Embrace Imperfection: Transforming Leadership | BGen (retired) Twanda Young | Episode 330

Scott McCarthy [00:03:40]:
Yeah, man. Welcome to the show. So good to have you here today. Finally, as we hear, as I said I commend your determination to get on here. Definitely shows, your your experience. So let me tell you.

Twanda Young [00:04:00]:
But it’s all about leadership. Right? And you gotta be resilient in in going after your goal.

Scott Clancy [00:04:05]:
Absolutely. Speaking of which, love when I speak to foreign military, retired military, yeah, and even active service. Like, let’s start there. Like, what drove you towards signing up and more importantly, the leadership side of being in the military to to lead troops? I always love hearing these stories from from members like yourself.

Twanda Young [00:04:30]:
Well, I came from a humble beginnings, right, in Darlington, South Carolina, and I was a first generational student. So coming and going into the military was where my siblings, older siblings, I’m the youngest of seven, went into the military. So I had already, you know, got a little bit of flavor of them leaving Darlington, the small town life and going and seeing the world kind of thing. So me wanting to follow after my sister and brother. So I decided when I got into college, it was an elective. And the the the funny thing is that the boy I was dating went to ROTC. So I thought, you know, hey. Just spend a little bit more time with him.

Twanda Young [00:05:10]:
I’ll take the same elective. And got into the class with him and realized that I loved it. He quit the class, but I stayed in the class and went through the the entire four years and, of course, got promoted to second lieutenant. But it was the structure and the camaraderie and the team feeling that I got when I was doing ROTC. Coming from humble beginnings, but strict humble beginnings, there was a lot of structure and organization. So it kinda felt like home being in ROTC. They tell you when to go to PT. They tell you how many push ups to do, how many sit ups, how far you got, all this stuff was just akin to me of having that structure that I was used to and comfortable with.

Twanda Young [00:05:54]:
And being an introvert, you know, finding those happy places are are very key. So I went into, ROTC and then came out and went into the military, and it was like, wow. A whole world opened up to me. And, I I only plan to stay a few years and thirty three years later. Well, what can I say?

Scott Clancy [00:06:14]:
It’s funny how that happens.

Twanda Young [00:06:16]:
Yeah.

Scott Clancy [00:06:18]:
So I’m a graduate of our elementary college up here in Canada, which is equivalent to your West Point.

Twanda Young [00:06:23]:
Okay.

Scott Clancy [00:06:24]:
And I left and joined because I wanted to do something different. I showed up and everything was dressed the same, doing exactly the same thing as you mentioned. We were all the same. But I think you’re right, though, it’s just something about that, the concrete as but as well the the structure. Right? Just, you know, I I didn’t have to worry about what I was eating every day because I just go into the cafeteria and there it was. Like, alright. What am I gonna eat? Clothes? Definitely did not need to worry about what I was wearing. Let me

Twanda Young [00:06:54]:
tell you. Whatsoever. None whatsoever. And I would tell you since I’ve retired, when I’m asked what is one of the hardest things that you’ve dealt with since retirement, and the answer is having to choose clothes every day. I knew what I was gonna wear. I I knew the shoes. I knew the the t shirt. All of that good stuff was already laid out.

Twanda Young [00:07:16]:
And the first year of being retired, I would tell you that was the most hellacious part of retirement, if if you will. But, now I I enjoy it. I enjoy putting on loose comfortable clothes and having conversations with great people like yourself.

Scott Clancy [00:07:34]:
That’s awesome. So four years ROTC commissions a cycle of tenet, and then you proceeded to rise through the ranks quite well to retire as a brigadier general. Definitely along the way, lots of leadership lessons, lots of leadership mistakes, I would I would venture to say.

Twanda Young [00:07:52]:
Oh, a lot of mistakes.

Scott Clancy [00:07:54]:
So as I say that, what what are some things that come to mind for you during your journey?

Twanda Young [00:08:00]:
One in particular, and I just wrote a book on it, it’s called the Destiny Expose Leading Ladies Anthology volume one, and I talk about perfection being the shadow killer of leadership excellence. Because I was used to structure, and and very organized kind of way of living from being reared by a pastor and a deacon of a church that was kinda strict, I always thought I had to be perfect. And because I was the youngest of seven, wanting to please everyone, the first one to go to college, I felt that I had to be perfect to make sure that I was the example for my nieces and nephews that were coming behind me. And that was a fallacy for me because that almost cost me my career. Because the way I was leading was I expected everyone else to be perfect. So there was no room for error. There was no room for for mistakes, honest mistakes, and getting off with it with zero, you know, effect on you. I I was dogmatic in my way of of how I was leading, and it was a pivotal moment in my career where a boss saw what I was doing and a leader that cared for me called me out on it and called me out on it in front of my entire team because we had missed a key deadline.

