The VMI Leader Journey Podcast

A Chronicle of the VMI Journey with First-Class President Cameron Cavanaugh

COVID, an investigation, loss... VMI's Class of 2023 has had a unique and 'wild ride,' according to First-Class President Cadet Cameron Cavanaugh. 
Join us for this discussion of the challenges they faced and some of their lessons learned. Said Cavanaugh, ‘You’re not going to get through it alone, and it’s not worth doing alone.’
We touch on his deep faith, gratitude, leadership style, and our annual leadership theme, the courage of convictions, that inspired him and other corps leaders to lead by example.
On behalf of my colleagues at the Center, I hope you will enjoy learning more about Cameron Cavanaugh and the Class of 2023 as they conclude their VMI leader journey. 

Cadets of Character Then and Now: Perspectives with Retired Public Affairs Officer Col. Rick Kiernan, ’66

*Video Podcast Episode*
Retired Col. Rick Kiernan, VMI Class of 1966, shares his insights on the longstanding tradition of graduating cadets of character from the Institute. He discusses the media's propensity for negativity,  the importance of context in any story or discussion, and his thoughts on leadership as an iterative process.
"And I think the character of the men and women that come out of the school today are certainly as good as when we were cadets. It just epitomizes itself. And I'm so very proud, too, to look at the young graduates that we have today," said Kiernan.
Kiernan's career has seen many historical events and periods. Kiernan continues serving veterans as a Desert Shield/Desert Storm Memorial consultant. He is a very active mentor and loves recruiting youth for ROTC or attending his beloved alma mater, Virginia Military Institute. Kiernan is a decorated veteran and has worked in public affairs for the government/military, non-profit, and business sectors and internationally.

Ethics in Entrepreneurship with Erika Cheung

If the name Erika Cheung sounds familiar, it may be because you followed the rise and fall of the multi-billing-dollar tech startup company Theranos. Cheung was a whistleblower in that case who came forward to raise concerns over its lab practices, ultimately opting to separate herself from the company due to medical ethics violations. Nowadays, she helps other tech startup companies build out their organizations with ethics in mind from the get-go.
During our interview, we examined some of the ethical issues and lessons learned in the Theranos case, how she is building the need for startup tech firms to build out ethical considerations in their businesses from the ground up, and creating a repository of both solution providers and case studies for her nonprofit Ethics in Entrepreneurship where she is the CEO. We hope you enjoy hearing her insights from the Theranos case and how she exercised 'the Courage of Convictions, ' our 2022-23  leadership theme at the VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics.
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Rat Line Lessons and the Value of Self-Reflection: An In-Depth Interview with 2nd Lt. Derek Shockey, ’22

2022 first battalion executive officer and international studies major 2nd Lt. Derek Shockey is interning at the center through October 10th and making major contributions to three of the active learning sessions for the Annual Leadership Conference titled "Principled Dissent: Navigating Moral Challenges." His academic research for his national security and Asian studies minor was great preparation for the work he's doing, which we will discuss during this interview. We will also talk in-depth about how his rat year focus, which for every cadet is on followership, became a foundation for his leadership journey at VMI.  More specifically, learning how to be a courageous follower. We will hear about an incident that involved a leadership failure and how he recovered from that to become the First Class battalion executive officer and now an assistant tactical officer advising and supporting the 2023 First Class officers. Shockey does a great job relating his own personal journey to the VMI's prescribed leadership development journey. During our conversation, you'll hear some great insights on the differences and learning outcomes, too, of pursuing leadership opportunities in both the class and regimental systems at VMI. In short, it's a powerful interview full of leadership insights and a preview of the center's programming for the upcoming academic year. This interview and our conversation are part of the center's year-long look at "The Courage of Convictions." For more information, please visit our VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics departmental website.

Seth McRoberts and Ryan Cooper, ’22: Making a Lasting Impact

I’m Maj. Catherine Roy, your host for this episode titled “Making a Lasting Impact.” With me are VMI Class of 2022 and newly commissioned Army officers Seth McRoberts and Ryan Cooper.
McRoberts was a platoon leader for Charlie company, an English major, a member of the triathlon club, and cadet-in-charge (or CIC) for the Center’s Cadet-Superintendent’s Advisory Board (or CSAB) – a diverse group of cadets who volunteer their time to make recommendations on improvements to processes or policies affecting cadet life.
Cooper is an economics and business major, former captain of the NCAA Swim & Dive Team, and served with McRoberts as the assistant cadet-in-charge or ACIC for CSAB.
Both served as leadership conference table group facilitators. This volunteer role, an important factor in the success of our Annual Leadership Conference, requires pre-conference training that includes research on reading assignments on the conference theme and topics and attending training sessions.
Cadets who work as facilitators are responsible for leading the table group discussions. They learn how to handle a variety of communications styles, exercise critical thinking to challenge some of the feedback, and encourage everyone’s participation for a more valuable conference guest experience.  
During today’s conversation, you will hear about the projects they worked on and how they used their time at VMI to make a lasting impact, now and in the future.  
We hope you enjoy this episode. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and help us by sharing this episode. We’d love to hear from you, so feel free to leave us a note in the comments! Now, let’s listen in.

Solution-Focused Leadership with Former CIA and FBI Operations Agent Tracy Walder

Our guest is former CIA & FBI Operations Agent Tracy Walder. She is also the author of The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World’s Most Notorious Terrorists.  Maj. Catherine Roy, communications and marketing specialist for the Center, got to meet Ms. Walder during her visit to VMI for our third Courageous Leaders Speaker event for 2022. Here is the link to her talk on our YouTube Channel.
During our conversation, we discussed her experiences working in the male-dominated world of national security, her leadership competencies, and how she was able to take hold of her own destiny through perseverance, determination, and education. She now devotes her time to being an upstander for women and gender equality in the workplace through her work as a high school teacher, college professor, and board member.  She writes curriculum and uses her voice to inspire many young women to work in national security careers.
I hope today’s episode will inspire you to face circumstances and challenges, as our title suggests, with a solution-focused mindset.
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Be Vigilant with Scott Spellmeyer, ’90 and Col. Justin Sapp, ’94

Both Scott Spellmeyer, VMI Class of 1990, and Col. Justin Sapp, VMI Class of 1994, were part of Team Alpha, the first U.S. Mission behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Other panelists included Dave Tyson, linguist and CIA agent for the mission, and Toby Harndon, author of First Casualty, his book detailing the historical account.
You can watch the panel discussion on our YouTube channel.
During the panel discussions Sapp said to the audience, ‘I was just six or seven years out of VMI graduation and I was faced with this mission assigned to Team Alpha.’ He told the cadets, ‘Be vigilant. You guys are the vanguards of the United States.’
Join us for this episode of the VMI Leader Journey titled 'Be Vigilant!

Teaching Inclusivity Challenged Me to Live It with Chief Diversity Officer, Lt. Col. Jamica Love, Ph.D.

Lt. Col. Jamica Love has her Ph.D. in psychology and has worked in higher education for about 20 years. When I asked her what inspired her to use her talents as a diversity officer, she shared with me the story of her career journey where she began to specialize in DEI over the last 12 years.  Said Love, “I didn’t just want to teach people about something that I wasn’t actually living out.”
During our conversation, you will learn how she has challenged herself to seek out opportunities to connect in diverse settings, to incorporate feedback in her programming, and to her one-word approach for teaching diversity, equity, and inclusion at VMI. Dr. Love is a citizen leader!
We hope you enjoy this episode. Connect with us and tell us what you think!