---
title: "Episode #223: From Iraq to EOS: Why Every Leader Needs a Coaching Team with Hark Herold"
description: Discover how retired Air Force Colonel Hark Herold's military leadership shapes his approach to business and the importance of coaching with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).
image: https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/Podcast/Episodes/Hark-Herold-R-2.jpg
---

[![Allies4me](https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Allies4me_May2022/images/logo.svg "Allies4me")](https://allies4me.com/)

Menu

- [Home](https://allies4me.com/)
- [Grow](https://allies4me.com/grow/) 
    - [Financial Advisors](https://allies4me.com/grow/financial-advisors/)
    - [Foundations Courses](https://hub.allies4me.com/courses/course-signup/)
- [Podcast](https://allies4me.com/podcast/) 
    - [Have Craig Speak at Your Event](https://hub.allies4me.com/lp/speak/)
    - [Be a Guest](https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/)
- [Get Started](https://allies4me.com/get-started/) 
    - [Have Craig Speak at Your Event](https://hub.allies4me.com/lp/speak/)
    - [Community](https://allies4me.com/about/community/)
- [Downloads](https://allies4me.com/downloads/)

## Episode #223: From Iraq to EOS: Why Every Leader Needs a Coaching Team with Hark Herold

September 8, 2025 by [Craig Andrews](https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/author/craig-andrews)

<https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold> <http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold> <https://twitter.com/home?status=Episode%20#223:%20From%20Iraq%20to%20EOS:%20Why%20Every%20Leader%20Needs%20a%20Coaching%20Team%20with%20Hark%20Herold+https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold> <https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold&linkname=Episode%20#223:%20From%20Iraq%20to%20EOS:%20Why%20Every%20Leader%20Needs%20a%20Coaching%20Team%20with%20Hark%20Herold> <https://www.addtoany.com/share.php?u=https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold>

Hark Herold brings three decades of military precision to the entrepreneurial world. As a retired U.S. Air Force colonel turned EOS implementer, Hark shares how his leadership experience in high-stakes environments—from serving in Desert Storm to overseeing base recovery during rocket attacks in Iraq —shaped his approach to business.

Now, he empowers small and medium-sized businesses to build clarity, cohesion, and execution with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). In this episode, Hark explains why leadership alignment is non-negotiable, how ego can cripple growth, and what it means to have the “right people in the right seats.” He also highlights resources available for veteran-owned businesses and shares why coaching is essential, even when all the tools are already at your fingertips.

Want to learn more about Hark Herold's work? Check out their website at [https://www.eosworldwide.com/hark-herold](https://www.eosworldwide.com/hark-herold).

Connect with Hark Herold on LinkedIn at [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeharkherold/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeharkherold/).

## Key Points & Timestamps

- **01:00** — Introducing Hark Herold: Air Force colonel and EOS implementer
- **02:20** — Hark’s military entry and Desert Storm experience
- **06:00** — Bouncing across Air Force roles and managing diverse teams
- **07:15** — Base recovery leadership during rocket attacks in Iraq
- **10:00** — Problem-solving under fire: improving base clearance operations
- **11:00** — Transition to civilian life and avoiding defense contracting
- **12:00** — Supporting veteran-owned businesses and incubators
- **14:00** — How Hark discovered EOS through Bunker Labs
- **15:00** — What is EOS? Vision, Traction, and Healthy Teams
- **17:00** — Why coaching matters more than just reading the book
- **20:00** — Accountability at all levels of leadership
- **22:00** — Matching the right coach with the right team
- **23:00** — EOS concepts: vision, right seats, and tough people decisions
- **25:00** — The “36 hours of pain” in leadership decisions
- **26:00** — Veteran business resources most vets don’t know about
- **28:00** — How to reach Hark and get support for veteran-led startups

## Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;30;20  
Craig Andrews  
I was in a coma for six weeks while the doctors told my wife I was going to die. When I woke up, she told me the most fantastic story. My team kept running the business without me. Freelancers reached out to my team and said, we will do whatever it takes. As long as Craig's in the hospital. I consider that the greatest accomplishment in my career.

00;00;30;23 - 00;00;51;10  
Craig Andrews  
My name is Craig Andrews and this is the Leaders and Legacies podcast where we talk to leaders creating an impact beyond themselves. At the end of today's interview, I'll tell you how you can be the next leader featured on this show.

00;00;51;10 - 00;01;22;05  
Craig Andrews  
Today I will welcome Hark Herold. He is a retired US Air Force colonel and a professional EOS implementer. He helps entrepreneurial leadership teams gain clarity, traction and results. He brings over 30 years of combined military and business leadership experience, empowers organizations to grow strategically and operate with discipline, vision and purpose. Hark, welcome.

