In “West Point to CEO,” Jack Blaha, CEO of Cendyn, shares his remarkable journey from Army veteran to seasoned executive leading multiple SaaS companies. On this episode of CXO Conversations, Jack reflects on how military-honed adaptability and leadership shaped his transition into the corporate world, from hospitality to social media marketing software. He discusses the impact of emotional intelligence on company culture, the value of mentorship, and the importance of building strong teams—including bringing trusted colleagues to ensure operational success. Jack’s story is a masterclass in translating military skills into business leadership.

For the full interview: https://ocns.co/from-west-point-to-the-boardroom-jack-blahas-leadership-odyssey/

10 Min Clip Transcript

Jack Blaha: [00:00:00] Being a CEO obviously is the pinnacle of the responsibility in a company. And you know, as I grew through different levels, be it a director or vice president, I always want to have that more responsibility and really be, have the buck stop with you. Well kick it.

Michael Mitchel: CXO conversations, talks with C-level executives on how they reach the C-suite and what advice would they give those who wanna be one. Hi, I am your host, Michael Mitchell, agent director of OC National Search. As many of my listeners are aware, I’m a Navy veteran. Served on as the executive director of the historic VFW Post one in Denver.

I started a veteran nonprofit and created a program called Leadership Veteran. My two passions of search and veterans have come together in a quarterly networking events and series on this podcast called Veterans in the C-Suite. Joining us today is Jack Baja. He’s a West Point alum, army [00:01:00] veteran, and been a CEO five times for.

SaaS companies. Jack prefers private equity portfolio companies, and he’s currently the CEO for Cine, a SaaS company for the hospitality sector. He joined them at the beginning of this year. Please see the show notes for more on Jack’s background. Well, thank you Michael. I appreciate you having me here.

Well, I appreciate you, uh, coming in so early. I, I really do. Not a problem. Why did, so? I’ve served on selection committees for, uh, in Colorado for, uh, state senators and reps for, for kids trying to get into, uh, the academy. So I know how hard it is. Why did you want to go to West Point and why did you pick the Army?

I’m sorry The Navy wouldn’t take you. 

Jack Blaha: Yeah, I know. Sorry I missed that boat. Um, literally, so, no, uh, I wanted to go to West Point since I was a very young, very young child. Uh, and, uh, my. Grandfather, his brothers all certain in World War ii. So there’s a bit of family history, but I was first to go to West Point and once I got that opportunity, I was gonna jump all over it.

So it [00:02:00] was a great experience and not one I’d probably do again, but I’m glad I did it. 

Michael Mitchel: There are parts of my Navy time where I’m like, ah, no, not so much. But then I think about my days on the flight deck because I worked on F eighteens and I. I wouldn’t trade those days for anything. 

Jack Blaha: No, there’s, uh, many times I look back very fondly on probably things that weren’t that great, but now in hindsight, after 20 plus years being out of the military, um, were really, really great, great opportunities and great experiences that I am excited.

I had the opportunity, 

Michael Mitchel: so the 24 Hour Rock, so March is that embrace the sec moment, but 20 years later it’s like, oh man, I remember back in the day 

Jack Blaha: sitting on the tarmac with a. Parachute on your back for hours waiting for your stick to go. 

Michael Mitchel: So you jumped out perfectly sound airplanes. Yes, I did. Okay.

You’re one of those guys. Yeah. Okay, got it. Uh, you talk about being a vet, how being a veteran influenced your career. Um, how so? 

Jack Blaha: Yeah, I mean, for me, obviously the military spent five years only in the military in 95 to 2000. But, um, [00:03:00] getting out. Trying to determine what I wanted to do. And I was a bit older than my peers that were just graduating college.

So I had some life experience already, but I was still, wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. Uh, so, but I had a base of experience now obviously in leadership and other things that I learned in the military. So coming into the civilian workforce, I knew I could apply those skills somewhere, just I didn’t know where.

So finding a, finding a job opportunity that gave me the. Opportunity to see a lot of different functions in a company then allowed me to start to tailor what I wanted to do and eventually moved into general management and. Here I am now. A CEO. 

Michael Mitchel: What, um, overlooked skills did you gain in the army that you’re still using today specifically?

Jack Blaha: Yeah, I mean, well, I know we’ve, we’re always gonna lead, we’re always gonna lean towards the leadership side, and that’s always a big one for everybody. And I think it is, we forget how much skills we learn in leadership, be it at West Point or in the Army. But beyond that, um, the ability, adaptability is probably one of the [00:04:00] biggest, I, I believe the ability to really address a situation.

