S31:E26AI RECAP🎙️ LIVE AWLL From Proverbs — Chapter 26

Hi, I'm John Maxwell. When the top companies in the world are looking for trainers, speakers, and coaches, there's one name that stands above the rest, and that's Maxwell Leadership. Our certified team members have gotten proven results for companies all over the globe, and our reputation, I'm proud to say, is second to none. Some of our members have risen to the top of their profession, including the one you're going to meet today. I proudly introduce you to my friend Bob Fabien Zinga. Bob Fabien Zinga.

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Hello everyone, welcome to a very special episode of the Leadership and Success, uh, podcast. Today we are going to be talking about Proverbs chapter 26. So this is going to be the artificial intelligence version. We had a full broadcast, about an hour, if you go back, Season 31, Episode 26, that was on January 26th, 2026. And today we're gonna use artificial intelligence to give us a summary of that episode. So thanks for watching and As you guys know, I love to start with what we call a moment of gratitude for a couple of reasons. One of the most important reasons is because in the military, I am a commander in the US Navy now, there's a lot of service members and veterans who commit suicide every single day, about 21, 22 veterans and service members every day. And I believe that it's not possible to be suicidal and be grateful at the very same time. Same time. And, uh, just to see some very bad news yesterday, uh, Senator Lindsey Graham— I'm sure a lot of people know him from South Carolina. My wife on her mother's side, they are all from South Carolina. I just want to acknowledge his life and his contribution to our country, especially when he was a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. So Colonel Lindsey Graham Thank you for your service and rest in peace. Talking about moment of gratitude, he was only 71 years old, so that's relatively young, and it happened all of a sudden. My understanding, he just came back from Ukraine and within a day is no longer with us. So I guess I am grateful for life, right? I am really grateful that I was awake this morning. Yeah, I am grateful that I still have breath in my lungs because as long as I am alive, there is hope for me. And I am grateful that today I woke up in the home of the brave and the land of the free. I am a free man today, 2026, in the United States of America. I am grateful for that. So let us know in the chat what you are grateful for. Where are you guys joining us from? What city? What state? And if outside of the US, which country? And also let me know whatever feedback, insight you got from Proverbs chapter 26. And as I play the artificial intelligence recap today, let me know 3 to 5 insights or takeaways type it in the comment. And I want to say good morning to my friend Daniel Young from Midland, Florida. So glad to be talking to you today, Daniel, and thank you for being here. All right, so I am going to start. I believe this one is going to be— let me see, I believe I had it here. Okay, it's going to be about 2-minute recap for Proverbs chapter 26, and I'll be right back after, after that.

Welcome to This Explainer. Today we're unpacking Bob Fabien Zinga's awesome leadership breakdown of Proverbs 26. Let's jump right in. Are you constantly reacting to all the endless noise in modern leadership? We face constant distractions, right? Well, this ancient text offers a real cure: discernment and restraint. These proverbs basically form 3 masterclass pillars. Let's start with Pillar 1: Empowering Your People. Here's a crucial military principle: you can delegate authority, for sure, but never your responsibility. Promoting someone just for technical skills? That's like honoring a fool. Always hire for character instead. So ask yourself, who have you empowered lately without actually checking if they're ready? Moving right along to Pillar 2: Managing yourself. It's all about restraint and true humility. Ya gotta have emotional restraint. Honestly, not every single workplace drama deserves your time. This pretty graphic proverb shows that repeating mistakes without learning, it literally causes massive leadership stagnation. Wise leaders stay teachable. Foolish ones? They get super overconfident and totally blind to their flaws. General Colin Powell said, "Waiting past 40-70% certainty is basically laziness disguised as caution." Finally, Pillar 3: Protecting culture. We absolutely have to defend our teams from toxic internal destruction. The text strongly warns against gossip and flattery. You know, stuff that destroys trust almost instantly. Healthy organizations kill gossip fast.

How?

By locking down these 3 super straightforward communication habits. Take this Navy lesson: always try fixing things directly before escalating any unnecessary workplace drama. Are you modeling direct, respectful communication when those toxic rumors inevitably start flying around? Wrapping up this explainer, remember this: real wisdom isn't loud or impulsive; it's incredibly disciplined. It's humble, completely self-controlled, and anchored deep down in some seriously solid character. In our crazy, noisy world, sometimes the absolute strongest leadership move is just strategic silence. So what's it going to be? Will you feed the noise or choose the discipline of wisdom?