00;01;22;08 - 00;01;23;28  
Hark Herold  
Thanks, Craig. How are you doing today?

00;01;24;00 - 00;01;27;25  
Craig Andrews  
I'm doing great. I'm doing great. The,

00;01;27;25 - 00;01;33;27  
Craig Andrews  
So it's always good to have a veteran on, you know, and I, I was guessing years ago, I was,

00;01;33;27 - 00;01;47;01  
Craig Andrews  
Well, a couple years ago, I was guesting on a podcast run by another event, and it was funny. He said it was a live show, and he told me after we were done, he was like, you know, he said there were people messaging me in the chat.

00;01;47;01 - 00;02;01;12  
Craig Andrews  
If you all knew each other. And and he was like, no, no, we just met. But, you know, it's it's a unique community that absolutely. Yeah. I,

00;02;01;12 - 00;02;04;13  
Craig Andrews  
I was in during mostly peaceful times.

00;02;04;13 - 00;02;14;02  
Craig Andrews  
You know, we had the first Gulf War when I was in, but I was deployed to Japan, and they decided to keep us over there and keep North Korea in check.

00;02;14;04 - 00;02;20;14  
Craig Andrews  
But you I mean, certainly you got in some dust up somewhere.

00;02;20;17 - 00;02;21;11  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. So,

00;02;21;11 - 00;02;26;15  
Hark Herold  
so I was also in I. So I was commissioned in 1989,

00;02;26;15 - 00;02;30;24  
Hark Herold  
and went over to Saudi for Desert Shield Desert Storm.

00;02;30;24 - 00;02;35;06  
Hark Herold  
And, that was cool. Was the second lieutenant that was very,

00;02;35;06 - 00;02;50;25  
Hark Herold  
a unique experience to be able to see all of that. And we were at a, revealing wing base in Saudi, where on the night the air were kicked off, we had 99 air refueling jets on the ground getting ready to go out on missions,

00;02;50;25 - 00;02;54;07  
Hark Herold  
which was just incredible.

00;02;54;10 - 00;02;56;09  
Hark Herold  
That so that.

00;02;56;09 - 00;03;04;07  
Craig Andrews  
Quick, quick question, how long before the strikes did you know when the strikes were happening?

00;03;04;09 - 00;03;26;01  
Hark Herold  
That day, I mean, when we did the mission brief for the flights, like, hey, it's a go, like, okay, bring everybody in, do all the mission briefs, you get all the air crews in the in the theater and the Intel, and then and all the flight routes and all the deconfliction and. Yeah. So, I mean, it's been planned forever, right?

00;03;26;01 - 00;03;36;15  
Hark Herold  
I mean, not forever, but, you know, been planning towards it, but then the goal was, okay, you know, tomorrow's tomorrow's the the day or the night. Okay.

00;03;36;18 - 00;04;00;10  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. Yeah. Because I remember a lot of night missions. We were using air, you know, taking every advantage we had and flying at night. Yeah. You know, it's funny, I, you know, I see the TV shows, and I have people, you know, the TV shows are like, hey, I've got clearance. You can read me in and people ask me about that, like, yeah, that's not how it works.

00;04;00;12 - 00;04;06;28  
Hark Herold  
No need to know is the the key criteria. Do you need to know.

00;04;07;01 - 00;04;24;12  
Craig Andrews  
Well and there's you know I think there's a I think there's an application for civilian life. You know, people love gossip. And there be times where I'll stop somebody. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't want to know this because I don't want to be responsible for this information.

00;04;24;15 - 00;04;46;12  
Hark Herold  
Yeah, well, and in in the classified world, a lot of things are classified because we know we are going to do that. If you didn't read it from a classified source that said, in the event of this happening, this is what we're going to do. If you just guessed, you made a logical assumption that, hey, if this happens, we're going to do this.

00;04;46;15 - 00;04;57;25  
Hark Herold  
That's not classified. Once you know for sure, because you've read the plans, because one of my things was, there's a plans, officer now, you can't talk about it because now it's classified. Because, you know, it's classified.

00;04;57;27 - 00;05;14;17  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah, yeah. It's just kind of a burden. I mean, I remember when I got out, I, I did some active mental exercises to try to actively forget the things I knew because I just didn't want to be responsible for slipping.

00;05;14;20 - 00;05;18;12  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. Yeah.

00;05;18;14 - 00;05;26;24  
Craig Andrews  
Now, the crazy thing was, I could go to the library, pull the Janes and things that if I said, am I go to jail there? Just sit there printed in jeans.

