The Comeback Episode: Reintegration, Reflection & Why Leadership Still Matters | Episode 368

Yeah, it’s, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it? A couple of things have gone on in the world of Scott McCarthy and Moving Forward Leadership, and I’m back. It’s been about 5 months since I recorded my last show, and it’s just been a whirlwind. So today it’s update day. Where I’ve been, what’s been going on, and most importantly, what the the hell is going to happen moving forward. So you don’t want to miss this one.

Are you ready for it?

All right, let’s do it.

Welcome one, welcome all to the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast, a weekly podcast series dedicated to helping you hit peak performance across the 3 domains of leadership, those being leading yourself, leading your team, and leading your organization. This podcast couples my 20 years of military experience as a senior Canadian Army officer with world-class guests to bring you the most complete podcast on leadership going. And for more, feel free to check out our website at movingforwardleadership.com. And with that, let’s get to the show.

Yes. Welcome one, welcome all. It is your Chief Leadership Officer, Scott McCarthy. And thanks for not tuning in, freaking sticking around. Let me tell you, uh, if you’re listening to this in real time, thanks for hanging out and hanging in there as life happens and things just get crazy. So today’s episode is gonna be light. It’s not gonna be super heavy on the leadership front. I’m really gonna do, you know, probably a true leadership podcast episode next week on basically everything I’ve learned over the course of you know, the past 5 months.

And, you know, what does it mean for us as leaders as we go through the similar struggles, life choices, changes, and all that good stuff moving forward? And just kind of help you learn and, you know, be able to reflect upon your leadership and your decisions moving forward so that maybe you can Do it easier, do it better, whatever. Learn from my mistakes. So let’s double down. Let’s talk about what has transpired since basically June, right around my last time. I think it was late May, early June was my last episode. So as you are probably aware, if you’ve listened to the podcast, I was wrapping up a military job. That I was doing. I was the commander of the 25th Supply Depot in Montreal, Quebec, and I was doing that job for 2 years, and I was doing that job away from home.

So my family stayed at home in the Kingston, Ontario area while I spent all week up in Montreal doing that job. So in June, that came to And then mid-June, to be exact. Now, that is a very heavy and cumbersome and burdensome thing that we as military officers have to go through. When we do a change of command, it completely just sucks in your entire work life. in existence and you’re just absolutely exhausted because there is so much to do. Keep in mind, I was responsible at that time for about 200 people and $8.6 billion worth of material. That’s right, $8.6 billion. And no, I’m not exaggerating, literal numbers.

And that was, you know, across 7, 8 buildings, 2 different locations. Anyway, it was a lot. So it was a lot that we had to prepare, we had to get ready, and I just wanted to make sure I did my best to support my team then, um, in, you know, transition, to make sure that the new command team, as we refer to it, uh, was well set up, well supported, and had everything they needed to take the ball and and keep running with it. And by doing that, I felt like that’s how I best support my team. So that just completely sucked up all my bandwidth, absolutely everything I had, day in, day out, evenings, and so forth that, you know, I didn’t want this podcast, and I always never ever wanted this podcast to ever feel like a chore, something I didn’t enjoy doing. So I took some time. Like, I didn’t allow that to happen because I knew I wasn’t in this, you know, the kind of headspace to really get into doing the research I need to do for the individual episodes, the background checks and research I need to do for my interview episodes. I just didn’t have it in me.

So I’d rather say, you know what, it’s always about quality, not quantity. The listeners will be there. If not, new listeners will come. It’s okay. It’s never been about the fame, but rather just helping people. So I decided to take a step back. So, you know, I went through that process, um, and, and then I packed up everything and I finally moved home with my family after basically 2 years away. And when When I got home, I made the decision I was going to basically take the entire summer off of all the extra things to kind of make up for lost time.

You know, you’ve been away for basically 2 years, like home for a weekend on the regular week. Occasionally I was able to work from home for maybe a week here or there or a few days depending what my schedule was like, you know, vacations. But still, it— I missed a lot and I just wanted to feel like I was going to make up for it the best I could. So I took the summer off and made every opportunity, um, and that’s what I did. And then the fall came, and through the summer, um, I was being recruited— and not recruited by the military, I was being recruited by a private agency. And through the summer, as I was, you know, going into this new military job, I was also being recruited by this company. And they made an offer and I discussed it with my family, my wife, and made a decision. So Lieutenant Colonel Scott McCarthy is now Lieutenant Colonel retired.

