Army Colonel Dave Butler joins Joe to discuss communication for leaders in today’s information environment. This episode is a must-listen for leaders at all levels because Dave and Joe tackle the delicate dance military leaders must perform on social media, navigating the fine line between engagement and overexposure. Dave and Joe also discuss:
- The pitfalls of social media engagement
- Why senior military leaders have glass jaws
- What to do if internal memos and emails spill into the public domain
- The power of relationships
- Why leaders need to keep repeating themselves
- Tips for being an effective staff officer
- A lot of great book recommendations on communication to include Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less
- …and much more!
Click here to listen to the episode
Meet Dave
Dave Butler has been a close advisor to Joint Force leaders for several years. Much of his early career as a communicator was with special operations, where he served as a comms guy for an Army Special Mission unit and the Joint Special Operations Command. He came out of the shadows in 2018 when he became the chief communicator and spokesperson for US and NATO Forces in Afghanistan. After that, he served as an advisor and spokesperson for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and now serves as an Advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Army. Before switching to communications, he was an Infantryman, with his time culminating as a company commander in Iraq. He has received numerous awards and graduated from several military schools. He earned a graduate degree from North Carolina State University and attended a fellowship at Duke.
He’s a proud Long Islander, married with two kids (14 and 17) and a German Shepherd.
Special thanks to this week’s sponsors!
Veteran-founded Adyton. Connect Leadership With Action Across Distributed Formations With Mustr by Adyton. Mustr is your digital knife-hand for daily and rapid personnel accountability, real time response data visibility, and automated reporting. Learn more about what Mustr can do for your formation here!
My favorite coffee is veteran-owned Alpha Coffee and I’ve been drinking it every morning since 2020! They make 100% premium arabica coffee. Alpha has donated over 22k bags of coffee to deployed units and they offer a 10% discount for military veterans, first responders, nurses, and teachers! Try their coffee today. Once you taste the Alpha difference, you won’t want to drink anything else! Learn more here.