00;05;26;26 - 00;05;28;15  
Hark Herold  
Correct?

00;05;28;17 - 00;05;35;21  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. Correct. So what were you doing? What was your role in the Air Force?

00;05;35;23 - 00;05;59;13  
Hark Herold  
So I couldn't keep a career field, so I switched around, which is not a normal career. Normally, you have a specialty, and you, quote unquote, grow up in that specialty, whether it's Intel or, you know, for pilots or whether it's, cyber it or whatever, you kind of stay in that career field, your, your, your career path while you're in.

00;05;59;15 - 00;06;00;25  
Hark Herold  
I switched I did,

00;06;00;25 - 00;06;12;21  
Hark Herold  
ran a 24 seven command center. Did some exec work. I did assignments, I was in calm before it was cyber. Then I was in cyber.

00;06;12;21 - 00;06;15;14  
Hark Herold  
My deployed command was civil engineering.

00;06;15;14 - 00;06;20;28  
Hark Herold  
Six and a half years at the Pentagon. So I. People are like, hey, I want to have a successful career.

00;06;20;29 - 00;06;31;03  
Hark Herold  
And I'm like, don't do what I did, because that's unusual to bounce around like that and be able to have a successful career. Yeah. Yeah.

00;06;31;03 - 00;06;33;05  
Craig Andrews  
So he did all right.

00;06;33;08 - 00;06;40;09  
Hark Herold  
Yeah, I did, but I wouldn't recommend that's that's not if somebody I would not recommend they go that path.

00;06;40;11 - 00;06;51;11  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. Yeah. Now at one point you mentioned that you were responsible for base recovery.

00;06;51;14 - 00;06;52;08  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. So,

00;06;52;08 - 00;07;02;18  
Hark Herold  
my deployed commanders, civil engineer squadron. So for those who don't know, a civil engineer, squadrons kind of like a Department of Public Works at plumbers, carpenters, Hvac,

00;07;02;18 - 00;07;12;06  
Hark Herold  
heavy equipment operators. But we also have fire fighters and explosive ordnance disposal in the civil engineer squadron in the Air Force.

00;07;12;06 - 00;07;13;27  
Hark Herold  
And so when I was deployed

00;07;13;27 - 00;07;15;07  
Hark Herold  
to Iraq for,

00;07;15;07 - 00;07;22;12  
Hark Herold  
Operation Iraqi Freedom, you know, in oh six and, and in oh eight,

00;07;22;12 - 00;07;28;22  
Hark Herold  
as the civil engineer commander, we are I am accountable for getting the base up and running after a rocket attack.

00;07;28;22 - 00;07;49;00  
Hark Herold  
So we would have rocket attacks on the base. It would shut everything down. My job as the civil engineer squadron commander was to send out our explosive ordnance disposal folks, the firefighter folks, as necessary, and whoever else to make sure that the base was safe. And the and we were

00;07;49;00 - 00;07;53;14  
Hark Herold  
an F-16 base. So we had to make sure the runway was able to be used.

00;07;53;14 - 00;07;56;00  
Hark Herold  
It hadn't been damaged in the attack.

00;07;56;00 - 00;08;14;04  
Hark Herold  
And then any, any unexploded ordnance had been saved. So anyway, so yeah. So I'm accountable for for getting the base up and running, making sure my folks have everything they need so that they can make it safe and we can resume operations.

00;08;14;06 - 00;08;15;29  
Craig Andrews  
So in terms of the incoming,

00;08;15;29 - 00;08;19;10  
Craig Andrews  
how often do the bombs not go boom?

00;08;19;12 - 00;08;21;11  
Hark Herold  
Well, where we were,

00;08;21;11 - 00;08;23;10  
Hark Herold  
in in northern Iraq,

00;08;23;10 - 00;08;30;20  
Hark Herold  
they were using makeshift and leftover stuff. It wasn't it wasn't high quality off the shelf.

00;08;30;20 - 00;08;31;25  
Hark Herold  
The munitions,

00;08;31;25 - 00;08;44;13  
Hark Herold  
that they were shooting. It was whatever they could get. So it was not unusual for if there was a rocket attack on the base for there to it, it not to go off.

00;08;44;19 - 00;08;55;02  
Hark Herold  
It was it wasn't a rare occurrence. Most of the time they did, but sometimes they didn't. In which case, now you have unexploded ordnance that can go off at any time.

00;08;55;05 - 00;09;06;01  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. What did you find challenging in that, in that role?