All right, so this was the first explainer by AI. I also want to acknowledge Yamin Norwood, Dr. Yamin Norwood from Centreville, Virginia. He says, I'm grateful for good For God giving me another day of life from Centreville, Virginia. Thanks so much for joining us today. So for those who've already watched the 2-minute explainer, so let me know what you got out of it. Now I'm gonna play a 4-minute summary again from AI. Proverbs chapter 26. Again, if you want to watch the full episode I did on January 26th, I went through the entire book of Proverbs, one chapter every day for season 31. You can find it on your favorite, uh, podcast. Here's the second one. This is about 4 minutes long.

Modern management has become a relentless avalanche of urgent notifications, conflicting demands, and emotional workplace friction for leaders everywhere. We've built a culture that rewards the immediate answer, where leading effectively is often confused with being the most reactive person in the room. But this always-on posture is a structural vulnerability. When a team's focus is consistently hijacked by these trivialities, they become far more likely to be dismantled by internal distractions than by any external opponent. Bob Fabien Zinga manages this chaos at its highest levels. As a U.S. Navy commander and a Silicon Valley cybersecurity executive, his daily reality is defined by high-stakes operational pressure. To navigate those environments, he doesn't reach for the latest management trend. He turns to a text thousands of years old, Chapter 26 of the Book of Proverbs. The chapter outlines a specific operating principle for those in power: that leadership is defined by the discernment to know exactly what to ignore. True leadership functions as a filter. You protect your team when you block the destructive noise and isolate the essential signal. The first layer of that filter is determining who earns your trust. The proverb warns that giving "honor to a fool" is as nonsensical as expecting snow in the middle of summer. Many organizations struggle because they promote based on technical skill, popularity, or tenure, while ignoring the deeper cracks in an individual's character. Richard Branson famously argued that while a company can train for competence, core character is much harder to teach. In both military and cyber environments, delegation is built on a specific distinction: A leader can pass authority to a subordinate, but they remain fully tethered to the final result. Responsibility is the one thing that cannot be passed down. Empowering someone without first verifying their maturity isn't just a mistake; it's a failure of stewardship that invites systemic risk. The second filter involves deciding which arguments actually require your energy and attention. The ancient text suggests a counterintuitive path for ego-driven conflicts: It argues that refusing to engage with a foolish provocation is often the most powerful response available. When leadership steps in to referee petty drama or allows gossip to spread, they aren't solving the problem; they're providing the oxygen that keeps the fire burning. The Navy addresses this by insisting that friction be resolved directly at the lowest possible level. If it hasn't been addressed there, it hasn't earned its way to the commander's desk. Restraint is a demonstration of authority. By refusing to legitimize a distraction with a reaction, you preserve the unit's focus. The third filter protects the leader from their own internal blind spots. Proverbs uses the graphic image of a dog returning to its vomit to describe leaders who become uncoachable. They repeat the same destructive patterns because they've stopped seeking the feedback that leads to growth. This lack of self-awareness often disguises itself as caution, We claim we're waiting for "perfect information" when we're actually paralyzed by the fear of making a move. General Colin Powell's decision-making framework acts as the antidote to that paralysis. This is his 40/70 rule. The optimal time to act is when you have between 40 and 70% of the information. Once you cross 70%, momentum drops. Delaying becomes far more dangerous than acting with incomplete data. True discipline is the ability to act decisively without total certainty while remaining humble enough to adjust as the situation evolves. Leadership is rarely about being the center of the noise; it is an act of strategic curation. In a modern world that will constantly demand an immediate reaction, your self-control is your most potent asset. You protect your credibility not just by the missions you complete but by the unnecessary battles you strategically choose to ignore.

All right, we are almost done. I have one more video, it's about 8 minutes long, that's going to end what we're doing today. And again, thank you so much for watching, and let me know again, for those watching live, where you are coming from, what city, what state, And if outside of the US, which country? And also, what are your insights so far about Proverbs 26, 3 to 5 takeaway so far? I'm going to play the last AI video now.

Welcome everyone. Let's jump right in with these timeless lessons from Proverbs 26. Leadership, as we see here, is all about discernment and restraint. It's like knowing when to act and when to hold back, Right?

Exactly. And that's so crucial because the content really emphasizes that leadership isn't about reacting to every bit of noise around us. Yep.

Right. And one big takeaway here is about honoring fools. The warning: honor misplaces power. When leaders misplace trust, it can really derail an organization.

Mm-hmm. That's a powerful point. It's like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. You might think you're promoting someone great, but really, you're setting up for failure.

