Mont Blanc

In 2017, I was wrapping up my time as an Army platoon leader in Germany. Two years together. Winter training deployment in Norway. Jumping out of planes together throughout Europe. A lot of freezing cold and figure it out moments. I pushed them hard. I also screwed things up more than I'd like to admit.

When my orders came to leave, the Platoon gave me a Mont Blanc notebook as a going away gift.

If you know the brand, you know it's not cheap. It also fit a running joke in my platoon… I was the guy who used the fancy pens with a fountain tip. They never let me forget it. The notebook was a gift and a dig at the same time. That's how you know people actually like you…right?

But before they handed it to me, every one of them had written something inside. My leaders filled up a full page. Nobody told them to do that.

I have not written a single word in it. Not one. Nine years later. I tell myself I'm waiting for something worthy of it. The honest answer is I don't want to disturb what's already there.

I still read it sometimes.

What That Notebook Represents

You cannot manufacture that kind of response from people. Your team sees everything. They see whether you hold yourself to the same standard you hold them to, whether you protect them or disappear when things get hard, whether you actually care or you're just performing the role.

Over time, the gap between who you are and who you're pretending to be always shows up.

The best leaders I've been around weren't the loudest. They were consistent. Same standard on a bad day as a good one. No audience required.

If you walked out the door today, what would your people say in the parking lot on the way home?

That answer is the real scoreboard.

Don’t settle. Be relentless.

— Hunter