00;09;06;04 - 00;09;08;27  
Hark Herold  
Well, so like we had we had an occasion where,

00;09;08;27 - 00;09;27;22  
Hark Herold  
we had a rocket attack and it took with what felt like a really long time for my folks to do what they needed to do, because they had to go out and do a grid search to find the unexploded ordnance. That's at night, of course. Right. So it's at night.

00;09;27;24 - 00;09;36;14  
Hark Herold  
They're out doing a grid search because you don't just want to drive willy nilly out there where you think it landed. And so it's just a laborious, slow process.

00;09;36;14 - 00;09;44;17  
Hark Herold  
And all of that time, the base is shut down. And so everybody else wants to get moving and they want to resume activities.

00;09;44;17 - 00;09;52;16  
Hark Herold  
But our rules of engagement at the time were that everybody was locked down until we, we had a completely safe.

00;09;52;18 - 00;09;57;00  
Hark Herold  
And so, you know, we got the feedback that we needed to change that. So,

00;09;57;00 - 00;10;16;08  
Hark Herold  
get my, my EOD folks, my firefighter folks and some of the other key people on the team together and, you know, got their inputs. We brainstormed how do we reduce this time? What can we do? And so we then, you know, came up with with well, they came up with some different options and how we could do that.

00;10;16;10 - 00;10;20;02  
Hark Herold  
Right. So got their inputs. Let them see it.

00;10;20;02 - 00;10;27;24  
Hark Herold  
And then made a decision on okay, these are the steps we're going to take going forward to reduce the time that the bases is closed, basically.

00;10;27;24 - 00;10;36;11  
Hark Herold  
And because they were all involved in the decision making, the key people, even if we didn't do what they had wanted, they they'd seen it, they understood it.

00;10;36;12 - 00;10;42;04  
Hark Herold  
And so then we were able to implement these new procedures to, to get the base up and running more quickly.

00;10;42;07 - 00;10;43;27  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah.

00;10;43;27 - 00;10;50;12  
Craig Andrews  
And where what where were you? What bases were you that you had incoming like that?

00;10;50;14 - 00;10;55;13  
Hark Herold  
Kirkuk, Iraq, the northern Iraq?

00;10;55;15 - 00;11;02;06  
Craig Andrews  
Well. So when did you get out of the Air Force?

00;11;02;09 - 00;11;02;24  
Hark Herold  
So,

00;11;02;24 - 00;11;08;27  
Hark Herold  
I was able to I retired in September of 2017.

00;11;08;29 - 00;11;11;04  
Craig Andrews  
Oh, wow. So it's been four years.

00;11;11;07 - 00;11;30;19  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. So I was I was at the Pentagon and I'd been there for a while and was able to get my last assignment at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs to help set up the Air Force's cyber innovation center there. So that was my last assignment. And so that's when we we came to Colorado, and that's where I've stayed.

00;11;30;21 - 00;11;37;07  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. And did you jump straight into EOS after that?

00;11;37;09 - 00;11;45;11  
Hark Herold  
No. So when I, when I left the military, I didn't want to go work for Raytheon or Lockheed or whoever.

00;11;45;11 - 00;11;46;21  
Hark Herold  
Even though I had my,

00;11;46;21 - 00;11;48;15  
Hark Herold  
you know, my appropriate

00;11;48;15 - 00;11;56;00  
Hark Herold  
I was eligible for top secret CIA, and, I mean, all those things that they like. And I was coming out of a cyber AFC.

00;11;56;00 - 00;11;59;00  
Hark Herold  
But I didn't want to go do that.

00;11;59;02 - 00;12;07;03  
Hark Herold  
I had done some corporate stuff previously and wanted to work with small businesses. So I started in the Denver area,

00;12;07;03 - 00;12;11;13  
Hark Herold  
running an incubator for veteran and military spouse owned businesses.

00;12;11;13 - 00;12;16;16  
Hark Herold  
And so was, was helping to, to run that, that incubator.

00;12;16;16 - 00;12;23;14  
Hark Herold  
And then just got further, further and further involved with veteran and military spouses, owned businesses.

00;12;23;17 - 00;12;35;08  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. Well, one of the things that you told me was you're not interested in any business outside the Denver area unless it's a veteran.

00;12;35;10 - 00;12;38;03  
Hark Herold  
Well, I'm interested, I'm willing to help people, but,

00;12;38;03 - 00;12;40;15  
Hark Herold  
from a client perspective,

00;12;40;15 - 00;12;52;11  
Hark Herold  
yeah. I'm at the point where I don't really want to travel a lot, and I was. I've done that previously. And so I'm looking for my client base to be pretty much along the Front Range.

