Echo 7 Leadership Podcast

Guests John Schroder and Mark McGrath join our podcast and explain how their formative years in the Marine Corps prepared them for business, decision-making, and even fatherhood. We discuss their toughest leadership challenges in uniform and once they got out. Our wide ranging talk with them covered OODA, VUCA, and more.

Hans Prahl, Owner of the Florence Brewing Company, joins us to share leadership lessons from his 21 years as a Marine and soldier, from becoming a successful entrepreneur, and from the art of brewing. Find out how Hans chose Florence, Colorado, as the location for his brewery -- equally important, find out what a "Hanism" is, too.

Our guests served in 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, with Bill between 2010-2012, including their deployment to Afghanistan's Helmand Province. We discuss what it's like for a brand new 2ndLt to take command of a platoon of combat veteran Marines, fighting against the Taliban in the Triangle of Guilt, applying Marine leadership to the civilian world, and more.

Matt Phillips, Founder & CEO of the Military Java Group, joins Bart and Bill to talk about building his new company that donates 50% of its profits to the Semper Fi Fund. Along the way, Matt entertains while explaining his family legacy, how he originally entered the coffee industry, the leadership lessons he learned, and more. 

This episode concludes our talk with our dad, Dave Vivian, as he finishes explaining his experiential journey learning leadership. Join us as he talks about challenges he faced and how he solved them, including one of the toughest challenges: leading people through change.

Our dad, Dave Vivian, joins us to explain his experiential journey learning leadership. From little league baseball to college football on a scholarship, and from his first job after graduation with JC Penney to owning his own mid-sized chemical manufacturing business, Dad shares what he learned and how he learned it.

Jason Akemann, co-founder of Bottleneck Management and Chicago area entrepreneur, is this episode's guest. Bart and Bill ask Jason how he got started in the industry and how his leadership style evolved as he went from a bartender to the co-owner of an $80 million enterprise.

In this episode, Bill and Bart talk through Legacy transfer - what it is, how they do it, and why it is important. They do this by immersing a family in a meaningful shared experience that includes outdoor activities and volunteer events. The shared experience also confirms alignment of shared values, forges agreement on the need for responsible Legacy transfer, transforms individual ideas into a Shared Vision, and develops suitable options for implementing the Shared Vision.

Bill and Bart talk about how it all began - why they are so interested in leadership, why they continue to research & practice it, and the influences that guided them along the way.