Twanda Young [00:09:21]:
And in that moment, that that shame, that guilt that I felt, I came clean and told them that I was wrong. I have been wrong in my treatment of them. And how I was leading them was not the way that they should be led nor is the way should they should lead other people. And that I was determined and focused on doing better by being a better leader and dealing with my perfectionism issue, to not cause it to go into the workspace and cause more havoc and a bad work experience for them. That’s just one that comes to mind. There are many more.

Scott Clancy [00:10:00]:
That’s a that’s a good one to keep going on. That’s super wow. First off, it it kinda blows my mind that your superior called you in front of your team, but it was probably they probably recognized this was kind of the the eye opener you needed at that moment. Right? That type of, that level of scrutiny. So let’s let’s talk about the transition afterwards because I assume it wasn’t like, you know, the like, as you see in the movies where, like, the clouds parted, the sun came in. I’m looking at the baby’s chipping. Like, no doubt. Like, it took time.

Scott Clancy [00:10:31]:
It took growth for you because you had this system, which obviously goes back deep into your roots, which were probably which were aligned with values that were inside of you. And you had to change that because you realized that that system and those values weren’t weren’t working for you anymore. Let’s let’s talk a little bit about that journey and how that occurred because that ain’t easy.

Twanda Young [00:10:55]:
No. It wasn’t. And, you know, when you say the clouds parting and all that good stuff, it wasn’t. Sun’ll come out tomorrow, tomorrow. And that was not it. Let me just tell you. I had to realize I had to rebuild trust.

Scott Clancy [00:11:10]:
I

Twanda Young [00:11:10]:
had to rebuild trust with my team that I could be trusted to lead. And that in itself took on its own kind of animal, if you will, where I had to be able to build that trust. I had to learn how to communicate in a different way. And I had to become more empathetic in how I dealt with issues when people didn’t meet muster or meet the standard as opposed to just killing them on the spot. It was how was I going to cultivate the relationship of trust between me and my team. And that, that took, as my mom would always say, that was a long road of hope because I had to show him my actions, right? Was my video matching my audio? And just because I said it didn’t make it true, didn’t make them believe me. It was my actions of being able to sit down and talk and have an intelligent conversation with people, treating people with dignity and respect, showcasing my genuine concern about them, in essence being real, being reliable for them that I was going to cover their sick, that I would take on for what they did and what they failed to do, that that was my job as a leader to take on my shoulders. And that I was, you know, encouraging, helping them to develop their leadership skills, putting in the work to, to add value to their lives and, and to allow for them to get on the promotion ladder that they wanted to get on and meet their aspirations and being approachable.

Twanda Young [00:12:48]:
That was one of the key things I will tell you that I really had to work on. And and once I made it to the senior executive level in the military, that was one of the focuses I wanted to make sure that I did very well. I wanted the junior junior soldier or civilian or contractor to be able to walk up to me and have a good conversation and not be afraid. If you remember when general officers in the military would come and just like, make way. Make way. You know, everybody’s like, oh my god. Who is that? Oh my god. Now don’t get me wrong.

Twanda Young [00:13:24]:
I enjoyed that when they said make way. You know, it’s like partnering with

Scott Clancy [00:13:27]:
Yeah. No. No.

Twanda Young [00:13:28]:
I enjoyed that part, but, still, I wanted to make sure that they understood I was a person. And I think through my own work and effort of motivating my own self awareness, looking in the mirror and surveying Tia and really asking myself the hard questions, and really reflecting on what kind of leader you wanna be. What kind of impact do you wanna make? When you walk in the room, does the atmosphere change for the good or for the worse? Do your people stop talking because you come in the room? You know, those kinds of questions I I had to ponder over and and think about and chew on and digest. And I will tell you some some of the answers that came back was like, oh, oh my god. I want even more work for me. Because, you know, it it took some time to be able to get some effective leadership qualities that my people could trust. You know, leading by example, being trustworthy, that mutual respect, praising them or showing appreciation for what they brought to the table, Sharing my experience and my knowledge and abilities with them to help develop them, motivate them truly on the genuine mission that we have by communicating with them the vision and pulling them in and allowing their innovative ideas to help us meet whatever mission that was. Those things come to mind when when I start thinking about the work that I had to put in.