00;12;52;11 - 00;12;55;00  
Hark Herold  
But I make exceptions for veteran,

00;12;55;00 - 00;12;57;22  
Hark Herold  
veteran owned or veteran affiliated businesses.

00;12;57;22 - 00;12;59;12  
Hark Herold  
Two of my clients

00;12;59;12 - 00;13;12;11  
Hark Herold  
are veterans. So one is the Pat Tillman Foundation as a client. Yep. And another one is the National Veteran Owned Business Association, which certifies businesses as being veteran owned for the private sector.

00;13;12;11 - 00;13;20;03  
Hark Herold  
And so those are two of my travel clients. Otherwise, I pretty much confine myself along the Front Range.

00;13;20;05 - 00;13;24;04  
Craig Andrews  
Well, I think it just struck me that obviously you have a lot of,

00;13;24;04 - 00;13;29;15  
Craig Andrews  
kinship and affection for veterans, that that would be your one exception.

00;13;29;17 - 00;13;46;11  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. And and so that's what I'm willing to do. But if you have listeners who are not in, you know, that area. What I do as an iOS implementer, and we'll talk a little bit that there is we're there's 800 around the globe. So,

00;13;46;11 - 00;13;53;21  
Hark Herold  
if you're interested in what we talk about when we talk about that aspect, I can connect you with local resources.

00;13;53;23 - 00;13;58;17  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. And so how did you when did you eventually get involved in iOS?

00;13;58;19 - 00;13;59;12  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. So,

00;13;59;12 - 00;14;02;08  
Hark Herold  
so I was I was volunteering, running that,

00;14;02;08 - 00;14;09;05  
Hark Herold  
incubator for veteran military spouses on businesses, a national nonprofit called Bunker Labs.

00;14;09;05 - 00;14;11;28  
Hark Herold  
Was doing other things, helping,

00;14;11;28 - 00;14;18;08  
Hark Herold  
veteran military spouses, owned businesses. And so they knew what we were doing in Denver.

00;14;18;08 - 00;14;23;06  
Hark Herold  
They came in and said, hey, we want to replicate this in other cities.

00;14;23;08 - 00;14;25;28  
Hark Herold  
To make this somewhat long story a little bit shorter.

00;14;25;28 - 00;14;26;17  
Hark Herold  
So,

00;14;26;17 - 00;14;30;26  
Hark Herold  
they ended up in getting me because I was already doing it here in Denver.

00;14;30;26 - 00;14;34;06  
Hark Herold  
And then I ended up being recruited to join the staff,

00;14;34;06 - 00;14;42;21  
Hark Herold  
and ended up as the president and CEO for for Bunker Labs, the national organization. Bunker was running on iOS.

00;14;42;23 - 00;14;51;13  
Hark Herold  
So that was my introduction to iOS was I joined an organization that was already using that system to operate.

00;14;51;16 - 00;14;53;13  
Craig Andrews  
What is iOS?

00;14;53;15 - 00;15;17;12  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. So iOS, the it's the entrepreneurial operating system. So it's a it's a way to operate your business. It's not a computer system. Every business has an operating system. It's just the way you operate. It's the way you talk about your vision and decide on your strategic planning. It's the way you get. Make sure you have the right people and how you treat people and work with people.

00;15;17;15 - 00;15;39;04  
Hark Herold  
It's it's how you treat data. It's how you resolve your issues. It's about your processes and then how you execute. Everybody has and if they have a business, they have a way. They do those things. They probably are hodgepodge. And they're doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and they like this. And they came in and so, so it's it's it's not a

00;15;39;04 - 00;15;42;21  
Hark Herold  
system that's reinforcing that works within itself.

00;15;42;21 - 00;15;46;25  
Hark Herold  
And they probably don't even have a name for it. It's just how we do stuff.

00;15;46;25 - 00;15;47;25  
Hark Herold  
And so,

00;15;47;25 - 00;15;53;26  
Hark Herold  
you know, Whitman, who created who wrote the book traction and created the iOS system,

00;15;53;26 - 00;16;04;26  
Hark Herold  
took these different bits and pieces, put them together into a holistic system that is reinforcing the different components, work together. And so that's what iOS is.

00;16;04;26 - 00;16;09;23  
Hark Herold  
It's a way to run your business.

00;16;09;25 - 00;16;13;27  
Craig Andrews  
What's that look like? You know, so if I'm a business owner,

00;16;13;27 - 00;16;20;21  
Craig Andrews  
I mean, it sounds interesting, but what was it look like when for me to use iOS?

00;16;20;23 - 00;16;21;13  
Hark Herold  
So,

00;16;24;15 - 00;16;29;00  
Hark Herold  
So when I work with the leadership team to help them implement iOS. Okay.

