Passing The Torch
Passing The Torch is a podcast that explores the inspiring stories and insights from people across all walks of life. The main focus is on the positive aspects of leadership, resilience, and character development.
Passing The Torch
Ep. 51: Mike Sarge: Unwrapping Life's Gifts - Leading with Authenticity and Embracing the Journey
You are built for it, even if current situations do not reflect the ideal reality.
Have you ever held back a part of yourself, fearful of what the world might say? Mike Sarge joins us to discuss how liberating it can be when we choose to share our unique gifts. His philosophy – "A gift isn't a gift until it's given" – echoes through our conversation, as we tackle the power of vulnerability and the transformative effect of expressing one's true talents. Mike's dual expertise as an award-winning artist and a keynote speaker brings a refreshing perspective on bridging divides and fostering a sense of belonging in these polarized times. Together, we navigate the theme of visibility in a world that often overlooks the quiet contributions of humility and authenticity.
Leadership isn't just a title; it's an evolution of character, especially in the wake of adversity. Reflecting on the challenging events of recent years, we discuss the reshaping of our leadership models and our collaboration on CRE8 FORCE, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at empowering leaders. The discussion highlights often-overlooked leadership qualities like humility and charisma and underscores the importance of authenticity in guiding others. Our dynamic exchange delves into the nuance of leading with both heart and strategic insight, a delicate balance that can inspire true loyalty and drive transformative change.
Embrace the notion that life's path is beautifully unpredictable, and the road to success is rarely straight. We roam through the landscape of personal growth, affirming that detours and hurdles are not signs of failure but rather the hallmarks of a life rich with experience. From examining the unconventional routes to success taken by athletes to the trials of adolescence, we underscore the role self-esteem plays in forging our destinies. This episode is a clarion call to support our youth in recognizing their inherent 'enoughness,' fostering resilience in the face of life's challenges, and inspiring a future where every individual feels empowered to share their gifts with the world.
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Episode 41: Lee Ellis – Freeing You From Bond That Make You Insecure
Episode 49: Ryan Hawk – Crafting a Legacy of Leadership
Episode 52: Riley Tejcek – Mission of Empowerment and Endurance
Have you ever held back a part of yourself, fearful of what the world might say? Mike Sarge joins us to discuss how liberating it can be when we choose to share our unique gifts. His philosophy – "A gift isn't a gift until it's given" – echoes through our conversation, as we tackle the power of vulnerability and the transformative effect of expressing one's true talents. Mike's dual expertise as an award-winning artist and a keynote speaker brings a refreshing perspective on bridging divides and fostering a sense of belonging in these polarized times. Together, we navigate the theme of visibility in a world that often overlooks the quiet contributions of humility and authenticity.
Leadership isn't just a title; it's an evolution of character, especially in the wake of adversity. Reflecting on the challenging events of recent years, we discuss the reshaping of our leadership models and our collaboration on Create Force, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at empowering leaders. The discussion highlights often-overlooked leadership qualities like humility and charisma and underscores the importance of authenticity in guiding others. Our dynamic exchange delves into the nuance of leading with both heart and strategic insight, a delicate balance that can inspire true loyalty and drive transformative change.
Embrace the notion that life's path is beautifully unpredictable, and the road to success is rarely straight. We roam through the landscape of personal growth, affirming that detours and hurdles are not signs of failure but rather the hallmarks of a life rich with experience. From examining the unconventional routes to success taken by athletes to the trials of adolescence, we underscore the role self-esteem plays in forging our destinies. This episode is a clarion call to support our youth in recognizing their inherent 'enoughness,' fostering resilience in the face of life's challenges, and inspiring a future where every individual feels empowered to share their gifts with the world.