Twanda Young [00:15:05]:
And still sometimes today, you know, it kinda seeped in just a little. It kinda creeped in there, you know. And my family is good just good with me to say, you need to look in the mirror?

Scott Clancy [00:15:16]:
Do not again.

Twanda Young [00:15:18]:
I got accountability partners. You know, I’m always telling those that I coach and mentor. You need a board of directors, and your board of directors are those people that are going to tell you when you are wrong and when you’re blurring the lines and on the wrong path. They’re encouragers. They’ll tell you you can do this. They’ll help you see reality about yourself in the situation of helping you trying to go after your goals. But it is key in my view to have now I’m not talking about a whole big fifteen, sixteen people. You know, you can count them on your hands kinda thing.

Twanda Young [00:15:54]:
Three to four people that you truly trust, their insights, and the value that they bring in sharing, you know, things that you wanna work on to be better. Every day, you should be a little bit better than you were the day prior.

Scott Clancy [00:16:08]:
I call those that board of directors. I refer to them as your the veto holders. Walk in to shut the door and go, what the hell are you doing? Stop this now.

Twanda Young [00:16:18]:
Yeah. I I I can recall one, sergeant first class Harold p Estabrooks, was my CSM when I was a battalion commander at Fort Benning over the Konish replacement center, and our mission was to send people during the war through our pro administrative process and make sure they had all the equipment, the medical, all of that. And we sent well over 50,000 people. And I would do emails because I was there as a bachelorette. My husband, my hero, had our two kids in DC, and I had nothing but time on my hands. So I stayed at work till ten, eleven o’clock, and I’d be typing emails up and everything. And I’m sending them at two and 03:00 in the morning. And, you know, he pulled me aside one day and he said, can can I talk to you? And I’m like, yeah.

Twanda Young [00:17:08]:
Sure. He said, now you you know I love you. Right? And I’m like, oh, here it comes. Put the hand on the shoulder. And it’s like, you know, shit. Digging hell are you doing? You keep sending all these emails and things, and your soldiers, because you’re the commander, are trying to respond, not taking time with their family. They’re nervous that they didn’t get you what you asked. He said, this is no way to lead.

Twanda Young [00:17:30]:
Cut that crap out. So, yes, he was one of my big persons and still is to this day on my board of directors.

Scott Clancy [00:17:38]:
That’s that’s an awesome story. So my I’m actually unit commander right now up in the Canadian army, and I’m in the same boat. My family is three hours down the road. So I’m here. So this is why I’m doing a podcast. I’ve worked until 02:00 in the morning. You know, sometimes I am working late and sometimes I am working those odd hours. The the tactic which I’ve I’ve pulled out is using just, you know, delayed delivery.

Twanda Young [00:18:05]:
There you go. That was the thing that I started doing.

Scott Clancy [00:18:08]:
Right. Just put

Twanda Young [00:18:09]:
them in the Hilton. Now when you walk in the next morning, they will flood me in. They’ll be flooding you today, but I didn’t wake you up. I didn’t take time away from your family. No. Finding ways to not impede upon those that give them time and intellectual capacity to help you be successful. We as leaders owe that to our people to do the same and then some because it’s an honor to move.

Scott Clancy [00:18:34]:
You know, it’s it’s respecting boundaries. Right? And I

Twanda Young [00:18:37]:
think learn the lines.

Scott Clancy [00:18:39]:
Absolutely. Now I’d like to bring them right back for a second. You you you hit on something which I thought was super critical, and that was the rebuilding of trust. I’d love to pull on that because no doubt so many leaders out there, they’re listening to this podcast, and the tagline of the podcast is lead, don’t boss. And and and some of them are realizing, like, you know, much like yourself, like, oh, I’ve I’ve been the verbal boss this whole time. I haven’t been leading at all. I’ve been a tyrant, and it’s time to, you know and the first step is to rebuild that trust. I would love to go deeper on, you know, tactically, how how were you able to go ahead and and what were some of you no doubt some hurdles that you even had to get through in attempt to do the right thing? Because I’m sure even that wasn’t easy in itself.