00;16;29;00 - 00;16;37;14  
Hark Herold  
It's designed to do three things for, for the company. Number one is to get the leadership team aligned.

00;16;37;14 - 00;16;47;05  
Hark Herold  
Three, three things we call vision, traction and helping. Vision is about getting the leadership team aligned on where they're going and how they're going to get there.

00;16;47;07 - 00;17;15;06  
Hark Herold  
Traction is about putting systems and processes in place to execute against all aspects of that vision. And healthy is about making the leadership team a more functioning, cohesive team. Because sometimes leaders are not good team members. Then ultimately, as goes the leadership team, so goes to the rest of the organization. So we get everybody in the organization aligned on the vision.

00;17;15;08 - 00;17;30;02  
Hark Herold  
We put those systems and processes in place. So wherever they go throughout the organization, people are executing with discipline and accountability against that vision. They're gaining traction and advancing as a functioning, cohesive team.

00;17;30;04 - 00;17;38;06  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. You know, I wonder how many people.

00;17;38;09 - 00;17;50;26  
Craig Andrews  
When you when you're talking to people, how many times do you run in where somebody is like, no, I should be able to figure this out on my own or, you know, and it's not necessarily ego driven, but.

00;17;50;28 - 00;17;52;15  
Hark Herold  
It's pretty much ego driven.

00;17;52;17 - 00;17;53;19  
Craig Andrews  
It is.

00;17;53;22 - 00;18;00;04  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. I mean, it's everything's in this book traction. I mean, it's in this book.

00;18;00;04 - 00;18;05;02  
Hark Herold  
And so if you're interested, go out and read the damn book. It's not,

00;18;05;02 - 00;18;20;07  
Hark Herold  
you know, magic pills. The challenge is reading the book is like, is like having the gym, right? It's there. Just go use it. Go work out. Okay. Nothing wrong with that.

00;18;20;08 - 00;18;42;23  
Hark Herold  
That's better than doing nothing but. Do you want to coach to help you? Do you want a personal trainer? That's where I come in. I'm like that. That coach or that personal trainer at the gym. Or you can use, like a sports team analogy, right? If you have two teams that are that are, that are playing in the World Series, one has a coach, one doesn't have a coach.

00;18;42;26 - 00;18;59;02  
Hark Herold  
Which one do you want a better. Yeah. So so it's we call it self implementing. If you read the book and you do it yourself, self implementing is better than nothing. And that's typically really good for the smaller companies.

00;18;59;02 - 00;19;09;25  
Hark Herold  
But when you get to a point where you realize there's a lot more that you could get from the system, you just don't know how to really get it implemented.

00;19;09;27 - 00;19;20;10  
Hark Herold  
And then a lot of times, entrepreneurs honestly don't have the discipline to to really do it. They need somebody to hold them accountable.

00;19;20;10 - 00;19;30;06  
Hark Herold  
So it's not just holding their team accountable, it's holding that that owner or that visionary, that founder accountable. And they just need that. And that's when it really takes off.

00;19;30;08 - 00;19;42;03  
Craig Andrews  
You know. Well, when you talk about coaches, you know, why am I saying I told people, I said, you know, Michael Jordan didn't have a single coach. He had a team of coaches.

00;19;42;05 - 00;19;43;19  
Hark Herold  
Yeah.

00;19;43;21 - 00;19;56;26  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. So if somebody with the talent and Michael Jordan seems a value and multiple coaches, it shouldn't be a threat to anybody to have a coach come in for their business.

00;19;56;29 - 00;20;21;24  
Hark Herold  
Exactly. It's all about somebody who this is. This is what I do. I'm a professional in being an iOS implementer. An iOS coach. That's what I do. I'm not distracted by other things. I'm not also trying to run this other business. I'm not like, this is what I do. I'm a dedicated coach working with the leadership team of,

00;20;21;24 - 00;20;27;09  
Hark Herold  
small to medium sized businesses to help them succeed.

00;20;27;12 - 00;20;36;23  
Hark Herold  
It's not about me. I don't I don't care if you're an Hvac company, a construction company. If you do stuff in space,

00;20;36;23 - 00;20;43;06  
Hark Herold  
whatever you do, I want to help you get what you want out of the business.

00;20;43;08 - 00;20;52;12  
Craig Andrews  
Well, you know, I'll be going to something called Camp Gladiator this evening, which is kind of an outdoor, high intensity workout. And,

00;20;52;12 - 00;21;09;02  
Craig Andrews  
and some amazing, you know, I've, I've trained with a series of different coaches. And the coach I'll be training with this evening. You know, really has been transformative. And it's come back to what you're saying.

