Intentional Leader

  • Home
  • Podcast
  • Course
  • Newsletters
  • Articles
  • About
  • Patreon
  • Contact
RWB Photo.jpg

#45: Mike Erwin (Founder of Team RWB) — On Solitude, Taking Action, and Failing Forward

August 24, 2020 by Cal Walters in Intentional Living, Leadership

Mike Erwin is the Founder & Executive Director of Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB).  Team RWB's mission is to enrich the lives of America's veterans by connecting them to their communities through physical and social activity.  He is also the CEO of the Character & Leadership Center, and the Co-founder & President of The Positivity Project-a non-profit organization with the mission to empower America's youth to build positive relationships. With 425 partner schools, the organization reaches 260,000 children daily.

apple-podcasts-badge.png
google_podcasts_badge@8x.png
Spotify 3.png

Mike Erwin is a man that wears many important hats. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Team Red, White, and Blue (Team RWB)—a non-profit with a mission to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity. Team RWB is a growing organization with over 220,000 members.

In addition to leading Team RWB, Mike is the CEO of the Character & Leadership Center and the Co-Founder & President of The Positivity Project—a non-profit organization with the mission to empower America’s youth to build positive relationships. With 425 partner schools, the organization reaches 260,000 children daily.

Positivity Project.jpg
PP.jpg

He is the also the co-author with Judge Raymond Kethledge of Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership through Solitude by Bloomsbury Press (2017).  The book focuses on how solitude strengthens people’s character—and their ability to lead with clarity, balance, and conviction.  Mike is also a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, assigned to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he serves as an Assistant Professor in Leadership & Psychology. He also serves as the founding Chairman of the Board for Father Vincent Capodanno High School, outside Fort Bragg, NC.

Mike graduated from West Point in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He was commissioned as an Intelligence Officer, serving in three combat tours with the First Cavalry Division and 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne). His service includes deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004–2005 that involved the Battles of Fallujah and Najaf. Mike also deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2006–2007 and 2009. On those tours, he worked with NATO forces, to include serving as a lead intelligence planner for one of the largest NATO-led combat operation in history. Mike earned two Bronze Star Medals from these tours.

1500x500.jpg

Following his third deployment, Mike attended the University of Michigan from 2009–2011, where he studied positive psychology and leadership under the tutelage of the co-founder of Positive Psychology, Dr. Chris Peterson. He went on to serve as an Assistant Professor in Psychology & Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy from 2011–2014. While assigned to West Point as a Major, Mike served as a lead planner for the Bob McDonald Global Leadership Conference and was the aide-de-camp to the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership, held by Jim Collins and then Tom Tierney.

Connect with Mike and follow his awesome work at MikeErwin.net or on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter.

DSC_9860-2.jpg

On this episode, we discuss:

  • His “WHY” for serving

  • Resilience

  • The birth of Team Red, White, and Blue

  • Growing and scaling a large organization

  • Having a bias for action

  • Dealing with self-doubt and failure

  • Gaining clarity and confidence through solitude

  • Creating time and space for solitude in a busy, distracted world

  • How Mike manages his time and energy

  • His work with the Positivity Project and Team RWB

We discuss the following books during our conversation:

Herd: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature
By Earls, Mark
The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion & Purpose
By Matthew Kelly
Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking is Not the Answer
By Collins, Jim
The Alchemist, 25th Anniversary: A Fable About Following Your Dream
By Coelho, Paulo

Help us grow by leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts

Partner with us financially at Patreon

Follow us on Facebook

August 24, 2020 /Cal Walters
solitude, bias for action, growth, non-profit, lead yourself first
Intentional Living, Leadership
  • Newer
  • Older