Mike Jones on Joining the Army, Going to War, PTSD, Leadership & Having a Never Quit Mindset (#018)

In this episode of the Pocket Mastermind Podcast I spoke with Mike Jones. Mike is a former British Army Soldier and founder of Leadership By Inspiration.

Mike has an incredible story which starts with him being told he was too fat to join the British Army. He didn't accept that and following a four-month diet and exercise routine he successfully enrolled and became part of the British invasion force that crossed the border on day one of the Iraq War in 2003. He then moved into a role working for the British Government that saw him on constant operational duty for a number of years. His passion for leadership developed and he subsequently held two training positions. The first was training new recruits at ATC Pirbright and the second was training new Officers at the world-famous Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

When the Sandhurst assignment came to an end, life became challenging for Mike. The army had changed and he wanted more. Mike had developed an interest for psychology and wanted to pursue it further. He'd been reading and teaching himself but he wanted to go and study at University. However, leaving school with few qualifications, and with army politics, that wasn't going to be easy. Throw PTSD into the mix and you get an incredible story of vulnerability and determination.

Eventually the symptoms of PTSD became too much and after a number of appeal for help, Mike was discharged from the Army on medical grounds. Everything he knew was gone. It was time to start again.

Mike's incredible character shone through again an in the past two years he has growth his business that he start with a few hundred pounds to working with national a multi-national organisations where he helps develop their leadership and culture. 

Strap yourself in for this incredible story. Thank you to Mike for being so open.