Thoughtfully thinking through that situation and then executing very quickly. That’s what we do in the military, right? We plan, we plan, we plan, but then eventually, right? Once you start that mission, things change. You have to adapt. You have to be flexible, right? To accomplish the mission. And I think that’s incredibly important.

And it’s important in the military, it’s wildly important in in the civilian sector because you have to continue to drive towards that goal and. People from the military have that grit and want of want wanting to get to that end state goal and being the, achieving the mission. 

Michael Mitchel: I think the adaptability is really important.

I think for me that’s the number one, the leadership that’s ’cause everyone thinks that first. Yeah, but the adaptability, I mean, you, you don’t just do the analysis paralysis, you make a decision and you do it. If it doesn’t work out, where’d you learn from it? And move on, apply those lessons learned [00:05:00] later on.

Jack Blaha: And, and I see that skill across almost every ex-military person I run into. And I, and I’ve had a lot, tremendous number of ex-military employees and some combat veterans, some not, but they all have that same skill, right? The ability to see a situation drive towards it. Adapt if it’s not going the right direction, but doing it quickly.

Right. So to your point about the analysis paralysis, right? We don’t fall into that trap. Most cases. And a lot of that is because we, you know, we learn that in the military, 

Michael Mitchel: right? Um, you’ve been a CEO multiple times. Is it five or is it more than five? Five times. Five times. Why did you want to be a CEO or Chief Executive Officer?

Jack Blaha: You know, and, and as we discussed earlier, it’s one of those things that you still ask yourself every day. You know, it being a CEO obviously is the pinnacle of the responsibility in a company. And, you know, as I grew through different levels, be it a director or vice president. Always wanna have that more responsibility and really be, have the buck stop with you.

Uh, so [00:06:00] getting that first CEO opportunity is very exciting. Um, you know, have the full responsibility of the company, right? All those decisions not are coming through you, but you have ultimate responsibility for them is the pinnacle of leadership in the civilian world. And. Had the opportunity. Five different companies, right?

Many different spaces, but almost all SaaS businesses. But those have allowed me to apply all the learning that I did in the military to now these roles that I have today. And Cine is no different, right? Cine is the company I’m running today. I, I can apply the same things that I learned and I’m learning every day like we always do, but I can get better and better, and hopefully with cine I can actually now apply even more learnings that I’ve gotten, not just from the military, but also from my experiences in previous companies.

Michael Mitchel: So, so a a after each stint as CEO. What do you take away from each experience? You’re learning something new each time. 

Jack Blaha: Yeah, and I always look back and I, my head of hr, my previous company, and I sit around and think about this [00:07:00] and what do we do well? What do we not do well? And, and like any operator, right?

I tend to focus on the things we didn’t do well and how do we fix those things? So. In a lot of cases, right? We’ll go back and kind of go through each scenario and understand what we, what we accomplished and what, you know, we felt we probably should have done better. And hopefully now I can say next time I see the same situation, I’m not gonna make the same mistake again.

And we’ve taken a lot away, right? Um, you know, the end of the day, right? The people ma, are what really matter, right? My leaders underneath me are the most important part of building the right team. ’cause they’re gonna build the best team to drive the business forward and. Moving quickly on when someone’s not right.

You know, getting them out, getting the right person in that role that’s gonna help you achieve that, that goal, uh, is incredibly important. And it’s something that I think, you know, I think it’s almost a pat answer now for, for recruiters. Right? What would you have done different in the past? I wanna fire someone sooner.

Right? But [00:08:00] it’s a truism. Right? Mm-hmm. It is entirely true that you, you wind up hoping that you can get someone over the, you know, the, the goal line, and in reality it’s probably better for them and you to change that person. 

Michael Mitchel: Yeah. I don’t know if I would, uh, I, I, I don’t know if I like the question, what would you do differently?

I think it’s more of lessons learned. What, what, you know, what did you learn from that, um, opportunity from that moment and what you know, ’cause then going forward you will do it differently. You’ll apply that. That’s the classic parla situation. 

Jack Blaha: Yeah. And I, but I think you have to first and foremost admit that you did things wrong, right?

It’s easy as a CEO to surround yourself with people that just tell you you’re great, 

Michael Mitchel: right? 

