A candid journey from migrant fields to SEAL teams and CIA, framed by a simple code: be honest and be fair. We explore how elite performance runs on boring discipline, why family carries the heaviest cost, and how purpose survives after the uniform comes off.

• Early life shaped by work, community support, and scarce resources
• Enlisting at 17 and discovering the SEAL path
• BUD/S attrition, mindset, and the value of preparation
• Post‑9/11 CIA work and human stakes of freedom
• 7‑Eleven as a symbol of way of life
• Family sacrifice, stability, and the decision to come home
• Finding purpose after service through writing and mentorship
• Elite standards: discipline, accountability, preparation
• Personal code built on honesty and fairness
• Where to find Tip of the Spear and how to engage

Tip of the Spear is available anywhere books are sold online. Visit tipofthespearbook.com for links and more.

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We share a personal pivot toward executive coaching sparked by a powerful story of success without center and outline a practical path to realignment. We introduce the C4 foundation—character, confidence, creativity, and community—and invite leaders to walk back to center.

• why achievement without alignment breeds drift
• the Arthur Brooks moment as a mirror for purpose
• the move from pastor to executive coach
• the C4 foundation: character as anchor
• confidence as internal compass
• creativity as unique voice, not copy-paste
• community as the better flock
• coaching as strategic partnership and 30,000-foot view
• how future interviews will focus on staying centered
• invitation to connect for intensives or ongoing coaching

We’re going to put my email address in the notes. If you’d like to have further conversation about what that might look like, whether half day intensive or maybe for a couple of months walking a path together, I’d love to talk to you about that: pietvanwaarde@gmail.com

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We explore how spiritual growth moves from private devotion to public responsibility as Amy O’Donnell steps from communications director to executive director at Texas Alliance for Life. She shares hard-won lessons on delegation, media pressure, authentic voice, and the rhythms that keep leaders healthy.

• shifting from church-centered growth to action in the public square
• media training before Dobbs and navigating intense interviews
• building thick skin while keeping empathy for people
• moving from second chair to first chair leadership
• delegating authority, setting accountability, raising morale
• Navy SEAL lessons on discipline and honest self-audit
• finding a new leadership voice after a founder
• using AI as a refining tool, not an origin
• non-sectarian bridge-building across faith communities
• people as the why: donors, families, mothers, and children
• recovery and healing resources after abortion
• rhythms of run and rest to prevent burnout

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