Twanda Young [00:19:27]:
Yeah. I I will tell you that to to build that trust, you you know, from cultivating my own self awareness and standing back and looking at myself. But as I interacted, I had to I had to really work on my interaction with my people. You know, with the military, we got the rank structure. People will respect the rank, but they don’t necessarily respect you. And what That’s right. I wanted and what I’ve learned is I want I want you to respect Tia because the title is not me. I am the title, not the title being Tia.

Twanda Young [00:20:01]:
I’m I’m Tia who happens to be blessed to have the opportunity to say that I’m a retired brigadier general of the United States army, and I’ve served for thirty three years. But I had to learn to be genuinely who I was. And when I started showing me being human, having issues and dealing with those issues, but also helping people deal with finding solutions to their issues, giving them the resources they need to seed into their development, and really showcasing my support of my people. Now, I’m not saying that everything that they did, I cosigned, right? Because that that’s not legal. That that’s manipulation. What I did was I was consistent in how I dealt with people, more consistent in how I dealt with them, and I was genuine in my interactions. I would do what was necessary to call you in and help develop you and say, hey. So I you have to do this particular task.

Twanda Young [00:21:05]:
Let’s say it was a a presentation. Well, opposed to me always giving the presentation, I put my people there to brief the senior leadership, showcasing and pushing them forward to show that I trust you. I trust that you are competent enough and you know your craft well enough, and I want you to represent the team. So doing things like that, with the team helped build that trust. Again, when I had to deal out punishment. Right? Before, you would have died on the vine. I would have questioned. Yeah.

Twanda Young [00:21:41]:
I woulda questioned now, but I learned to deal with people in a different way. Every situation was not a cookie cutter situation. There are very variables and situations particular to that soldier of what he or she did. An example, I had a soldier of mine that when I was a black Tourette and had enough of time on my hands, so I used to tell my unit, look, there’s no need for you to get a DUI. Call me. I I’m at home or I’m at work at the office. I’ll come and get you. That doesn’t mean that I’m not gonna tap that behind, but at least I know you’re not going to jail.

Twanda Young [00:22:22]:
You’re not killing yourself or killing somebody else. Call me and let and I’ll come get you. Well, long story short, he came through the gate and he didn’t do that, and he got caught. When he came and stood in front of me, the old t f would have just I mean, I would have taken all of his money, taken his rank. Anything I could have taken, I would have taken, right? Just because I had the authority to do so. But in that moment, I realized this soldier had just had twins that were born. He needed his money. The family was depending on him for livelihood.

Twanda Young [00:22:57]:
But I still had to teach him that the error of his ways. And the punishment that I dove out was not where I crushed him, but I taught him a lesson. And he went away from the unit, and because he was a mobilized reserve officer, he NCO, he had the opportunity to come back to the unit on another mobilization. And when I met him, he asked me, ma’am, can I come back to your unit? And I said, yeah, but if you come back, you are going to be over the drug and alcohol program because you are gonna use your story to help other soldiers understand the fallacy of their ways and the error of their ways and what can happen to you to help them not do that. And he came back, and, Scott, I will tell you, he was one of my best soldiers. But he told me in that moment the reason he wanted to come back to the unit was because I had the ability to crush him. I had the ability to take everything away from him, and I didn’t do that. And what he thought about me before, that old lieutenant colonel Young that he knew about and heard about, he would have been crawling out of my office just crying and and just not good.

Twanda Young [00:24:11]:
I showcase through my actions of how I dealt with him. And when you’re trying to build trust, it’s like building trust in relationships. You gotta focus on the issue and not the person. So I focused on my issue of perfectionism and how was that impacting and destroying my unit, my relationships with my family, overall, how that thread was throughout my life. And in order to make more of that add more value and be more impactful, I had to make a change, and I had to show that change.

Scott Clancy [00:24:45]:
That’s awesome. Actually, reminds me of a story similar of my own where I had a soldier, not get to you why I was AWOL because he was drunk. Yeah. And then so when he was brought in front of me, in the time in between, he had gone to a he’d gotten self he had done, a spin dry what we refer to as a spin dry program. You know, he’s done he did all kinds of self work. I said, alright. I said, you know, and, you know, they presented all this to me and, you know, the fact of the case was, you know, he was AWOL. AWOL is AWOL.

Scott Clancy [00:25:26]:
Right? Yeah. When you when you got to go basically knock your knee down and drag you.