Jack Blaha: So you gotta find the people that are gonna be bluntly honest with you, and you know, first and foremost, your spouse is gonna be, we all know that, but you want people in your business that are gonna be very honest with you, and you do something wrong and you want them to tell you, you did it wrong.

And I, I tell my, my leaders this all the time. I want to hear those things. If I make a mistake, let’s fix it. Let’s understand it, right? And let’s learn from it to your point. [00:09:00] But you have to first and foremost be able to recognize what you didn’t do great. And I think, you know, I think in the military, that’s what you go back.

You do an after action review. You go take a look at what you accomplished, what you didn’t do, right. Right. You do this at NTCs this anywhere. Mm-hmm. You know, and so I think you need to do those things as a leader. In the civilian world as well, and as a CEO, it’s wildly important to look back on those experiences and say, okay, here’s what I had to write.

Now, to your point, what did I learn? What can I now apply in the future that I won’t make that same mistake? 

Michael Mitchel: There’s there, there’s something come to mind. Particularly you don’t have to use names to protect the guilty, but there’s something specifically come to mind. 

Jack Blaha: Um. I think there’s a, uh, there’s always the, the leader, I probably should have moved out faster.

You know, there’s people that I’ve wanted to develop and I keep hoping that this person’s gonna make the turn. I, I like the individual. Um, I work on them for a long period of time. I. But the eventuality is, it doesn’t just reflect poorly on them. It reflects poorly on [00:10:00] you, right? To not make a change. But there’s other scenarios as well.

I mean, strategies in business, things that we’ve gone down, right? And tried to move forward on that. I’ve looked back and said, man, I probably shouldn’t have gone down that path. But you know, you take those lessons learned and then you move on. But I think that. Each one has provided me an opportunity to, to hopefully get better.

And each one’s been a very professional, you know, win in my book because we’ve had great exits for, you know, for the private equity firms and for the shareholders. But it has been a, you know, it’s been a learning, you know, and that first CEO job is a, is a huge learning curve by the fifth year. You kind of gotta, you understand how it works.

You, you know how to work with a board, you get your sea legs. Yeah. You know how to work with banks and, and you know how to run a company. But I’m still learning today. Right. I’m learning a new market, I’m learning new individuals. Right. Which all creates a, a bit of fun and a bit of a challenge. 

Michael Mitchel: Yeah. ’cause the SaaS companies you worked at, why they’ve all been in a SaaS company.

They’ve all. [00:11:00] They’ve been from various sectors like Arian, hospitality, 

Jack Blaha: hospitality software Today. Previously I was in, I was telling you bef earlier, right? Marketing, social media, marketing software. I was in real estate transaction software, education software, ERP software. So a lot of different types of businesses.

All generally global or North Amer, north America based, but they are. They’re all different segments with different challenges and different customer bases. So that’s the fun part, right? Learning a new industry, learning a new market. But the fundamentals of running a SaaS business are all generally the same.

It’s the same framework. It’s the same framework. There’s a little bit of rinse and repeat. When I joined a new company, I, you know, I’ve, I’ve seen this, uh, show before, so it does make it a little easier for me to be able to walk in and say, okay, I know some of the fundamental things I need to address. But I also at the same time had the new experience of learning a new industry and, and all the challenges that come with that.

Michael Mitchel: So when, when, for your first role as CEO, kind of, [00:12:00] what was that like for you? You know what I mean? From the moment you’re like, you start interviewing for like, okay, this is the big chair, right? And then you get the offer, and then you start, I mean, what are you, what are you thinking? 

Jack Blaha: Yeah, there’s, there’s, there’s two parts to you and I think all CEOs probably feel this one.

One is your, I deserve this. Finally. Mm-hmm. Right? And the other one is just you’re scared. You, you know, you’re about to get into a situation that you’ve never had before. So, you know, I think you try to have that bravado and, and believe that like, I earned this and this is my, my place in the, you know, in the world where I should be today.

But the reality is, you’re, you’re still nervous. You don’t know everything about being a CEO. You can. Read books, you can talk to mentors, you can do all these things and they’re all important to do, by the way, but you’re still just have to do it right, and you learn very quickly that at the end of the day, everyone’s looking at you, waiting for you to provide an answer.

And. That eventually you realize I don’t have all the answers. [00:13:00] And how do you now develop the team to, to get to those answers? You learn enough about the business, but it is a, it is an interesting place, right? They always say it’s lonely in the, lonely the top, lonely at the top, right? And it, it is a truism.

