Name: James L. McCormick II

Title: Director of Military and Veteran Affairs

Organisation: Advanced Mobile Filtration Services in the United States

Born and raised in Scott Depot, West Virginia I enlisted in the Army at 17 years old and served 16 out of 22 years as an enlisted soldier before accepting a direct commission as a 2LT at the age of 34 years of age.

Serving in various roles from platoon leader to company commander in Armor, Air Defense Artillery and Logistics. I retried in 2009 as a Captain and my military awards include Silver Star, 3 Bronze Stars with "V", 3 Purple Hearts, 2 Meritorious Service Medals and four Army Commendation of which one was with "V" for combat heroism.

My civilian experience includes serving as a national level director for a major government contractor and my duties include recruiting, retention of veteran employees and also the Mid-Atlantic region for government subcontracting.

My volunteer positions include being elected as the National Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, USA.

National Director of Vets4Vet leadership which recruited and supported veterans running for political office.

I own and operate Raising Cane Farms Ministry Inc a National Non profit ministry recognized in 2012 for our efforts assisting hundreds of veterans with careers, counselling and being instrumental with other in starting the national veterans to agriculture movement.

I am married with 8 children and live in New Haven, WV with my wife Heather, 6 of our 8 children are adults and two are currently serving in the US Armed forces.

Civilian education: BA in Liberal Arts Thomas Edison State University, DD in Ministry and Christian counselling from Victory Bible College.

Civilian awards and accolades: Recipient of the Congressional medal of honor society selfless service medal, Jefferson Award-WV, US Steel Veteran Honors, Named 2022 Pittsburgh, PA Parade Marshall in the Annual Veterans Day Parade, Veteran of the Decade in the National Traumatic Brain Injury association 2020.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope James' answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

Personal conflicts among subordinates, this is a distractor and perhaps the most challenging issues we face as it drains, time and resources.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

As a teenager I joined the Civil Air Patrol at the age of 14, rising to the rank of Cadet Captain I found the most rewarding things in life is leadership and I set my goals for my future to work towards leadership opportunities.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

Wake up for me has always been early at or around 5:00 AM and as life evolved it moved to 06:30 which is managed by a 10:00 PM bedtime schedule that is adjusted by scheduling.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

I think mostly this revolves around the changes in Human Resources and regulatory compliance.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

For me it is the Bible and most importantly the book of Proverbs that has great guidance in life.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Do not let your ego or temper get the best of you, learn to breathe and step back and take a day to think before acting.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

My most impactful time was in combat and being wounded in an engagement and overcoming both physical pain and what appeared to be a lost effort and in spite of that we managed to overcome and win the battle and continue our mission.