Members of our military’s special forces are tough, disciplined, and they embody the heroic instincts and learned skills that keep the rest of us safe.
The Navy SEALs are a major part of these elite teams and have much to teach regarding leadership, teamwork, smarts, and a ton of bravery and guts.
Recent books such as such as Lone Survivor and American Sniper have communicated these lessons well. Even the film versions have earned acclaim for telling the story in a heartfelt way without over-the-top and cringe-worthy caricatures of SEALs often featured in war movies.
A newly-released book, coauthored by former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb and our own John David Mann, AMONG HEROES: A U.S. Navy SEAL’s True Story of Friendship, Heroism, And the Ultimate Sacrifice shared some deeply personal stories based on Webb’s relationships with a number of his fellow SEALs who’ve all had their lives cut tragically short.
Webb and Mann already wrote one New York Times bestselling book together regarding the world’s most elite sniper corps. The Red Circle explored how Webb, after serving in the first SEAL team to hit the ground in Afghanistan following 9/11, went on to become Course Master of the legendary SEAL sniper school that trained Marcus Luttrell, Chris Kyle, and many others.
You’ll recognize a number of names of Brandon Webb’s heroic friends in the book, such as his best friend, Glen Dougherty who, along with Ty Woods were killed while attempting to rescue Ambassador Chris Stevens and others at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi in 2012.
There’s Matt “Axe” Axelson, from the ill-fated Lone Survivor mission; several members of the famous SEAL Team Six who died tragically in the August 2011 crash of a helicopter in Afghanistan, and of course Chris Kyle, outsized Texan and author of American Sniper.
You’ll also meet and learn of a number of others; all different in shape, size, natural ability and more, but all very much the same when it came to those attributes which make for a very special brand of mastery and achievement.
In this chat with coauthor John David Mann we’ll look at some of the powerful lessons he learned about about life, excellence, and genuine success from Brandon and the SEALs including…
- Why mental toughness is even more important for a Navy SEAL than physical toughness
- Why Special Ops forces such as the SEALS are the entrepreneurs of an otherwise very corporate-culture military, and what that means
- How the Navy SEALs define Wolves, Sheep, and Sheepdogs
- Surprising insights from the family members of the loved ones they lost
Also, and I found this to be especially interesting…
- What it’s like being in business with a Navy SEAL — what John learned by watching how Brandon thinks, makes decisions, takes risks, and conducts himself on the sometimes-hazardous field of business.
Enjoy our chat!
If you think the discussion with John was fascinating, just wait until you read the book. AMONG HEROES is available online and at bookstores nationwide.
To donate to Brandon’s Red Circle Foundation, which he started to assist the families of fallen heroes, visit RedCircleFoundation.org
TECHNICAL NOTE: If you are having trouble playing the interview, please make sure Adobe Flash Player is installed in your web browser. If not, then download Flash Player. Or right-click here and select “Save Link As…” to download the audio file to your computer.
Enjoy this post? Receive an update when our next post is published by entering your best email address below and clicking Get Updates.
A great interview. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Patricia: My honor and pleasure to do so. Thank YOU.
I was surprised to learn about the focus of this book (I am ordering it as soon as I finish this post) Very interesting to learn about wolves, sheeps and sheepdogos. And I want to take a moment and express my heartfelt gratitude to all the sheepdogs. I also really enjoyed the discussion about the interviews with the families, friends and more. I was trying to imagine doing that and I think I would have had a tough time with that. But it was done and to learn how some of the parent are so supportive of the team mates. Really something. I enjoyed this very much. Thank you Bob and John
John: Thank YOU. So glad you enjoyed it. And, ditto on gratitude to the sheepdogs!
Hi Bob,
I’ve read other books from and about Navy SEALs, thank you for making me aware of another! Love the interview, I’m looking forward to reading it now. In fact I just picked it up on Amazon.
John David has such a great last name, right?!
Thanks again,
Robb Mann
Rob: My pleasure and honor to be able to do so. Very glad to know you enjoyed the interview. Yes, you’ll love the book! And, indeed…John David does have a great last name! LOL