Um, and it is a challenge, especially for a first time CEO to realize. Wow, who do I lean on? And boards are helpful. And you had that network? I did have that network. I had other CEOs in the portfolio right in, in the firm I worked with. Um, I had a mentor that I could lean on, right? Other CEOs that I could go to lunch with.

I remember my, when I took over the first company, I went. To launch the very first day with another very experienced CEO here in Austin. And I went through some scenarios and he was like, all right, here’s what I think. Right? And I was like, great. That’s what I was thinking too, right? So it, it helped me reinforce that my decision making was there, number one.

But also listening to someone that had done this before multiple times helped me kind of build that confidence that you need as a CEO, right? [00:14:00] Employees need to see that you’re confident, just as if you’re a. Battalion commander, right? You have to have that confidence and those soldiers wanna follow you.

It’s the same as a CEO. 

Michael Mitchel: And do you still have that network that you lean on E even after five companies? 

Jack Blaha: Yeah. My network’s probably just broader now. And you’re playing forward. Yeah, I mean, love to work with new CEOs. You know, I got the opportunity to help a lot of new CEOs joining the firm right.

Through their first time experience. Right. So I think it’s been great. I, I work with a lot of other CEOs. I work with, you know, lo lower level C-suite individuals as well, trying to help them. Developed their career. I have three ex-employees that are now CEOs themselves, very successful CEOs, and one of ’em is probably more successful than me 

Michael Mitchel: And right there, I think that’s the testament to your, to anyone’s legacy as a CEO and their ability to lead.

Jack Blaha: Well, one of the most exciting days was one of my previous employees who became the CEO of the company. I was at one CEO of the [00:15:00] year for the, for the private equity firm we worked for, and, and I was probably the loudest in the crowd cheering for him because I was so excited. I was like, this is amazing.

This individual that I mentored to be a CEO eventually now just one CEO of the year in a firm with over 72 businesses in it. 

Michael Mitchel: Nice. Yeah. So you’ve gotta feel good about that. 

Jack Blaha: I did. It was, uh, it was incredibly exciting. And, and I think that’s, that’s how, as a CEO, especially multi-time CEO right now, it’s my opportunity to, to not just help my company become better, but also I can work with the firm and work with other businesses and make the firm better.

Right. And I think that that’s a really good feeling, right? It’s that opportunity for me to. To really to, like you said, pay, pay it forward. 

Michael Mitchel: Yeah. Going back to your first role, um, was there, you know, what was the most significant lesson learned? Is your first time as CEO? Does anything really str stand out?

Jack Blaha: Yeah, I mean, I think we addressed some of it already, but you know, I think the, how much everyone is [00:16:00] looking at you, and it doesn’t, and I don’t just mean for answers, I, I mean, how you feel. Are you smiling or not? If I came outta my office looking unhappy. People thought that there was gonna be cuts in the company.

You, you don’t realize how much the company hinges on how you just are feeling that day. And you have to be that leader all the time, right? You cannot, you can’t take a step back and have a bad day, right? You had that bad day and it puts you, sets you back multiple. Steps and you have, it takes you a long time to rebuild the confidence in, in the organization, and it is, it is surprising, right?

I don’t think, I don’t think anyone recognizes that. I remember being a chief operating officer and I knew people would pay attention to me, but when you’re a CEO. Everyone is paying attention to, including the body language, the body language. Are you smiling? How are you communicating in a meeting? Are you paying attention?

Right? They all watch those things and they’re going to emulate them, right? How you act right [00:17:00] will will be followed by the people that work for you. 

Michael Mitchel: Uh, and. Such a valid point. I I, I, I can think of a meeting I once had where I was just so focused on the meeting. It was, I, I was a little tense going into it ’cause there was competing interest groups involved and I was just thinking about it.

My mind was elsewhere and I, I went by one of the parties and they interpreted that as adversarial and I inadvertently set the meeting up on that path. It, it got very tense. Um, and I, I think back on that, I’m like, oh, I wasn’t even. I wasn’t even upset, I was just knee deep into somewhere else. And that matters more than I think people may appreciate.

Jack Blaha: It does. And, and I think they’re, you know, obviously you have to have a high emotional quotient, right? Yeah. You have to understand how people think and be able to read people as a CEO because you wanna be able to react when you do something or say something that may be taken outta context or you didn’t mean it that way.