Conversation:
00:00 Intro
Mike Sarge Oh man, that quote still resonates with me to this day. Yeah, no, it still resonates with me because it actually was not a planned quote at all. I was in the middle of a panel for a music conference actually. So I'm in a room full of artists probably 250 plus people within the industry and you know, someone asked hey, what happens when you're too nervous to let something go, or a song that you've been working on, or a project or a goal? And so there were three other panelists that you actually spoke first and I'm sitting there thinking like what am I going to say to this? And I just ended up just being transparent and honest and authentic about it and I said, hey, a gift isn't a gift until it's given. And essentially, whatever makes you great, whatever allows you to stand out, you have to release that to the world. What would you rather have? The thing that you always wanted, or upset that? It's not the way that you wanted?
3:00 Story behind quote
Mike Sarge Yeah, no, it still resonates with me because it actually was not a plan quote at all. I was in the middle of a panel for a music conference. Actually, I'm in a room full of artists probably 250-plus people within the industry. Someone asked hey, what happens when you're too nervous to let something go, or a song that you've been working on, or project or goal? There were three other panelists. They actually spoke first and I'm sitting there thinking like what am I going to say to this?
I just ended up just being transparent and honest and authentic about it. I said, hey, a gift isn't a gift until it's given. Basically, essentially, whatever makes you great, whatever allows you to stand out, you have to release that to the world, that specific quote. I was saying that, hey, as a music artist, writing the music is what helped you deal with that issue, or deal with that pain, hurt, et cetera, but releasing it to the world is what's going to help other people heal. That goes beyond just the scope of music. That goes into your personality, that goes into what you're good at, how you talk to people, how you treat people. There's something that causes you to shine a light on other people. We can't continue to hold that light from people out of fear, because then we're not truly separating ourselves. That's where that quote came from. A gift is not a gift unless it's given.
5:15 Gift Mike Sarge is giving and sharing with the world. Also, how he defines his own success
Mike Sarge That's good. So the gift what is the gift that I feel like that I'm giving to people? My gift is being the bridge. A lot of times when you see people have conversations about things that they agree with or disagree with, whatever it might be, I think people walk around assuming that they disagree with the majority of things that people say, when, honestly, if there was just a bridge person that could communicate what this side is trying to say and what that side is trying to say, you would often find that we often agree with each other more than we think. But because of generally, whether it's something being polarized, a topic being polarized, or maybe how something spun, maybe in the media or social media, whatever you see that's negative, we all feel like we're at each other's throats. When the truth is, sometimes you just need someone in the middle that understands both sides and can speak to that, and so I find often in most conversations, especially in the military, I'm able to speak to a lot of different ends and different experiences, and so I do my best.
My gift is making sure that people want feel valued, that they understand that it doesn't matter where they come from or what their story is. They can bring something to the table, but also the other end of that gift is also understanding that there are moments where we have to take a step back and just listen to others so that whatever makes them great, they can shine in. I shouldn't be able to shine in every situation. There are some situations where I got to take a step back into someone else's platform, like, maybe I build a platform, but it's my time to hand the mic over, and so my gift is just being the bridge and giving people an opportunity to be themselves. Let's see, what do I define as success man? For me, it's being better than I was the day before. Like as simplistic as that sounds.
I think sometimes, when we want change, we want it to happen like this, or we want to go viral instantly, or we want to make that rank instantly, or whatever it might be, and sometimes we completely discount the journey. And so I've decided that every single day, I'm going to look and see how I can be 1% better 1% better at my job, as a leader, as a follower, as well as a whatever if you're an athlete, if you're a son, daughter, spouse, whatever you place yourself in. I just choose to be 1% better every single day, and that drives me and allows me to stay focused on me and not compare myself to other people. There's the quote envy and jealousy or comparisons, is the threat of all joy, and it really is. When I'm too busy looking at what you're doing, how can I possibly enjoy my wins, no matter how big or small they are? And so that's me. It's just. I want to get 1% better every single day I'm celebrating having you on my podcast.
