Cloud Wars Founder Bob Evans and SFDigital Principal Advisor Christian Anschuetz discuss the far-reaching impact technology can have on memorializing military service stories and connections.
Highlights
00:13 — Bob Evans welcomes good friend SFDigital Principal Advisor Christian Anschuetz for a conversation about the upcoming Task Force Tribute, a branch of Anschuetz’s Project RELO.
00:51 — Anschuetz provides a brief overview of his start in the Marine Corps, as well as entrepreneurial and corporate roles leading to his latest position and investment in Project RELO, a non-profit focused on improving career opportunities for veterans.
01:35 — Bob outlines his close relations’ involvement in military service and the unique perspectives they offer. Technology has opened “new vistas” in how people experience the world, how business is conducted, and how individuals experience the world.
02:53 — Bob introduces a new type of memorial, dedicated to fallen heroes who have given their lives fighting the global war on terror and how it connects to Anschuetz’s involvement in Project RELO.
04:45 — Anschuetz dives deeper into what separates Project RELO from other non-profits, and how it develops partnerships with business leaders to offer a rare hands-on experience in military leadership training.
06:44 — Anschuetz gives further details on Bob’s experience with Project RELO, including how a tense training exercise transformed into a fun learning experience. Bob recounts watching military veterans quickly sort out problems as they arose with extreme organization and precision, and other business executives taking cues from their leadership style.
09:25 — Anschuetz explains the value in sorting out real-world obstacles (like a massive downed tree barring the path ahead) and how closely those obstacles resemble common business challenges in need of similar attitudes in order to reach a resolution.
11:01 — Bob reflects on balancing “exerting leadership” with listening and evaluating ideas, the pressure to not let others down during the Project RELO exercises, and the lessons he’s carried forward into his professional career ever since.
13:00 — Anschuetz expands on the incentive to pull your own weight when accomplishing a team objective, which is often a more powerful motivator compared to those that fixate solely on one’s self.
16:14 — Bob describes the rapid transformation that occurs and goals that can be accomplished when sacrificing personal ego for the team.
17:40 — Anschuetz talks about the “psychological safety” a team-centric goal naturally introduces. True reward in any setting comes from working toward a larger goal.
20:14 — Everyone’s background and perspective influence how they approach problem-solving.
21:30 — Bob calls the experience “heavily life reaffirming and fulfilling.” Allowing business leaders to carry that feeling forward is what Project RELO aims to accomplish.
23:30 — Purpose in life and in business is about creating value; not necessarily in dollars. Bob emphasizes the drive to contribute as a member of a team.
26:58 — Anschuetz relates a story from early in his military career, recalling a night spent laying in wait for a practiced ambush in the midst of a blizzard. There is power in thinking about the group rather than ourselves, including in corporate environments.
29:30 — In today’s business world, leaders are more visible than ever. It’s clear which leaders uphold their mission, vision, and values compared to those who don’t.
31:57 — Anschuetz suggests the Great Resignation, while not exclusively a product of poor leadership, is primarily a failing on the part of leaders content to “pay for talent and pray for retention.”
34:49 — Anschuetz explains the inspiration, mission, and purpose behind Task Force Tribute and its connection to Project RELO.
37:10 — More than 7,000 service members have lost their lives in combat operations since 9/11, with many more unable to assimilate back to society after their service. Task Force Tribute will travel one mile for every service member lost, beginning at the state capitol in Lansing, MI on August 21st. The tribute ends September 11th in Washington D.C.
40:24 — The tribute will be a unifying journey of “honor and remembrance.” Anschuetz emphasizes engagement with people along the way being a core component of the tribute. Stories from veterans are a genuine memorial to their service.
42:50 — Bob discusses the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan and a more than 2,500-year-old quote that accompanies it, reading “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”
44:30 — Remembering and celebrating stories from Task Force Tribute veterans communicates a unifying ideal of a country worth fighting for.
46:30 — Despite the efforts of many organizations to preserve memories of heroic service, most of these stories continue to go unrecorded, due in large part to these veterans avoiding talking about themselves. Anschuetz describes how Project RELO aims to turn the conversation toward those stories that inspired service members.
50:20 — Task Force Tribute is built to remember and preserve the military stories and examples that might otherwise go unnoticed.
53:40 — Being an idealist is an essential component of creating powerful, purposeful ideas. Making these stories accessible to millions around the world is more possible today than ever before.
56:20 — In a digital sense, it can be achieved if we can conceive it. Anschuetz cites the global community’s contributions to the creation of Wikipedia.
59:25 — Anschuetz offers a story he doesn’t often share of an Air Force Colonel associate who suffered wounds in a helicopter crash, and her connection to a Project RELO alumnus.
1:05:48 — The kind of lightning strike Anschuetz experienced by pure happenstance can be accelerated and replicated by modern technology and the ability to connect interweaving stories. The overarching goal of Task Force Tribute is to facilitate these interconnected stories among service members.
1:08:24 — Anschuetz offers closing remarks pertaining to Task Force Tribute, its unique development, and ways individuals can offer support.
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