You need to be able to read that individual and go, oh, wait, wait. That’s not what I meant. [00:18:00] Right here, here, let me explain better. Right? And, and if not. You can walk away as CEOs can just say, Hey, I don’t care. Right. Those lack of empathy CEOs in some cases just fine, but to really build an organization that’s gonna be successful without you around, you have to be able to understand the individual’s.

Catch those moments when you’re not perfect. Because as my, my CN employees probably know this, I’m not perfect all the time. Mm-hmm. Right. But I work on it. I try to focus on it and when I do make that mistake, hopefully then I can go back and address it very quickly. 

Michael Mitchel: Alright, well real quick, I wanna thank, uh, CXO conversation, sponsor a CG Denver for their support of this podcast As a board member, I’m proud of.

Association for corporate growth, for quality networking education and our events. I’d also like to note that Brad Elliott, the board president, is an army veteran. Alright, so you, you’ve been a C-Suite executive for private equity, uh, company several times. Would you ever lead a publicly traded company?[00:19:00] 

Jack Blaha: Yeah. Uh, no. Uh, but I know you’re gonna ask a whole different piece, right? It’s a much different, uh, much different responsibility level. I, I have looked at running publicly traded companies in the past, and I’ve talked to individuals that have run private equity based companies that have gone public and their experience related to, you know, becoming a public CEO, uh, it becomes much different.

Your investor base is a much different network. Constituent. Yes. Much different. And it consumes the majority of your time. Um, and in private equity when you’re a private business, the ability to actually run the business deep into what’s going on around the company. And yes, you have to. Do board meetings, you have to work with bankers.

Of course you do, but not to the extent that a, that a public company CEO does. So it becomes a different job. That isn’t really where I like, I like. Internal operations of the business. I like to know what’s going on. Be deep in [00:20:00] helping my leaders become better, right? Spend the time, my time there. Not so much in public relations.

Public relations and angry investors because the stock went down 2 cents, right? Uh, and wildly important, and it’s an incredible job. People that do it do exceptionally well. Great jobs I’ve seen known a ton of. Public CEOs that have done amazing things, but I think about what, what makes me happy and what, what, what I get enjoyment out of is not, is not that.

Yeah. So I have looked at ’em, I’ve thought about building my resume and having that public experience in my, you know, in my portfolio of things I’ve accomplished. But I’ve avoided it and probably will, uh, enjoy private equity, enjoy the size of business. Uh, we’re today, we’re 700 people, as an example, so we’re not.

A huge business. Mm-hmm. But we’re not a small business either, so it’s about the right size to be able to move fast and it’s a nice, healthy middle market company. It’s great. And it’s, it’s, it makes it a lot of fun ’cause you can make change and your leaders can have [00:21:00] direct impact to the value of the business.

Michael Mitchel: What are your thoughts for emerging VPs who wanna be a CEO? What would you, what, what insight would you share with them? 

Jack Blaha: Yeah. I’ve worked with a, a ton of vice presidents that, that wanted to eventually become CEOs or, you know, even COOs and other C-Suite individuals that wanna eventually become CEOs and.

M my guidance to them is pretty much always the same. Right? Kill the job you have, right? Um, kill the job you have, kill it. Crush that job. Do an amazing job. Don’t, don’t focus on wanting to be a CEO, right? CEO. Getting a CEO opportunity is a lot of hard work. To create the opportunity to become the CEO, but there’s timing, there’s the right company, there’s the right connection.

You may have right it, there’s a little bit of luck in finding that right first CEO job or even finding a CEO job. Mm-hmm. Unless you start your own business, which is a whole nother ball of wax, but. For me, I’ve always thought about this in my career, what I’ve, [00:22:00] what I’ve done, and I just focused on the job I had and tried to be the best at it, and then that created more opportunity and then did it again and again.

And I think people get so focused on wanting to say, I’m gonna be a CEO. Well, I didn’t, the path I, I actually achieved was. Not the path I originally thought I would achieve to become A CEO. I went all over the map. Mm-hmm. Right. And it was because I found different opportunities that I took advantage of.

And just did a, I believe, to be a really good job and people notice. And then that gives you the next opportunity. So don’t focus on trying to, I’m gonna be a CEO, focus on what are the skills I’m learning that allow me to be a better CEO in the future and let me crush this job. 

Michael Mitchel: And then your reputation through your network, well get around and they’ll help elevate your brand.