8:32 Using music to bridge communication gaps
Mike Sarge To be honest with you, I think music is the ultimate oh, like I mentioned bridge earlier, music to me is the ultimate bridge. I give this example sometimes, which is imagine your favorite commercial without music in the background. Imagine the scene of your favorite movie not having that dramatic music in the background. Imagine like Avengers, endgame, and everyone starts popping through the portal and you don't have that epic music in the background. You know like music to me really dictates so many things, but most the thing that I think is the most beautiful about music is music allows us to explain a feeling that we don't have the words for, and so there were many times we're growing up I experienced things, I saw things that I just didn't, I Didn't know how to explain, or really I didn't know how to explain to someone like face-to-face, but I knew if I got in my own space and I started writing about it, I could better explain it, and so for me it's, it's beyond, it's become a great way to vent. It's been a great way to have self-awareness and know who I am, and then like to be able to look back at old things that I've written and Songs and kind of laughs. Sometimes I go, man, I was feeling that way about that Geez, like you get to see also like your maturity as a person, and it's great. It's almost like a Living, breathing journal, like that's. That's really what music is, and then also you're able to help people when they are it.
I don't think people think about this when it comes to music, but it's really true. We're essentially writing down our thoughts, feelings, fears, whatever it is, and we're exposing it to the world. That's what we're doing and that's not a small Feet. And so when someone does something like that like I always give credit to them, no matter if they feel like it's great, grammy award-winning or not, I always say, like man, great job, like Great job, because the amount of strength that you have to have to do that, knowing your family, your friends, your exes, whoever Can judge you on that it's a big deal. So for me it's like a breath of fresh air, like music has allowed me to truly open up, grow and learn about the people around me as well. So it's been great.
11:44 Story behind CRE8 FORCE
Mike Sarge For sure man create is something that Me, myself and my partner, Kai Billings, as you mentioned crafted so that we could help better help leaders with crucial conversations. The background essentially everyone's aware of what happened in 2020 whether it's the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor obviously there were protests, covid-19, just a whole bunch of stuff that was happening in that year and Something that was made very clear, especially if you or someone that serves in the military is that our leaders were not all leaders were prepared to have those conversations, and that's okay. Like that, that's okay. And over time, even once we started having the conversations, I just kept thinking like what if this happened again? What if something major happened again? Would we still scramble all over again? There was a program that both myself and Kai were selected to run by a A2/6 called the Level Up program Develops leaders. It was great and a part of that, we had a capstone project, and so create force was built out of that and, essentially, create force is like, essentially, our goal was to equip leaders with the tools and the confidence to have particular conversations. Sure, on one end, we may be talking about inclusive leadership, we may be talking about equity, diversity, right, but on the other end, we have to have the conversations about how we're supporting people, because another, a crucial conversation could be as simple as hey, my pet died this week. It could be as simple as I'm experiencing a divorce. I'm experiencing a divorce. It could be I'm dealing with depression. Oh, I lost rank because I made a bad decision. Right. And those conversations are just as important, then, like they're more important than we think that they are and they really do impact the mission.
Do people feel like they can be themselves when they come to work, or do they feel like they're having to leave their identity at the door? All right, and so what we're doing is we've built content some short form, some long form Content to not only help leaders, but to help people that are facilitators In the leadership space. The goal is not to just give you a video that you just use and that you essentially treat as a slideshow and you're just pointing at and you're just reading verbatim. No, they're as short as they are, so that it's almost like the icebreaker to that group, and then you, as the facilitator in the leader, you can facilitate the way that you feel like the conversation needs to go, because that's.
It needs to feel natural, needs to feel authentic. The moment it feels too structured, people are going to check, you know, check the box, like every other military training that we have, and so me and Kai just wanted to have content that's engaging, that feels real and that feels relatable to people, and something that they could just pull up on their phone and they don't have to use their, their cat card to get into oh no, on the weekend. So that that's the purpose of create force, and we're really excited to see the progress that we've had so far.