Twanda Young [00:25:32]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Clancy [00:25:33]:
But when I said to him, I said, alright. I said, let’s see what you got. And I gave him a warning, which is nothing effectively. Right? And then, and just like you, that guy turned into one of the best troops I ever had. You know, dedicated do anything for you. Right. And then, and, and we parted ways as you know, life in the army, you move on, right. You get stationed elsewhere.

Scott Clancy [00:26:03]:
And year about two years ago, I think it was, I was in Germany on a task and I was over at the Canadian base Canadian Forces base over there and I was just walking around. And who did I run into who has since been promoted now on it? What, you know, overseas posting and just like life is moving forward. And I was like, wow. I was like, I was like, you know what? I was like, it was just I even went reached back to my sergeant major and I said, hey, man. I said, we might have screwed up a lot of things, but we got one thing right. I can tell you.

Twanda Young [00:26:35]:
Yeah. One this is one for the team. One for the team.

Scott Clancy [00:26:38]:
This is one thing really right.

Twanda Young [00:26:39]:
But, you know, you tell John a very, interesting point that it is so important to understand the decisions we make when we are in the Impact lives. Exhibitions impact lives.

Scott Clancy [00:26:53]:
%.

Twanda Young [00:26:54]:
They impact lives because soldiers, civilians, where do you where do they spend kinda like kids? They spend the majority of their time with their leader during the day. And how we treat them, how we interact with them kind of sets the tone for when they get home or how they how they deal with things. That is why I always say it is an honor to lead people. Because if someone is going to follow you, at least do the due diligence to try to be the best leader that you possibly can. And in the military, as you know, you need to be the best leader you can because there is a result that can come out of what we do that can end all days. And once that’s done, it’s done. That’s the finality of raising our hand and saying those 72 indelible words that we’re willing to give our life for this country. So we should treat each other with dignity and respect and be inclusive of trying to help each other grow and add value to each other.

Scott Clancy [00:27:59]:
So easy to tell how passionate you are about all of this, oh god. Now that being said, with your journey, no doubt you had to learn about humility. Can you can you talk about humility as a leader and and how it came to be for you, and the role it played moving forward?

Twanda Young [00:28:21]:
Sure. You know, for me, as I shared my background coming from South Carolina, my mom and dad have always been community impactors. I mean, they’ve been they always help, you know, the neighbor to the side that may need some sugar or need some corn or whatever, you know, the community hog pin that everybody feeds the hogs and we swat them at the, you know, at the end of the winter kind of thing. So I have always seen how my mom and my dad have been very humbled in that they may have had a lot in a very scarce kind of way, but they had whatever they had, they shared. That has always been what has been modeled in front of me. So going into the military for me was just to be able to have a job, honestly. As I said, I went to college, first generational student. From there, I went to college because I went on an all expense paid scholarship from doing an oratory, competition.

Twanda Young [00:29:24]:
I didn’t know where I was going to whether I was gonna go to school. What did life hold for me when I was in the twelfth grade? So to be able to go and matriculate through college and then from college have a job in the military where I have a steady paycheck, I could buy my first car, you know, I could get my own apartment and everything. All of that, I did not take lightly. Those, to me, were blessings. And to then come in and have the opportunity to lead people that, you know, they were old enough to be my my mom and my dad in some cases, you know. Now follow me, you know, as, you know, the old adage got milk behind the ears, but, yeah, you you’re the OT, so come on. You know? And I saw how in my first job as an executive officer at, Fort Bragg, now Fort Liberty, how they the NCOs took me under their wing, and they taught me how to lead and one. I know they taught me well because I was the only female out of many other male executive officers, you know, kind of like on Sesame Street, one of those things that don’t look like the other.

Twanda Young [00:30:34]:
I was one of that I was that thing. But I know they didn’t wanna be embarrassed, you know. They they needed to still have their bragging rights about their LT. But they took time to seed into me and help me learn my job and learn it well. And seeing how they just poured into me and helped me be better at whether it was physical training, whether it was doing my operational duties as an executive, that seed helped me to cultivate a seed of humbleness that I should be doing the same for other people that I come in contact with. So while I still had the perfectionism bug, I still was about helping people get to the next level. I didn’t mind sharing information to help you get to where you needed to be, giving pointers or mentoring. I found joy in doing that.

