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Kevin Paylow

20 Years! How did THAT happen?


This weekend marks my 20th anniversary of leaving the Army.

20 years! So much has changed since then: My family, my career, technology...

Yet the nine years I spent in uniform still deeply impact my beliefs:

  • Outcomes are my responsibility

  • Marginal decisions executed well are better than great decisions executed poorly or too late

  • Inaction or indecision... is still an action or decision

  • The team comes first (first to eat, first to get credit, etc.), the leader is last

  • Bad employees are typically the fruit of bad leadership...

  • … but some people will never carry their weight. Focus on who you can help and develop

  • Lead by example (keep your own shit clean, demonstrate the values you demand from others)

  • Hang out with the squared away guys... you'll learn through osmosis (Pygmalion effect)

  • Take your lumps... you earned 'em

  • Sometimes there is no good option. Make a decision and get moving

  • As shitty as things might get, you'll get through them and what was difficult will seem easy

  • Communicate deliberately: early, often, effectively

These beliefs continue to guide my actions as I manage my businesses.

And that last one helped drive me into my primary business: showing others how to communicate deliberately.

I'm thankful for the experience, for the Army, for the amazing people I served with, and for my wife and her support while I served. Without them I would not be the man I am today.

- Kev

Ft. Davis, Panama - 1994

Ft. Greely, Alaska - 1996?

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