Jack Blaha: That’s correct. And I think that that is. Getting known in the market. You know, everyone says you’re always the only person responsible for your own career is yourself. That’s wildly untrue. To become a [00:23:00] CEO, you need, you need a network, you need connections. You need to be out there, right? And, and it’s not showing off and saying, look how great I am.

Right? It’s doing the job. Being really good at, and people will notice, and you don’t wanna work for people that want the flashy person anyway. You wanna work for people that really recognize your skill sets and now realize that’s gonna work incredibly well as a CEO, and they give you that opportunity.

Then when you get it, just do a really good job because you’ll get more of ’em. So 

Michael Mitchel: when, when you, um, go from these different companies, are you bringing people with you? Are you the same folks? A couple times. I, I mean. 

Jack Blaha: Yep. I, I, I’ve, I’ve done that a few times. Um, I’ve brought, um, you know, I think from my first business to my second, I brought like half the team, uh, which was great.

’cause then they knew how I operated. I knew how they operated. Uh, they knew the expect expectation of speed that I have, uh, for execution. But then in some companies, I’ve only brought in a few, or have now [00:24:00] added new individuals that I’ve had to bring into the business. But you know, this company today, I have.

I have four employees in my C-suite now that are, that are, that I’ve worked with in the past. Right. So it’s, it is, you know, it’s exciting to now have those people on my team. ’cause I know that I, I know if they have accomplished, I know how they work their work. They know how I think. Right. So they’re gonna move very quickly.

Right. And they’re gonna be a great reference point for my other executives. Right. Because they then they. Say, this is what Jack’s probably thinking over here. Uh, so, 

Michael Mitchel: but I’m gonna jump in. ’cause that also reflects on you as a leader. So when you know you’re in consideration for your next CEO role, that organization’s gonna say, okay, he’s got people to follow him.

There must be a reason why. 

Jack Blaha: Yeah. And I think it’s, it is, like we were talking earlier, I wanna see my ex-employees do amazing things. Yeah. So want to have ’em work for me again. Right. Because, you know, finding, finding [00:25:00] great leaders in any organization is, is. Challenging, right? You hope you walk into a staff that’s already, and again, I, I come into companies that have already been established, already have a staff, but in a lot of cases, you know that that isn’t the right staff for what we need to accomplish as an organization.

So I have to make a change and I don’t want to in a lot of cases, but, you know, we will, we’ll make changes here and there and I want to bring people then that are. I know are gonna be able to accomplish that goal that, for that functional area potentially, but also an opportunity for them to grow. Yeah.

Right. Because I wanted to develop another CEO and another CEO outta my team. Um, and, and then eventually, hopefully I, you know, worked for a private equity firm and I can hire them as a CEO. So, 

Michael Mitchel: well, r Lewis, co-founder of Delta TV Capital, he has a prior guest on the show. He says that’s exactly what he looks for when he’s looking to hire A CEO, is that who follows?

For him, that’s a major cornerstone in how he, he, um, defines leadership. 

Jack Blaha: And I think it’s, [00:26:00] it, it is an important testament, like a testament to your leadership skills. If people wanna work for you again, they have choices, right? Everyone’s got choices here. Uh, C-level executives are gonna have opportunities, right?

So if they want to come, it’s nice that I can give a lot of ’em a call. A lot of ’em are caught up in their jobs and they’re perfectly happy. But I have a few that I, I lean on and, and bring and give ’em a call and say, I need you. And they’re all right, I’m coming. Uh, and it, it makes it a. Much faster experience to get the company where I want it when I have those people in place.

Um, and I don’t have to worry about it. ’cause then I can go focus on the areas that Yeah. I mean that you’re saving serious time. Yeah. And as a CEO you have, you know, there’s only so much bandwidth you have and you know. Everyone says, oh, it works incredibly hard. But you, you do. But because you have to look at so much, and if you’re not the right leader, then you gotta spend more time on it.

And I always know, I can always tell when someone’s not gonna be the right leader, is when I spend all of my time in that area, [00:27:00] right? And I’m going, man, I’m worried about it and I’m thinking about it at night. So you wanna then say, okay, maybe it is time to find the right person in that role. And then that allows you then spend more time on the things that are more strategic.

Right. Fighting acquisitions. As an example, we just completed an acquisition. We’re gonna do more as a company. Um, those are can be credibly additive to a business. They’re create totally different challenges. But right now I could feel comfortable that the operations of the company are just continuing to move because I got the right leaders in place.