Absolutely. And then there's the lesson on not engaging every argument. Sometimes, um, responding to every criticism or pointless dispute just feeds the fire. What do you think about that?

I think it's spot on. Many leaders get trapped in the hustle of response, and as the content suggests, echoing back to foolishness can end up undermining your authority. Yep.

Right, and there's that vivid imagery of a whip for a horse or a rod for a fool's back. It, uh, underscores that sometimes silence is the better strategy.

It really does, and I love how it challenges the notion that every conflict or criticism requires a reaction. Sometimes just, um, taking a step back is the smarter move.

Now, shifting gears a little bit, let's talk about delegation. The piece warns against delegating without proper discernment. It's like if you hand off responsibility without ensuring the person is ready, you're setting yourself up for issues.

True. The idea that you can delegate authority but not responsibility is— critical. I've seen leaders overlook this and then get tangled in accountability nightmares.

Exactly. It emphasizes that trusting someone with tasks means you really need to prepare them, build their competence. It's bridging that gap between potential and readiness.

I agree. But here's a thought. Do you think sometimes leaders might be too harsh when delegating? Could it be perceived as a lack of trust rather than a safety measure?

That's a fair challenge. I think the idea is not to micromanage, but to ensure that the person is truly set up to succeed. It's about building accountability systems. You know, coaching before failure happens.

Yeah, that makes sense. It's a proactive kind of trust. Not just leaving someone on their own without guidance.

Right. And then there's this stark lesson about repetition without learning. That image of a dog returning to its vomit really hits home. Leaders who repeat mistakes, um, essentially stagnate.

Wow. That's, uh, a pretty unflattering analogy, but very effective. It really drives home that without reflection, even experience can become a trap.

Exactly, and it's a call to humility. Wise leaders, as noted, are always open to feedback and change. Otherwise, overconfidence creeps in.

Right. Overconfidence is definitely a dangerous blind spot. The text says, "There is more hope for a fool than for him." That really underlines how self-assurance, when unchecked, can be a liability.

Absolutely. Being wise in your own conceit can prevent growth. Leaders need mentors, trusted advisors, and a willingness to listen, even when it's uncomfortable.

Mm-hmm. And that ties directly into the next lesson on, um, how laziness can masquerade as caution. Sometimes leaders overthink and delay action, waiting for that perfect moment.

Yes, the content warns us that, uh, waiting too long, like a sloth hiding its hand, can cost way more than a little risk ever would. Action, even if imperfect, is better sometimes.

That's a great point. It's interesting how it contrasts the need for decisiveness with the pitfalls of inaction. Kind of like General Colin Powell's 40 to 70 rule, right?

Exactly. It's about moving forward even when certainty isn't 100%. Delay too long, and you risk stagnation or missed opportunities. See, that's a key leadership dilemma.

Right. And that resonates across so many environments— military, tech, even startups— where uncertainty is the norm rather than the exception.

Absolutely. Finally, there's a big focus on the destructive power of gossip and division. Words are like fire; they can either warm an organization or burn it down.

True. In any team, if gossip spreads unchecked, It divides people and ruins trust. The content really paints a picture of how harmful a talebearer's words can be.

Right. Maintaining direct, respectful communication is key. Leaders have to foster a culture where truth and tone are— hmm— carefully guarded.

Yeah, it's like managing a garden. You have to weed out the poisonous plants to let the good ones thrive.

That's a neat analogy. And just to circle back, The overarching theme here is that leadership is about disciplined, strategic decisions and knowing when not to react.

Yeah.

It's about preserving your credibility in a noisy world.

Absolutely. The idea that sometimes the strongest move is restraint really stands out. There's a beauty in subtle leadership that doesn't seek the spotlight all the time.

Exactly. It's about building a legacy that's not defined by constant conflict or controversy. But by steady, reflective actions that shape culture for the better.

Right. And that makes me think. Imagine if every leader took a moment before reacting, weighing what truly requires their intervention. That could transform entire organizations.

Yes. And it's not just transformative, it's essential for sustainable leadership. When you choose your battles wisely, you're setting up a clear pathway for success.

For sure, and it's interesting how these ancient wisdom principles still apply today, in boardrooms and war rooms alike. There's this bridge across time, right?

Definitely. Whether you're in the Navy or leading a tech startup, the essence of good leadership remains rooted in discipline, character, and the courage to sometimes say nothing at all.