Twanda Young [00:31:28]:
That’s why I do it today, still after thirty three years. But through the different experience I I had in the military of some leaders that weren’t weren’t too good, and some told me I I had no right to be in the military. Some didn’t want me on their team for whatever reason. And going through that and persisting through that and persevering through that taught me along my journey in the military, leadership journey was I don’t want to be that leader. And what what do I have to do not to to make someone be dejected and feel belittled in my presence because of the way that I treat them, because of what I withhold from them, because I have the authority to do so. So those types of experiences helped me learn humility. Failures helped me learn humility. Going to war definitely helped me learn some humility because you got to depend on your your your battle buddy to cover your six.

Twanda Young [00:32:32]:
And I had the honor of leading a very diverse team and learning in that experience that leadership is not one cookie cutter size fits all. And through that learning that I had to get to know the people from different cultures of military, finding out what was of their interest, and using all of that information to then try to create a relationship. I didn’t need to know, you know, what they groceries they bought or how many, you know, kids they they had necessarily and what the names and what the score did, Tommy, get on t ball when he played last week. But it was getting to know them and what was important to them and then allowing that to be important to me, but then also looking for a way, how can I help you succeed? We all want to succeed. And in war, we all want to come home. So how, how do I, again, and you will hear me say cultivate, because cultivate means you got to put in the work. You know? Ebb and flows, but you gotta put in the work. You you got to be able to motivate, inspire, and lead your people.

Twanda Young [00:33:40]:
So those different kinds of experiences have helped me learn humility. And when you lose soldiers, it it even more sets in of the value of appreciating people.

Scott Clancy [00:33:56]:
Definitely can agree to that last point. That’s for sure. Now you you hinted at something, multiple times there, and you said leadership is not a you know, there’s no cookie cutter solution. And for a listener out there, this is why you never hear really hear me talk about, oh, follow steps one through five for this situation. Because guess what? Every situation is different because every person’s different. And what works for one person isn’t gonna work for another. This is why, like, to me, it’s a fallacy of, like, frameworks within the leadership realm. Like, okay.

Scott Clancy [00:34:34]:
Yep. You can have ideas and and and, ideologies and such, but you can’t expect to take that framework and just drop it onto every single scenario that you get faced with because it ain’t gonna work turn out well for you.

Twanda Young [00:34:54]:
Now you gotta be as I said earlier, you gotta be flexible like Gumbay. You gotta be nimble. You gotta be able to draw on from your experiences and your knowledge and that board of directors of being able to take the information and then utilizing it to the best of your ability for your situation. Mentorship, I can share my experience with you, what I did, something to for you to chew on and digest and see if it works. And I always tell those that I mentor, take what I share with you, take what you can use, use that. What you can’t, discard it. That’s fine. Mhmm.

Twanda Young [00:35:32]:
The thing is not to not for me to create another me in you. It’s for you to evolve to be the leader that you should be. And to do that, you do need knowledge. You do need to know about other experiences and hear that to help you come up with your strategy of how you’re going to address that situation. But be you. You know, I know we use the thing authentically you. Just be real. Just be real in how you want to approach what it is you want to approach, but also have some accountability in that that when things don’t go the way you want them to go, survey it to see what could I have done differently to get a better outcome.

Twanda Young [00:36:15]:
So using those different frameworks and ideas, but reflecting on them and applying them to how they they they can help you to be more successful or impactful or add value. I think it is my perspective on the different ideologies that are out there. And some that I’ve shared myself that I would tell you is to to take it and use it how you can use it to best add value to your life.

Scott Clancy [00:36:44]:
No. Absolutely agree. And the one thing I would add, you’ve you talked about about it earlier, and I would add is being open, willing, and ready to learn from others, whether that’s your superiors, whether that’s your peers, and though maybe your subordinates. Like, just having that ability and being open to learning from others because you can’t know it all. It’s impossible.

Twanda Young [00:37:08]:
It is truly impossible. I will tell you your audience for your audience, a sneak peek trivia about me. If you go out on YouTube, you will see a video of me singing with the eighty second airborne chorus. And in order for me to do that, I was trained by sergeants and specialists to be able to sing the cadence the way that they sing it, to do the marching, do I just couldn’t get that hand thing. I finally got it when you look at the video. I finally got it. But it was funny that when I came into that situation and asked I told my my team before I retired, they were like, ma’am, what do you want? I said, the only thing I want is to be able to sing with the eighty second airborne. That’s all I want.

