that happens to people a lot is that . I'll give my personal example . I worked for a nonprofit for just shy of a decade and I left , and when I left I really felt a loss of identity . It took me a while to kind of figure out who I was again in the sense of how the community knew me . They had known me as the development director for this nonprofit for years and years and years . And when I left , you know , trying to explain my business and what I was doing and how I was connecting , it took me a while to kind of figure out . I guess the elevator pitch again and on the inside of that is a really emotional , challenging thing . And so I think it can be really important for everyone who goes through those big changes in their life to kind of reassess who they are and re-identify their personal identity .

Adam Jones 35:32

Yeah , it absolutely is .

Nika Lawrie 35:35

So I have two more questions for you , but before I get to those , I just want to recognize you for a moment for the work that you're doing to help veterans , for your service in the military and for your business now . I think it's incredible what you're doing to support others , and just it's so encouraging and so inspiring to see you help people like that . So thank you . I just want to acknowledge you for it . Well , thank you help people like that . So thank you , and I just want to acknowledge you for it .

Adam Jones 36:00

Well , thank you , I appreciate that .

Nika Lawrie 36:02

Yeah .

Connecting With Commander Adam Jones

Nika Lawrie 36:03

So before I get to my very last question , where can the listeners connect with you ? Where can they find you ?

Adam Jones 36:09

Okay , I had to think long and hard about this , but it's totally Facebook . If you go on Instagram , you won't see as much from me , but if you go to Facebook and you look up Commander Adam Jones , okay , because there's two parts to this being a commander from my past experience , but also still being a commander in the way we command our environment and the way we command our atmosphere . The way we command breakthrough right Breakthrough . My goal is to break mountains to build leaders . That's it . We got to break mental mountains , break spiritual mountains , break mountains within a team itself that they're facing , so that they can become the leader they were created to be . So Commander Adam Jones kind of wraps all that together .

Nika Lawrie 36:51

Love it . That's great , definitely so . My last question for you , adam , is what advice do you have for someone who either wants to make change in their life , in their community or or around the world ?

Adam Jones 37:05

Okay . So One thing I teach in a program I have called kingdom warrior , which is helping christian men Okay , helping them become a warrior in their , in their environment and it's not in a way of combativeness or anger or get real serious and just tense up your face and your body . I think we do that enough . It's more about actually understanding this that you have an area of operations right now that you're a steward of that's already been entrusted to you . An area of operations is a term the military uses Joint Publications 3-0, . If anyone wants to go look it up , tell you more . An area of operations is a term the military uses Joint Publications 3-0, . If anyone wants to go look it up , tell you more about area of operations . But that is such a key term we use every day in the military to realize this is my AO , this is what I'm responsible for . The enemy's AO is not within mine , it's outside of that . So when we're fighting an adversary or whatever that is for you and you're going against something that you don't want to take you out , understand that's not in your AO , but you're responsible , you're a steward , for really being there to change the atmosphere . Now , and that's how I look at it when I look at my community right now , I live in a really awesome community in Pittsburgh and I look around and I wonder how many people are actually looking at this neighborhood as their responsibility or , in this case , as a steward of it ? Probably not . Probably like maybe just me , for all I know . So I better really be aware of that . And one thing be praying for them . Another thing be the light . Be the light to help others and to be someone that others are attracted to . That I'm actually going to lift them up . One of our values as a family is to invite , Just be an inviter . Invite others in . So those are just some examples of what you can do now , as you can realize and mentally map out your area of operations . This consists of where you live , where you work , you know where you drive , you know the roads you're on . It consists of the culture and the environment that you're a part of . How can you start commanding your AO ?

Nika Lawrie 39:13

I love that . I think you know even just the simple side of understanding that your neighborhood is your area of operation and you have stewardship for that . So even just something silly like picking up trash around your neighborhood to take care of your neighborhood because it's part of your responsibility or stewardship , so I think that's such a mind shift that's really important for people and I don't think enough of us are really thinking about it that way . So I think it's a great , great concept .

Adam Jones 39:41

Awesome Glad to help .

Nika Lawrie 39:42

Yeah Well , thank you . So so much , Adam . I really appreciate your time and your experience and just all your knowledge and sharing it with us today .

Adam Jones 39:49

Thank you , no problem , it was great talking to you , nika , and to your audience , looking forward to connecting on Facebook . If you go on Facebook also you can schedule a free discovery call , a 15 minute phone call . So just find me on Facebook first and then right there you'll see in the links I'll give it to everyone . Now it's calendlycom slash MMC3 . That's Mountain Movers Consulting 3 slash discovery . So again , that's a little bit long . So if you go to my Facebook you'll find it .

Nika Lawrie 40:16

Yeah , and I'll link to it in the show notes too , so don't worry about it .

Adam Jones 40:19

Perfect , perfect , but I'd love to just pass that forward to your group . Just a free call one-on-one to where we can figure out do you have any mountains right now that we need to start breaking , and do you have any leaders that we need to start building ?

Nika Lawrie 40:31

Absolutely .