I totally agree. Though I do wonder, could there be cases where too much restraint might be seen as indecision? How do you strike the right balance?

That's a solid question. The key is discernment. It's not about avoiding engagement entirely, but choosing, um, the right moment and the right issue to address. There's a balance between decisiveness and restraint.

Yeah, and that balance is, mm-hmm, what distinguishes a reactive leader from a reflective one. The content really pushes us to think about the long-term effects of our daily choices.

Exactly. And let's not forget the call to self-reflection throughout. Ask yourself, who are you empowering? What arguments truly merit your attention? And whether you're building trust or just noise.

That's powerful because it puts the responsibility squarely on our own shoulders. It's like a personal checklist for leadership excellence.

Absolutely. It's a comprehensive roadmap, from hiring for character to cultivating a culture where gossip and division have no place. Each lesson reinforces the idea that leadership is as much about what you don't do as what you do.

Right. And as we wrap up, it's clear that these leadership lessons from Proverbs 26 hold timeless wisdom that leaders at any level can apply, whether managing teams in cybersecurity, military operations, or tech companies.

Exactly. Leadership demands discernment, restraint,, and sometimes the humility to simply stand back and let actions speak louder than words. Thanks for the insightful chat, and here's to leading with wisdom.

Thanks for the discussion. This really gives us something to chew on. Cheers to thoughtful leadership indeed.