15:42 Leadership skills people are not considering
Mike Sarge Yeah, for sure, I always feel like we. I think the military does a great job of talking about leadership from a almost theory perspective, having pillars and core values and things like that, and I think that's great. But what we want to do within our videos is making sure that we bring like the day to day and how those pillars look and how those values Look. So in that specific video about like underrated traits and skills that we don't always talk about, I wanted to bring more light to that. So one of the points I brought up was humility, right, and so I didn't want to say humility as in oh, your leader, you need to calm down and sit down somewhere. No, because so you should have pride in your work, right, you should have pride in whatever rank that you have or your position or you know you, because you know how much work that you've put in and how much sacrifices you put into to hit that hit certain milestones and goals. But when I said humility, I was more talking about in the way that we lead people, as Then it takes humility to know when you need to take a step back and allow someone to step forward and lead. It takes humility when people under you, your subordinates, are saying, hey, you're not helping me, like, and, instead of getting defensive, allowing them to continue to talk and you just own it. That takes humility.
I know humility was one of them. I know charisma was one of them. Being able to move a room and to be able to influence people Was one of them. So that video is one of my, it's one of our like more proud Videos that we're proud of, like really proud of, because we know that that one comes off authentic and it doesn't come off too blue or too structured by any means. It just, it just feels real and feels nice. So that was, that was really the purpose of that video.
18:04 Recommendations for tools and approaches do leaders need to navigate the murky waters of change
Mike Sarge That's a good question. I think I'll start with one is especially when you give the example of, like, hey, just walk around and talk to your people. Your people know when you're doing something because you care about them and when you're doing something just to check the box, Like. A clear example of this is if you're telling me, like, if I'm in your office and you're going, hey, you know, as you're about to walk out the door, like, oh, hey, everyone, like, does anyone need anything? Before I go, Let me know.
If we see your bag in your hand and your water bottle or whatever you've brought that day, I'm not about to stop you Because, like, like, because everything about your posture says to me you're saying that so you can clear your conscious and that you can just go ahead and enjoy the rest of your day or your weekend. That feels very check the box, right. What I would prefer you to do if you were going to ask that question is you didn't have your stuff in hand or it wasn't the last five minutes of your day. We know it's the last five minutes of your day. So, like, my first thing would be just intentionality, Like, give people, like. The phrase is give people, your first fruits, not your bottom seconds. So your first fruits would be probably the first 10 to 20 minutes of your day when you walk.
Fruits so essentially like if you were someone that planted fruits.
You and someone you knew or cared about. They were trying to make an apple pie. Let's just say your first fruits would be like the fresh ones that you recently picked, not the ones that have been just chilling in your house, right, and so the first fruits as a leader would be like the first 10 to 20 minutes of your day when you walk in. So for me it might just be okay. When I walk in, I put my stuff down before I even log in. I'm checking on folks, right, like it sets the tone, like, hey, before I even open up Outlook, and I know I'm going to have to go through emails, I know I'm going to have to go through task. You know how quickly you could just go off, right, check on your people first, then Check on them first. You know you, so be intentional about that.
Also, I would say that, in regards to tools and just like best practices, I would also say it's okay to not know everything, and I know that's not said a lot, because normally when you go through any type of leadership training that I want to foot stomp that and I will continue to foot stomp it it is okay to not have the answer, and it's also okay to not be the SME or the expert in the room, like it's okay for the people that are lower enlisted to know more than you in certain things. Like I think there's this fear around social media, like leaders being more engaged on it, and I think that's hurting the force as a whole, because when there are trends and there are things that are happening, we're so slow to make the pivot because of just fear, and when you're fearful of something, you continue to draw back from it and you don't try to learn more about it. You know what's the quote about. Like you fear most what you don't understand.
And I think that, as leaders, if we try to better understand whether that's social media, try to better understand the lifestyle of someone that's a part of, let's say, the LGBTQ plus community, right, there wouldn't be as much fear. Or any other culture or any other lifestyle there wouldn't be as much fear. But when there's this well, I don't know what this is, I'll leave that to you guys, because that's y'all's generation. Well then, how are we supposed to better understand each other If it's always a that's your generation of military, this is my generation of military Like, we can't grow that way. Innovation can't grow that way. So for me it's one be intentional, but also don't be afraid to dabble in things and tap into things and do more research and things and ask questions for things that you don't know. That's the only way to grow, and there's no way we can keep telling people under us, hey, all growth happens outside of our comfort zone, but then we stay in our comfort zone once we hit a particular rank, like we have to go past that.