00;21;09;04 - 00;21;10;14  
Craig Andrews  
It's I mean, I show up with,

00;21;10;14 - 00;21;19;28  
Craig Andrews  
a couple of hand weights in a workout mat, and, you know, we do different things and we go for a run. I can do 100% of those things in my cul de sac right here.

00;21;20;01 - 00;21;21;28  
Hark Herold  
Right?

00;21;22;00 - 00;21;33;00  
Craig Andrews  
But my wife says I'm in the best shape she's ever seen me and am doing that, by the way, with a with a screwed up lung from Covid.

00;21;33;02 - 00;21;44;10  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. Well, and we talk about the coach. Right. And you talked about different coaches that you've had. It's in iOS. There's like I said there's 800 implementers around the globe okay.

00;21;44;10 - 00;21;59;02  
Hark Herold  
And the implementer needs to click with the the leadership team, especially the founder or the visionary as we call it. But they've got to click. And sometimes the system is the right system.

00;21;59;05 - 00;22;23;10  
Hark Herold  
But they, they they need to find the right coach. Yeah. Right. Because there's different personalities. There's different. We all do the same thing. It's like different personal trainers. Right. Like they all are doing. But it's it's different how they do it, what they do, how they emphasize what they've seen. So so yeah. So it's like that in the iOS world too is.

00;22;23;10 - 00;22;25;10  
Hark Herold  
And that's why it's like,

00;22;25;10 - 00;22;27;03  
Hark Herold  
we have an abundance mindset,

00;22;27;03 - 00;22;37;07  
Hark Herold  
amongst the, the people who do this. It's like, listen, if, if, if iOS is right for you and I'm not right for you, I know somebody who can help.

00;22;37;09 - 00;22;48;14  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. So one of the things, one of the things I've heard in iOS is right. See it on the bus. Right. Bus. Did I get that right?

00;22;48;16 - 00;23;10;16  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. Yeah. So so we we do various exercises right through as we go along the journey. But one of the first things we do is, is establish what is the vision for the organization. We do that with the leadership team. Know where where are we going and how are we going to get there so that we help the leadership team to figure that out.

00;23;10;18 - 00;23;32;08  
Hark Herold  
And we liken that to that's like the placard on the front of the bus that says, this is where we're going. Whatever comes in that this is where we're going. If you want to go where we're going, hop about, but we're not an Uber. If you want to go over here, don't, don't, don't get on this bus because this is where we're going.

00;23;32;11 - 00;23;51;19  
Hark Herold  
And then we get to the Jim Collins aspect of, you know, from, from good to great of right people in the right seats on that bus. So first we define where the bus is going, where the organization is going. Then we work to get the right people on the bus and then make sure they're in the right seats to help drive the organization to the next level.

00;23;51;22 - 00;23;54;26  
Craig Andrews  
You know.

00;23;54;28 - 00;23;55;21  
Craig Andrews  
What

00;23;55;21 - 00;24;00;21  
Craig Andrews  
what barriers DC from that keep people from achieving.

00;24;00;21 - 00;24;05;08  
Craig Andrews  
Folks are on the right bus and they're in the right seat on the bus.

00;24;05;11 - 00;24;06;11  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. So,

00;24;06;11 - 00;24;14;25  
Hark Herold  
some of it is because we work with growing organizations. And so some of it is. Hey, listen, we've had, Jim,

00;24;14;25 - 00;24;28;28  
Hark Herold  
has been with the organization. He started out doing our books and and then he moved up in the organization, and now he's the chief financial officer, but he's really not a chief financial officer.

00;24;29;01 - 00;24;57;05  
Hark Herold  
He he's not there. He doesn't bring what he doesn't bring what the organization needs to get to the next level. And people are justifiably that they love him. But it's it's hard to sometimes what's the best for the organization overall. So sometimes you got to make hard decisions on what's but what's right for the other 42 people in the organization.

00;24;57;08 - 00;24;58;12  
Hark Herold  
Right.

00;24;58;12 - 00;25;06;02  
Hark Herold  
So so holding on make delaying and making people decisions is, is one of the things that holds people back?

00;25;06;04 - 00;25;17;04  
Craig Andrews  
Yeah. Well, I know for me, in my career, there was one time I held on to somebody way too long. And the biggest indication was when I,

00;25;17;04 - 00;25;20;17  
Craig Andrews  
when fired him, his colleagues came up to me and thanked me.

