Asymmetric Creativity and Leadership with CEO and Retired Navy SEAL, Marty Strong

01/01/23 • 75 min

What is the journey like to move from enlisting in the Navy at age 17, being recruited into the SEALs instead of going to law school, then serving as a SEAL Team member for twenty years, leading combat missions and helping to design and test new special operations capabilities while becoming a combat-decorated officer and later instructor, to next becoming an entrepreneur, novelist and nonfiction author, CEO and Chief Strategy Officer, Portfolio Manager, sought-after media expert and keynote speaker, while being a father of five and beating cancer – twice?

Well, that’s what Marty Strong will be discussing in this episode, and how to apply what he’s learned, to your life and work.

But let me first tell you a little bit more about Marty.

In the Navy, he served as Former Task Unit Commander and Ops Boss, was a member of SEAL Team Two and SEAL Team Four, and was Leading Chief Petty Officer at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado. He’s traveled to over forty countries, and been shot-at in a few.

Marty is currently the CEO of three companies within an ESOP-enterprise structure and he runs his own consulting firm. He’s appeared on CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, and was a featured expert on two History Channel documentaries. In all, Marty has over 400 TV and radio interviews to his credit.

Marty has taken the thread of leadership to stitch together the fabric of his vibrant, albeit challenging career and life. There is so much we covered in this episode – leadership, overcoming adversity, BUDs and being a SEAL Team Member and instructor, author, entrepreneur, and more.

We also covered mindset, adaptation, and improvising, black swans, flow state a la Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, business leadership during crisis, motivation and the courage required to excel, and how to see risk as opportunity for accelerated outcomes. Marty certainly lives his life in full, and in the service of others in so many ways. This is a great conversation with an amazing leader.

Well, that’s what Marty Strong will be discussing in this episode, and how to apply what he’s learned, to your life and work.

But let me first tell you a little bit more about Marty.

Previous Episode

The Complex Elegance and Constant Contradictions of Derek Sivers

Tim Ferriss says that Derek Sivers is one of his “all-time favorite humans... a philosopher-king, programmer, master teacher, and merry prankster.”

Derek is an international man of mystery, or maybe contradiction. He’s known and loved by millions, done three super-popular TED talks, but he prefers to be alone, certainly when he’s working and creating, or “playing” as he’d more likely call it.

Derek graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and has worked as a professional musician and plays a number of instruments. He started a record label, booking agency, and recording studio, and he is the accidental founder of CD Baby which became the largest seller of independent music on the web, with over $100M in sales for over 150,000 musician clients. He sold CD Baby in 2008 for $22 million, giving the proceeds to a charitable trust for music education, as well as a more recent donation of a quarter-million dollars in book-sales to charity.

He's been featured in the documentary "Your Own Way Out," on the highs and lows of digital nomads. He’s lived all over the US as well as London, Oxford, Singapore, and currently New Zealand.

Derek is a sought-after speaker and author of four very popular books, “Anything You Want 40 lessons for a new kind of entrepreneur,” “Your Music and People.” “Hell Yeah or No,” and most recently, “How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion,” which we will focus most of our conversation on in this episode.

Oh, and one more thing, he was a clown and worked in the circus for 10 years.

Derek lives his life in full and provides the rest of us with the tools and inspiration to do likewise. This is an episode not to be missed.

Next Episode

Brad Stulberg on the Paradox of Achievement and Sustainable Success

In this episode, Brad Stulberg shares a healthier, more sustainable model for success. At the heart of this model is groundedness--a practice that values presence over rote productivity, accepts that progress is nonlinear, and prioritizes long-term values and fulfillment over short-term gain. To be grounded is to possess a firm and unwavering foundation, a resolute sense of self from which deep and enduring, not shallow and superficial, success can be found. Groundedness does not eliminate ambition and striving; rather, it situates these qualities and channels them in more meaningful ways.

Achievement often comes at a cost. Angst, restlessness, frayed relationships, exhaustion, burnout, and even substance abuse can be the unwanted side effects of an obsession with outward performance. While the high of occasional wins can keep you going for a while, playing into the always-on, never enough hustle culture—what he calls heroic individualism—ultimately takes a serious toll, both on individuals and communities.

In his newest book, The Practice of Groundedness, Brad offers a healthier and more sustainable model for success. Interweaving case studies, modern science, and time-honored lessons from ancient wisdom traditions such as Buddhism, Stoicism, and Taoism, Brad discusses how to cultivate the habits and practices of a more grounded life and the application of the six principles of groundedness.

We wrapped up with discovering what Brad’s learned in the year since Groundedness has been out, and I must say it was as deep and reflective as you may expect from such a unique person. Brad’s work helps us all to live our lives in full, and with authentic meaning. This is a rich conversation with an amazing guy, be sure to tune in on your favorite platform.