Michael Mitchel: Gotcha. You know, going back to advice for. Um, just the emerging leader, um, any specific thoughts on what experience they should be gaining on top of Crush It where you’re at? 

Jack Blaha: All aspiring leaders, uh, you know, obviously getting more experience outside their core functional area that they’re in. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of, you see a lot of folks come up the sales channel, you see a lot of folks come up the operations channel and I think, you know, operations is a great [00:28:00] example where, you know, you may come out of a support function, you may come out of a services function, but right, to be a COO, you need to have experience across.

All those functions, right? And then you wanna really to be a COO to a CEO, right? You need to now start to branch out into engineering and sales, right? And start to get those experiences and working cross-functionally to get more experience. You may not have run sales, you may not have to run development as an example, but right that in a relation with that, those other leaders starts to develop you to realize like, what are the challenges they’re facing?

Why aren’t they getting me this? Instead of just saying. I need my product done better. Right. That, that’s great, but it isn’t being understanding why and understanding that mechanics underneath will allow you to have that great good understanding as a CEO because you have to under be able to understand all the areas that are underneath your purview, and you have to be able to say, okay, I know why we’re struggling there.

How do I help now go fix that problem. Right? Not so much. [00:29:00] Work harder, CTO work harder, CSO that that isn’t gonna help you be successful. It’s understanding what’s underneath and what, what the issues are, why they aren’t being successful. 

Michael Mitchel: Got it. What would you say is, we, we’re gonna wrap this up. What are one or two key points listeners should take away from this conversation?

Jack Blaha: Look, if you, if you’re a, if you’re an. Ex-military, you know, individual, veteran, the skills that you’ve learned, right? We always talk about lean on the leadership side, but they’re much greater than that there. There’s a tremendous amount that you can provide to a company and don’t lose those skills, right?

Remember them, right? It doesn’t make you different than the other leaders in your organization. It makes you better, honestly, and I think it is. It is something that we. We, we have inherently, as a leader coming outta the military in be fair, in most cases, maybe not in the Navy, but in the Army. I know.

Sorry. Had to, couldn’t resist. It’s okay. 

Michael Mitchel: You know what, I don’t think most people realize the service [00:30:00] robbery is a, is a fun, real thing. 

Jack Blaha: No, I, and I think it, it is fun and I’m joking, but I’ve worked with a lot of seals on when they’re coming out Yeah. And helping them transition, but. I think that there’s, there’s a tremendous amount of, right, just that, that ability to drive that adaptability, right?

The, the leadership components are always gonna be incredibly important. Leverage those, right? You know, I always think about the things that I step back and say, okay, what, what am I good at? What am I core skill sets? And. You know, IFI do fall back to the leadership side, right? I, you know, I run much different types of companies.

I’ve, I came outta hardware, I went into software, but those skills are so fungible that it allow, has allowed me to, to manage different types of businesses. Totally different regional. Globally, global businesses that are now been very broad and been very successful. So it is. I always look back to that experience and I wouldn’t have the opportunities today.

Hadn’t, hadn’t. I really built that base of [00:31:00] leadership being at West Point and in the military itself. But for everybody, right? Leadership is an incredibly important thing you have to work on every day, right? It is something that you’re not all of a sudden a great leader. You are a good leader, that can be better.

And if you think about focusing on that as a core skillset that you have, that will allow you to eventually, you know, hopefully achieve a CEO role, but be an incredible executive in the future. But it’s something you have to work on and think about every single day. That’s what I tried to do still today, and I think like everybody probably have missteps, but, um, it is.

That is something I still try to focus on even after running five different. 

Michael Mitchel: That’s really great insight. I really appreciate your thoughts. Yeah, Jack, thanks so much for being on the podcast, Michael. I really appreciate it.

Michael Mitchel: I’ve really enjoyed the conversation. I, I, you’ve reinforced a couple things I’ve, I’ve heard from other guests.

Okay. And I’ve gotten some, quite a few new net new nuggets, as it were. Excellent. For all those listening, thanks for your time. [00:32:00] Uh, I wanna, uh, ask you to leave. Please leave five stars on Apple so others can find it. It really does help. Uh, it’s all about the ratings and all about the algorithm. If you wanna find me on LinkedIn, it’s Michael Mitchell with one L.

That’s the test outta Denver. I wanna thank John Crossland for allowing me to use your amazing music on the show and official shout out and thanks to my engineer, Kyle Moore. Thanks everybody.