Command Sergeant Major Joanne Naumann, Senior Enlisted Leader for U.S. Army Special Operations Command, shares hard-earned lessons on humility, trust, and leadership in high-pressure environments. She joins Moments in Leadership for a powerful conversation about what it means to lead when the stakes are highest.

Currently serving as the Senior Enlisted Leader for U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), CSM Naumann has spent nearly three decades guiding and mentoring soldiers in the Army’s most elite formations. From her beginnings as a Voice Language Analyst and Arabic linguist to multiple assignments in Special Mission Units, she brings hard-won insight from fourteen deployments across CENTCOM and AFRICOM.

In this episode, she and host David B. Armstrong, retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, explore the mindset that sustains great leaders through long careers of pressure, sacrifice, and accountability. Topics include:

• Building authentic trust within high-performing teams
• Balancing empathy with discipline
• The role of radical candor in developing future leaders
• How great mentors challenge and shape your growth
• Why humility remains the cornerstone of elite leadership

This conversation offers a rare look inside the human side of senior military leadership — one defined not by bravado, but by the quiet strength of service and self-awareness.

Whether you’re leading a small team or an entire organization, the lessons in this episode apply to anyone who believes that leadership is about people first.

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Retired Major General Matt Smith shares candid lessons on leading through combat, crisis response, civil unrest, and personal trials at the highest levels of Army command.

In this episode of Moments in Leadership, I sit down with retired Major General Matt Smith, US Army, to reflect on the leadership lessons earned over a three-decade career in uniform. From commanding troops in Afghanistan to steering large organizations through hurricanes, civil unrest, and the COVID-19 pandemic, General Smith’s story is one of resilience, adaptability, and character.

We discuss the weight of command at scale, the challenges of shifting from tactical to executive leadership, and the cultural differences between active duty and National Guard formations. General Smith also shares raw insights from the Pentagon during crises like Black Lives Matter protests, January 6th, and the early days of COVID, offering a rare look inside the Army’s decision-making under pressure.

Later in the conversation, he opens up about the personal strain of being under investigation while still in command — and the moral courage it took to stay focused on his people, his duty, and the institution. His advice on composure, trust, and standards will resonate with leaders across every profession.

Finally, we explore his new mission leading the Master in Business for Veterans program at Emory University, helping seasoned enlisted and officers translate their military leadership into business success.

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• Support this project on Supercast: Moments In Leadership Supercast

• Visit the Moments in Leadership website: https://bit.ly/3SA2XHe

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• Email: themiloffice@gmail.com

LtCol (Col Sel) Cameron McCoy, Marine veteran, historian, and author of Contested Valor, shares leadership lessons from his service, academic career, and research into race and representation in the Marine Corps.

In this episode of Moments in Leadership, host David B. Armstrong sits down with LtCol Cameron McCoy, a Marine veteran, historian, and author of Contested Valor: African American Marines in the Age of Power, Protest, and Tokenism. LtCol McCoy’s journey spans combat deployments, leadership in academia, and a distinguished research career focused on the untold stories of African American Marines.

Dave and Cameron first met during a Reserve ITX event and reconnected after Dave read Contested Valor. Their conversation blends personal experience with historical analysis, offering listeners a candid look at leadership in the face of complex issues—including race, representation, and institutional change.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• How military service shaped LtCol McCoy’s leadership philosophy

• Leadership lessons from addressing race and representation in the Marine Corps

• The challenges of researching and telling underrecognized histories

• The parallels between leading in combat and leading in academia

• Why adaptability, empathy, and historical perspective matter for leaders today

Whether you’re a student of history, a leader in uniform, or someone committed to equity and inclusion, this episode offers practical wisdom and thought-provoking perspectives.

Support the Show & Stay Connected:
🎙 Support this project on Supercast: Moments In Leadership Supercast
🌐 Visit the Moments in Leadership website: Website
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📩 Email the show: themiloffice@gmail.com