Twanda Young [00:37:49]:
Won’t have to have a ceremony. No nothing. Just get me that chance. And we put in the request, and the commander of the eighty second airborne course thought that he was being pranked that a general officer wanted to sing with the eighty second airborne course. I actually had to call him and say, yes, sir. I really would if you give me the honor. That’s that’s really all I want, you know, before I retire. And when I walked into the auditorium with all the singers and everybody, they thought they were being pranked.

Twanda Young [00:38:18]:
And the the funny thing is that they thought, you know, all this general officer is gonna come in here and she’s gonna, you know, she’s gonna be generally, you know. So soldiers teach me what it is. Tell me what I need to do and and, you know, and I came in. I was like, hey, guys. I’m so happy to be here. Hey. How so how do I sing this? And how do I do the what what’s the step here? And we had so much fun. So much fun.

Twanda Young [00:38:44]:
If your audience can see my face now, they see me teasing because it was one of the most memorable moments for me in my career, but it taught them that don’t judge a book by its cover. Just because I have the rank or I am in a certain position, don’t categorize me to be a certain way. Give me the opportunity to show you who I am. And from that experience, you know, excuse me, even till today, I’m still in contact with some of the eighty second airborne course soldiers. And I look at that video. I play it sometimes when I go and speak, and it’s just it’s just in awe. I’m just in awe that I had the opportunity to get out there with them, but I wouldn’t have been successful without them leading me, a specialist, a private lead leading the general on how to do things. So you need to be teachable.

Scott Clancy [00:39:37]:
That’s awesome. And for the audience, I was muted that whole time, and half the time, I was laughing. But at the same time, it’s such an amazing story. It wraps up this conversation beautifully. I find normally I asked like at near the end. And is there something you want to part with the audience? But like, that’s really was perfect. So I think that’s that question.

Twanda Young [00:39:59]:
Okay.

Scott Clancy [00:40:00]:
Because that’s that’s such a great way to wrap the whole conversation up, though, of, like, going from this perfectionist type mentality, you have to be perfect to the general officer being taught by the lowest rank of the army of how to sing a song for a, for formation. And I think that’s just such a great, a great way to wrap up this conversation and show just, you know, it whole holistically that, you know, as a leader, we we can do that. And the only thing I would add is, you know, don’t wait till it’s your retirement. Go out and have fun and can show that humanly and let your hair down a little bit. Does it have to be every day? God, no. But it can be once in a while. So I think it’s such a great way to slowly start to wrap the show up.

Twanda Young [00:40:51]:
Yeah.

Scott Clancy [00:40:51]:
Yeah. As as we do wrap up here, I guess that, you know, we kinda just wrapped up, but what I wanna say, give you a chance is how can people find you? How can people follow you? You know, be part of your journey? Is it really you now? Shameless plug. Have at it.

Twanda Young [00:41:09]:
And I will take it gladly with a smile. You can find me on lt3leads.com. There, we provide coaching services. We provide project management and solutions for Lean Six Sigma analysis, disc training. I’m an executive coach. I’m a keynote speaker. You can find our books that we have that are bestsellers on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The first book, Dare to Be Differently Chew on This 16 Bucks for Bold Leaders is in paperback, hard copy, and auto.

Twanda Young [00:41:41]:
And the second book of dear, I couldn’t even say it now, Scott. I got too excited. It is Leading Destiny Expose Leading Ladies Anthology Volume one. My chapter is about perfectionism being the shadow killer of leadership excellence. And on all social media, Twanda Young. I would just be honored to connect with you, talk about leadership development, and about being better at being leaders and taking in the honor to lead, looking at it from that perspective, changing your mindset. But I encourage any of your leaders that are out there to remain strategically focused, intentionally committed to adding value, and disciplined and decisive in your execution of how you share your leadership with your people. They deserve to be led by great leaders.

Scott Clancy [00:42:33]:
That’s a fantastic way to end this show. Absolutely love it. For the listener, always, it’s easy. Just go to the show notes of this episode, which is lead the boss forward slash the episode number in digits, and that’ll bring you to the website, to the show notes. The links are there. A transcript of this episode is there and so much more. So do check it out. Tia Yan, thank you again for taking time of your busy schedule.

Scott Clancy [00:42:59]:
Thank you for your determination to get on the show, and your patience as we had to reschedule this probably twenty three nights. It was definitely worth it in the end. So appreciate you.

Twanda Young [00:43:09]:
It was. Thank you. Thank you for the honor to have this informative and enjoyable chat. I appreciate it.