23:06 What makes a good leader and the things to look for when identifying
Mike Sarge That's a good one. What makes a good leader? Well, I'll start by saying it's clear that everyone looks for different things in their leaders. If anything, I feel like in a lot of cases, we end up looking for what we actually need the most. I've often found with me personally that the leaders that I've been drawn to or attracted to tend to be the ones that have things, skills, traits, et cetera, maybe experiences that I feel like I don't have, and so like for me, I think there's something to be said about. What makes a good leader is someone that pushes you. Like when you look at them, they're just like this shining example of like okay, I could get to another level. Like they motivate me just from afar. They motivate me to be my best self.
I think being a solid leader, a good leader, is also consistency, and we don't always talk about that piece about. A good leader is one that is consistent, and sometimes we don't give the proper, we don't give people their flowers for being consistent when we should Like the one leader that's always taking care of their soldiers or their airmen or their Marines or whatever we kind of just chalk it up to oh well, that's what they're supposed to do Okay, whatever you know, keep going. And then we don't really notice it until they have a bad day or they're in for like a week and they don't really talk to anyone. And then we're like, well, what's happening? What's going on with so-and-so, like what's going on? We really need to start showing more love and appreciation for people that come in day in, day out and they're just consistent.
And when I say consistent, I don't mean just the mission. Like there are some people that have a role within an office, like taking care of people is what they do. Like there are some that like their mission, mission, mission. They're consistent. I can lean on them. I know if there's something going on, they're going to let me know. They're going to come up with ideas that how we can fix it.
Cool, they're being consistent. We need to show love to them. We need to show love to those that take on the brunt of when people are having a bad day. They're normally the ones taking on that emotional load, and so consistency for me is a big thing. I will probably also say someone that makes a great leader and you've heard this before is someone that's just a learner, someone that just even when it doesn't make sense to them. They're like, hey, I don't get it, but I'm willing to learn, like I'm willing to keep standing by you until I get it. And that makes you feel great, like when you're the person under them, when you're someone that's working for a person like that, that, even if they don't know my lifestyle, even if they have never had my experiences or anything like that, to know that I still have an ally, I think that's a big deal. So those to me are kind of like traits and skills of someone that would consider a great leader.
27:15 Non-military leaders Mike Sarge admires and considers role models
Mike Sarge That's good Leaders that I look up to that are non-military. One of them is. One of them is athlete it's actually LeBron James one of them and it for me, it actually has nothing to do with basketball. It actually has everything to do with what he stands on and what he stands for. For me, let's see like he, let's see he was drafted in like 2003, 2004, around that time.
So what's interesting is, like me, being able to see him essentially as like a high school kid and then grow into a man and have his life on a platter for everyone to see, and for me to see him, like excelling his career and, outside of him, making a decision to change teams. He's never gotten in trouble Like, he's never been in trouble with the law. We've never seen him like in the news or for anything as small as like a DUI, like nothing. And that doesn't mean that, like as a leader, you have to be perfect by any stretch. But I think there's something to be said like, as we were talking about consistency, I think there's something to be said about like people that that do the right, do the right things and they don't cheat the game. They don't cheat like the system. They're, they're working hard and you can see their work and you can see their progression.
For me, one is one is him. Another, I probably say, is probably Denzel Washington. To be honest with you, the way that he carries himself, the way, even from a movie perspective, like versatility-wise, which always gives me this thought process of like hey, I want to be able to walk into any room and allow people to feel welcomed, to feel valued, to feel whatever Like. I value that immensely. The only other person I think of I know you said non-family, but mine, like my OG, is essentially like my grandmother, but she is.