Scott McCarthy. On the 14th of September, it was my last day in uniform. And on the 15th of September, I started as the Director of Supply Chain Integration for Arcanus Aerial Systems Limited, which is an unmanned system. I won’t say aerial because we do more than just air now. We are looking at terrestrial. We are also doing submerged or maritime. So we are in fact a bona fide full suite drone company. And I’ve been brought on as the director of supply chain for this company.

So I’ve been with them now for almost a month and just shy of a month now. And I wanted to obviously take some time and get my feet wet with the company, learn the team, meet the team, sorry, learn how we operate, how we do business, and get integrated and start making an impact. And obviously that took up a lot of my bandwidth as well. Now I’m getting settled, I’m getting squared away, I’m settled at home. I don’t feel like I need to make up for lost time anymore. And with the company, I am definitely, um, You know, feeling a part of the team and integrated. And now I’m at the point where I truly believe I again have the bandwidth to hit restart on this podcast, hit restart on Moving Forward Leadership as a whole, and move forward and see— continue to bring you amazing guests. And amazing speakers and just, you know, continue to do the best work I can for you as a leadership coach and help you, you know, go through this, this whole journey of being a leader within an organization, whether that’s a company or a not-profit or nonprofit or government or what have you.

And the reality is, is that now being in the private sector completely, I’ve, you know, I’m changing perspectives. You know, I spent 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. I have that perspective. And now I’m fully in the private life and private business life, and I’m gaining that perspective as well. So, you know, my work experience is also helping me to round out as a coach. To bring you the best leadership advice, guidance, questions to make you just sit back and contemplate your leadership, your style, how you come across, and so forth. So as you can tell, that was a lot, a lot that went on, went on in the world of Scott over the course of the past 5 months. But, you know, you come out and you come out stronger, you come out better.

And no doubt that is exactly where I truly believe we are now. So that, ladies and gentlemen, is what’s been going on, and that’s what’s been keeping me away from the microphone. If you follow me on LinkedIn, I’ve been keeping up with writing at least. I know it’s a bit different, but yes, you know, writing helps me, relaxes me, and it’s something I enjoy. And it’s something I can kind of do in the margins, whereas getting behind the microphone, you need to be a lot more deliberate with it. So now I’m being more deliberate. I’m here. So what does this all mean for Moving Forward Leadership moving forward? Mind the puns, always.

You know what? You know, guess what has changed? Not much. The podcast will still roll. My leadership articles will still be written. Guest speakers and guest interviews will occur again soon. We’re kicking those off again soon. So not much has changed. Services-wise, I sat back and I did some, you know, deep heart thinking, and I’ve decided to consolidate just to protect my time. And I’ve consolidated my services down to one-to-one coaching only.

So if you want to work with me in the future, it will be on a one-to-one coaching format. No longer will I be offering the Leader Growth Mastermind. We’re closing that for, you know, until I get to the point where I’m ready to reopen it, probably likely as something different, something better. Than what that was. Not that it was a bad product at all. It’s just that, yeah, it was time for it to move on. And that’s life. And that’s the lifecycle.

And that’s business too. So if you want to work with me, it will be one-to-one coaching. And you can go to leaddontboss.com/coaching to be able to get— check that out, check out my services, book a call, clarity call with me. that we can discuss your coaching needs. Okay. But yeah, Moving Forward Leadership will continue to be around. I am going to be able to basically do better at being consistent with content predominantly on LinkedIn. Okay.

Although my Facebook Moving Forward Leadership page is getting fed content yet again, but LinkedIn is really the place to be. Follow me, and the podcast will continue, as I said. So there we go, ladies and gentlemen. That’s what’s been going on. That is the life and times of Scott McCarthy. And my goal, I think, next week will be to kind of like take all of this and then give you kind of a, you know, thoughts, lessons learned, and then maybe leave you with some questions for you to ponder. And to reflect upon as a leader as you go through this and to see, you know, what you can take away from my 5 crazy months of, you know, being in command of the largest supply organization within the Canadian Armed Forces and being away from home to moving home and reintegrating with my family, starting a new job at the same time. Being recruited to a completely new, pretty much completely new organization industry, going from military to private, and then integrating into a new team after you do that, and then deciding to restart something that you love doing.

And came across to me if I was going to even hit the continue button on Moving Forward Leadership, Um, but yeah, it’s going to take a lot to take me away from this. So I’m here, you’re here. All right, let’s do this thing. Let’s keep moving forward. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, lead, don’t boss. Take care now.

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