All right, so that's the lesson for today, Proverbs chapter 26. So I had 7 lessons. Lesson number 1, just a quick recap. Honor misplaced corrupts leadership. And number 2, which I think has been quite instrumental in my own leadership journey: not every argument deserves your attention. Sometimes you just have to ignore the fool, right, and focus on your mission, your purpose. Number 3: delegation without discernment will create risk. And I think as a leader, that's one thing I had to really learn. It took me a while to learn it because usually once you get promoted to a position of leadership, of management, is because you are one of the best to do whatever it is that you do as an individual contributor. And one thing that took me a while was to really be able to manage other people and have them do the job I used to do. And I'm— I was thinking like, no, nobody can do it better than I can. I am the best to do it. Therefore, I will take it out of their hand and I will still do it. And that's, that's not right. If you are a manager, your job is not to do the job. Your job is to train other people so they can do it just as good as you used to. So you need to give them the space so that they can figure out how to do it. Even if they don't do it just right, right now, that's okay. They need to do trial and error until they do it at your standard. So you have to teach them, you have to encourage them, you have to coach them, you have to lead them so they can replicate what you used to do by yourself. That's what leadership is all about. It's about multiplication, right? It's you developing other leaders. Anyway, it took me a while to learn this lesson on delegation, but it is so key. As a leader, your job is not to do the job of the people, uh, whose privilege you have to lead, but it's your job to empower them, give them the tools, give them the training, give them the knowledge so they can do it as good as you used to. That's your job as the leader— delegate. And you never, never delegate responsibility. Ultimately, you are always responsible, but you want to delegate the authority. Okay, lesson number 4: repetition without learning will lead to stagnation. Lesson 5: overconfidence is a dangerous blind spot. It's okay to have some confidence in life, but don't be overconfident. Don't be proud. Don't be arrogant. Because if you are, only bad things are going to be happening to you. Lesson number 6: Laziness often disguises itself as caution, right? The MP 47-year-old from General Powell is something that is really, really powerful. And I think we all should be thinking about when we need to make a decision, right? Leaders rarely have 100% of the information needed to make decision. Waiting too long can be more dangerous than acting excessively with incomplete data. As soon as you have about 40% of the data you need, that's when you need to take action, action, action, because I believe leadership is all about execution. And finally, number 7, gossip and division destroy organizational culture. So as we end today, for Proverbs 26, I would say it really teaches us, right, that wisdom is not loud, reactive, or impulsive, or attention-seeking, right? Wisdom is disciplined, it's discerning, it's humble, strategic, self-controlled, and anchored in character. I think one of the greatest lessons I've learned in my 20+1 years in service is to lead with humility. You have to be humble because as you move up the rank and you get more and more responsibility, you get more money and, and all of that and you are now in charge of people and the mission, sometimes you kind of tend to have a big head. You think, oh, I have arrived, I am so smart, man. But no, no, no, you have to remain humble because humility will open doors for you. And also your people are gonna be able to relate to you more as a humble person than someone who thinks they know everything. Again, if you are arrogant and proud, I am pretty sure bad things are going to be happening to you. Soon. But if you keep humility, I believe you are going to thrive and people are going to follow you. So in today's world, I think leaders are constantly pressured to react immediately, speak constantly, and involve themselves in every controversies. But mature leadership requires discernment, right? You have to remain on purpose. Like today, I said I was really grateful for life, right? And for freedom. Like in the Declaration of Independence, we just celebrated 250 years in the United States. That was July 4th, 1776, when it says, "All men are created equal, inalienable right from the Creator," which is God, "for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." So I am grateful for life. I am alive today. I am here. I am grateful for freedom and I am grateful for my purpose. Whatever purpose God has called me to do on this earth, that I am living in that purpose and I am so, so grateful for that. And when you are on purpose, you don't have time to get yourself involved with everything that is going on around you. You have to remain focused. Okay, so as leader, we must preserve not only our authority but also our credibility. Right, our influence and our legacy. My primary mentor, Dr. John C. Maxwell, says leadership is influence, nothing less and nothing more. So in a noisy world, wisdom is often revealed by what a leader chooses not to engage. Okay, it's kind of like if you look at your screen, it's a lot of pixels, it's all busy, busy, busy. You cannot do everything, and if you try, you're just going to be wasting your time. What you need to do is to focus on the 1, 2, or 3 things that you and only you can do and those things that are going to propel you into your destiny. All right? I like the 80/20 rule. 20% of what I do will get me up to 80% to the outcome I am seeking. That is so, so powerful. Instead of trying to do everything, just think about what is the most important thing I need to do right now and focus on that. In that only. All right, that's all I have for you, Proverb 26. Uh, thank you so much for watching. Let me see, and Daniel says, is leadership about integrity, where alignment between who you say you are and how you actually operate? Absolutely. Uh, you have to be a person of integrity. You have to be a role model. You have to be an example. That is how people follow you. If you just say, like, I've had some pretty bad bosses who say, do as I say but not as I do, that is not leadership. It's almost like raising kids. I have two daughters. When we raise them, my kids would listen to us parents, but they would always do what we do, you know, and that's what leadership is all about. If you yourself are not willing to live under those rules or principles or policies, then nobody else in your organization should, right? Your people need to know that you yourself are willing to do so. Actually, Daniel, you just reminded me, let me see, I have a book, uh, Gates of Fire. Yeah, here it is. Uh, this is one of the very best definitions of, uh, leadership I have ever read. Uh, Gates of Fire. I believe this is page, uh, 412. Uh, this is the best definition of servant leadership I have ever heard. It says, I will tell His Majesty what a king is. A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear, nor purchase it with gold. He earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads, but provides it to them. He serves them, not they him. That is leadership. You have to be a role model. You have to be an example. And when your people know that you are willing to do whatever it is that you ask them to do, they will definitely do it with a right attitude. And Daniel also says, reflective leaders establish behavioral excellence, where your actions become the visible proof of your identity. I definitely agree to that. Can leadership truly benefit from being convenient, unstructured, and inconsistent? Absolutely not. I think consistency and fairness is really what helps you become a remarkable leader, because your people need to know that they can count on you. You are who you say you are all the time. You say what you think and you think what you say, right? The audio matches the video, right? What they see matches exactly what you do. That is how you earn trust because then they can trust you. It's not like you have some favorite and some people you treat differently than others. Everybody is treated fairly whether they are male, female, black, white, it doesn't matter. Everybody under your influence, everybody that you lead is treated that exactly the same way. That is fairness. Now you say, okay, this is the standard. If you are able to do this, this is the outcome. Now this is the reward. And it has to be so no matter who it is that is reporting to you. And people will always, always respect you. And I believe they will follow you wherever you lead them if they know that you are fair. And you may be tough and you may have very high standards and God knows I do, but that you are fair and you treat everybody with respect and dignity. So being a responsible leader, a role model, I think is definitely key. So thanks again, Daniel. So we are going to end the show now. We're going to talk about what I call the Black History Year, right? For those who follow the show, as you know, I always felt like Black History Month It's just too short, 28 days, like the shortest month in the year. We are gonna need a lot more time to get into Black history. So the first vignette I'm gonna be talking about, yesterday was July 11th, 2026. So on July 11th, 1954, that was the first White Citizens Council that formed to resist Brown versus Board of Education. That was in Mississippi. On July 11th, 1954, just weeks after the Supreme Court landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, white community leader in Indianola, Mississippi established what they called the very first White Citizens Council. Their mission was very clear, to preserve racial segregation by defeating school integration through economic coercion, political influence, and social Intimidation. They absolutely didn't want Black kids to get a good education. That's in Mississippi. What a shame. And then I also want to talk about the very first Marines, the first Black United States Marine. So when most people think about the history of the US Marine Corps, they rarely hear about the first Black Marine, the men of Montfort Monford. They have been part of American story, you know, really since the very beginning. During the American Revolution, John Martin, he was known as Kito as well, enlisted on April 1776 before the Declaration of Independence was adopted. He's recognized as the very first recorded Black Marine in US history. And for the next 144 years, African Americans were barred from serving in the Marine Corps. That changed only after the civil rights leaders pressured President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802, opening the Marine Corps to Black recruits on June 1st, 1942. The Marine Corps became the last branch of the US Armed Forces to accept African American enlistment. So I do want to honor the first Black Marine in the United States. Semper Fi. All right, that is all I have for you. And then I will end again with the song of freedom. Which I am so grateful again to live in the home of the brave, the land of the free.