Yeah, no, but she is because she, like, they're Depending on culture and things like that. Like, the matriarch is different, but within the black family, is the grandma, is that Madea figure? She represents a sense of like, strength and also, just, hey, a lot of people to be them. I think that it's easy to say. It's easy to say that, as a leader, yeah, I want everyone to be themselves until someone that has the personality that clashes with yours Is in the room.
It's something and the person hasn't done anything to you, they're just being themselves, and so, like, those three are probably at the top. They're tones that I'm missing, I'm sure, but like there are a bunch of people that, like there are small things that they do that I absolutely look up to.
31:37 When thinking of a movie image that depicts leadership, who or what comes to mind
Mike Sarge A movie image. Ooh, it's not the movie that I thought was going to come to mind, but I actually agree with it. So it's actually the pursuit of happiness with Will Smith. For those that haven't seen it, I definitely encourage you to watch that movie.
Yeah, because I also. The reason why I think that that movie is coming to my mind is because leadership You're a leader regardless of if people are under you or not. Like operating as a leader doesn't just turn on and turn off, because you've been set in charge of people. You know, something me and Kai have been pushing is that leadership is a lifestyle. It's something that when you walk into the building, you're doing and it's something that you're maintaining when you're out of the building.
And I think that movie showed me a lot because it the focus a lot. It focuses a lot on resilience. It focuses a lot on just mentality making it happen. You don't have all the resources to make it happen. The grind, yeah, just.
And also like never losing focus of your why. Because everyone's why is going to be different. Some people's why is just patriotism, other people's why is their families Understanding education, whatever that is for you within serving for our country. And that movie for me, I don't know. It just speaks volumes about character never quitting. And even we don't talk about this piece all the time, but even in the moments where you fail, because we don't want to talk about that. But that's also part of the journey. It's not just oh, I'm motivated, I'm going to do this thing, I'm going to go lose weight, I'm going to go do that. It's also the yeah, I cheated in my diet, I had multiple bags of chips, I haven't been at the gym for a week. Like it's also that piece, like all of that's part of the journey, and I think that movie encapsulated that as well. So, yeah, that's one that comes to my mind for sure when I think leadership.
34:17 Historical figure Mike Sarge identifies with
Mike Sarge Ooh, oh wait, no, no, I know the answer to this, believe it or not, it's. Oh my gosh, don't lose the name. Oh, so it's actually a biblical character. Actually it's Jonah. For people that don't know, the story long story short. Essentially in the story, god tells Jonah where he needs to go. Jonah is like God nah, I'm good, I'm good on that. He tries to run away, gets on a boat, tries to get as far away from the location as possible. He ends up going overboard, swallowed by a beast fish. Well, however, you want to fill in the blank, and he is in this beast for a while, and so at the end, he eventually ends up where he was trying to run away from.
But the reason why I connect the most with him is because there are moments in your life where you feel like you're not progressing, or you feel like you're not doing your purpose, or you're not reaching a goal or your New Year's resolutions, or you don't feel any closer to your degree, or you don't feel like you're being a good spouse or parent, or whatever it is. And the truth is, just because you're moving in small steps doesn't mean you're not moving, and just because you had a setback, I should say doesn't mean you're not going to reach it. It just means that you just need to recheck your focus. That's all that. That means I'd be lying if I said that I haven't had missteps in the way that I communicated to people, but I wasn't being maybe overly emotional or my own personal bias has gotten away. I'd be lying if I said that there were moments where I said I was going to do something and I just couldn't make it happen at no fault of me, it's just life happens.
And I think that, yeah, I resonate with that story so much because we often feel like we're engulfed by a whale or something, the beast that we call life, and we just think, oh well, that's it, why should I try anymore? I can't do this. When, truth be told, when you actually get to the destination, you're like how did I get here? So what? I actually end up telling people that I lead. When I do seminars, conferences, whatever is, you have to, as a leader, be OK with getting to your destination in a different way than you dreamed it. We got to be OK with that. So you mentioned sports, right.
I think right now everyone assumes you have to go through sports as far as professional. In a certain way You're going to be top high school player in the country, then you're going to go to a D1 college, then you're going to go pro. There are plenty of people that started at a D2, still found their way in the league. There are some people that went undrafted still made it in the league.
My point to people is it's OK to get to your destination in the way that's not how you planned, that's OK. I always thought that the way the things that I'm doing now I always thought it would look completely different, like completely different. But I'm here, I'm living my best life, I'm doing well for myself, but it in no way, shape or form, was in the way that I thought it was going to happen. Some people, for some people, it's a reality, especially if you're married trying to have kids. It's a reality that some people aren't able to have kids. That's a real thing, and they have to go through different means to make that happen.
And some end up adopting, and so it didn't end up looking how they wanted it, but the moment they accepted it, it was like no, I love this. This is what I always wanted, which was to be apparent, and so I just want people to be able to see that and know that and own that, that, even if it's not how you wanted it. What would you rather have? The thing that you always wanted or upset that? It's not the way that you wanted?
39:14 If there was a giant billboard with your picture and message on it for the world to see, where would you place the billboard and what would your message say
Mike Sarge What It would be my message. And where would it be? It's the. Where would it be? It's tricky. Where would I place that bad boy? Where would this message be? Okay, I got it.
So my message, my message would be you are enough.
Flaws, strengths, past, present, where it did don't matter, you're enough, you're built for it, even if your current situation don't look like it yet.
That will be my message and I feel like that's my life message when you're going through the bio and kind of mentioning, like, whether it's the bullying or scholastic things, that is my life and so I do my best to make sure that no one ever feels like they never believe the lie that they're not good enough. So and that kind of answers my question as far as, like, where it would be man, I will put it in front of every middle school and high school in America if possible, because that's really where it starts that loss of self, not believing itself, thinking that others are better than you or that you have to look a particular way or talk a particular way or hang with a particular group, or whatever it is, and which hurts people but also impacts them as adults, because there are adults right now that are still hurting from things that happened when they were in middle school and high school to this day, and so for me, that would be the message and where I'd place it.
42:11 Giving Flowers
Mike Sarge So if you're someone that's a non-social media person, let me start with you guys. First, non-social media people. I have a website. It's MikeSargecom Sarge is spelled S-A-R-G-E, mikesargecom. Just to learn about me, contact me if you want me to come out, speak, whatever it might be. If you are a person that is on social media, the best way to get a hold of me, I'd say, would be Instagram Same title Mike Space Sarge. I am on Instagram, I am on LinkedIn, I am on TikTok Basically really any platform that has social media on it. I am on Same thing with my music under the same name Mike Sarge. My music is inspirational.
So for those of you that have kids and you're like, I don't want to, I don't even cuss about music. So, yeah, there's that. And, honestly, if you're a military and you're interested in reaching out to me, I'm not that hard to find. It is tech sergeant. Well, don't type in Mike, because you won't find me. Michael Mannan, it'll probably say Michael Anthony. That's actually my full first name. So, yeah, I'm easy to find to reach out. I don't care what it is, I don't care if it's leadership focused, I don't care if it's diversity and inclusion focused. I'm here to just support regardless of branch, so if you need me, I'm here.
More resources from Mike Sarge:
Website: https://www.mikesarge.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mike_sarge/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CRE8FORCE
Books and People mentioned:
Kai Billings
LeBron James
Denzel Washington
Will Smith
Quote: “A Gift is not Gift unless it’s Given.”
My Links
Podcast: https://www.passingthetorchpod.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC04suOPTX3ny_M0aDxmBAXQ
X: https://twitter.com/pttorch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torchmartin/
More Learning:
Episode 28: Purple Heart Recipient CMSgt Ben Seekell – Your Capacity is Limitless
Episode 31: Todd Henry – Choose To Be Brave
Episode 35: Brook Cupps – Shaping Leaders On and Off The Court
Episode 41: Lee Ellis – Freeing You From Bond That Make You Insecure