On July 11th, 1954, white residents in Indianola, Mississippi formed the first White Citizens Council to organize resistance to racial integration. After the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education, that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional, a Mississippi judge urged white residents to resist the decision. Inspired by the judge's words, a white man named Robert Patterson called for a meeting of concerned white men and women. They soon formed the first White Citizens' Council. Integration represents darkness, regimentation, totalitarianism, communism, and destruction. "Segregation represents the survival of the white race." Within 2 years, active councils were operating across 30 states with tens of thousands of members. Business, religious, and civic leaders defended white supremacy and used social pressure and economic retaliation to intimidate and coerce Black and white people who supported integration. As a result, Black people were killed Black people and civil rights activists were denied loans, purged from voter rolls, and fired from their jobs. In South Carolina, dozens of Black people were fired or evicted from their homes after the signing of a pro-integration petition. In Mansfield, Texas, council members with guns blocked Black children from entering their school. Who participated in sometimes violent resistance to integration were never held accountable for their lawlessness, which continues to impact communities to this day.

As we celebrate Black History Month, today we are focusing on a story about some of our bravest veterans.

The U.S. Marine Corps was the last branch of the military to desegregate. Segregate. And a new documentary is chronicling the journey of the first African American Marines from training to World War II and beyond.

That's right, we sat down with one of the gunnery sergeants to learn about the Montford Point Marines.

From 1942 to 1949, a few brave African American men changed the face of the United States Marine Corps forever.

Named after their first camp, the Montford Point Marines were trailblazers.

Starting on June 1st, 1942, Blacks were finally allowed to sign up to be recruited for the Marine Corps.

Retired Master Gunnery Sergeant Joe Geeter of the U.S. Marine Corps shares the valuable history of our first African American Marines, starting with the training.

Montford Point Camp was a segregated camp. We felt indignity that was Saw nethers.

The first recruits started from scratch after they were dropped off at a rundown camp.

Had dilapidated buildings. They had no running water, absolutely no electricity. So those first recruits that arrived in 1942 literally had to build their own camp.

They faced tough training and abuse from some white Marines, but when Black drill instructors came the next year, the drills got even more intense.

Because these men realized that if these folks did not make it through the Marine Corps, it will reflect on everybody.

The training paid off. Montford Point proved to be a success.

During the World War II years, uh, right around 18,000, 19,000 went through, and of that number, about 12,000 went overseas to serve in the Pacific. Montford Point Marines served in some of the bloodiest struggles in the Pacific. While they were initially only used for backups and replacements, these Marines proved themselves in combat, and it paid I believe the Marines were actually being overrun, and it was the Black Marines that came up and brought their wounded back and brought ammo and supplies up to the front. Some of these white Marines called the Black Marines the Black Angels.

Gunnery Sergeant Geeter says their performance in World War II cemented their legacy of loyalty.

Oh, freedom. Oh, freedom. Oh, freedom over me. Give me liberty or give me death. Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last. Oh, freedom! Oh, freedom!

Freedom! Oh, freedom!

Oh, freedom! Over me!

Over me and before me!

Thank you for tuning in to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach Beezy. If today's If this episode added value to your leadership journey, be sure to subscribe, share, and join us again for more wisdom nuggets on how to lead better and achieve greater success. Remember, leadership is the most critical skill of our time. The world will always need leaders to inspire others, drive innovation, and execute meaningful strategy. So why not count yourself among the bold leaders shaping the 21st century? Till next time, stay inspired, stay committed, and keep leading with excellence.