00;25;20;19 - 00;25;44;23  
Hark Herold  
Yes, we we call it that. The 36 hours of pain is the. It's hard and it should be hard. You dealing with people and making those kinds of decisions with people should not be done like it's hard, but that 36 hours of pain then gets you past that. And to your point, everybody else, all the other team members go, what took you so long?

00;25;44;26 - 00;25;48;15  
Craig Andrews  
Yep, yep.

00;25;48;15 - 00;26;08;23  
Craig Andrews  
Let's switch as let's switch and talk about that. You told me something. You said there's a lot of resources for vets. And I'll be honest, I. I mean, obviously I'm a vet and spent six years in the Marines and I if there resources. I don't know about it. I feel like I'm going to learn.

00;26;08;25 - 00;26;11;21  
Hark Herold  
Yes. And that's the challenge right.

00;26;11;21 - 00;26;18;18  
Hark Herold  
So the resources are there, but it doesn't do any good if people don't know them. And so,

00;26;18;18 - 00;26;20;24  
Hark Herold  
one of the things that that I do,

00;26;20;24 - 00;26;30;18  
Hark Herold  
and I can share a list with you is, is I've compiled over the years just different resource is and again, the veterans I work with are I'm specifically talking about,

00;26;30;18 - 00;26;31;13  
Hark Herold  
business owners.

00;26;31;20 - 00;26;44;12  
Hark Herold  
So it's for entrepreneurs and business owners. There's other organizations that have lots of resources for veterans who are different, have a different things they're dealing with. Right. I'm talking about for business owners. So,

00;26;44;12 - 00;26;48;00  
Hark Herold  
there's organizations such as Patriot Boot Camp,

00;26;48;00 - 00;26;56;04  
Hark Herold  
which is now affiliated with the Disabled American Veterans. And they run like a, like a two day boot camp for,

00;26;56;04 - 00;26;59;23  
Hark Herold  
veterans who own businesses, small veterans, small businesses.

00;26;59;23 - 00;27;01;25  
Hark Herold  
Right. Like, they're just kind of starting,

00;27;01;25 - 00;27;09;18  
Hark Herold  
and they do expose and all sorts of resources. The national veteran Owned Business association that I mentioned earlier.

00;27;09;18 - 00;27;15;22  
Hark Herold  
If you have physical products, they certify these, businesses as being veteran owned and then have a

00;27;15;22 - 00;27;24;29  
Hark Herold  
marketplace where they connect them to, like fortune 500 companies who are looking for veteran owned businesses in their supply chain.

00;27;25;01 - 00;27;25;20  
Hark Herold  
There is,

00;27;25;20 - 00;27;26;23  
Hark Herold  
Bunker Labs,

00;27;26;23 - 00;27;56;17  
Hark Herold  
which I was affiliated with, which is now with the Institute of Veteran Military Families out of Syracuse. They have programing wherever people are on their entrepreneurial journey, whether it's there on the ideation stage, like I'm thinking about it, they have an MVP or a minimum viable product. Or if they're multi-million dollar businesses, there's we have different programing at different levels, all designed at at like no cost to help veteran and military families, business owners.

00;27;56;19 - 00;27;59;15  
Hark Herold  
So and those are just the ones I've talked my head

00;27;59;15 - 00;28;02;26  
Hark Herold  
but but there are a lot of them out there.

00;28;02;28 - 00;28;06;25  
Craig Andrews  
Wow. Well, this has been awesome.

00;28;06;25 - 00;28;09;08  
Craig Andrews  
Mark, if somebody wanted to reach you.

00;28;09;08 - 00;28;15;27  
Craig Andrews  
And if somebody want to figure out where to get these veteran resources, how do they reach you?

00;28;16;00 - 00;28;16;22  
Hark Herold  
Yeah. So,

00;28;16;22 - 00;28;22;14  
Hark Herold  
so you can go to my website. Is is probably the easiest to start with. It's haq iOS

00;28;22;14 - 00;28;26;28  
Hark Herold  
a r k e o s.com.

00;28;26;28 - 00;28;28;18  
Hark Herold  
That'll get you to my web page. And,

00;28;28;18 - 00;28;36;10  
Hark Herold  
there's all my contact information. That's probably the easiest and fastest and most efficient way to to connect.

00;28;36;12 - 00;28;40;18  
Craig Andrews  
It's awesome. Well, thanks for sharing that on leaders and legacies.

00;28;40;20 - 00;28;45;11  
Hark Herold  
Hey, I appreciate the opportunity. Great. Good talking with you.

00;28;45;11 - 00;29;12;07  
Craig Andrews  
This is Craig Andrews. I want to thank you for listening to the Leaders and Legacies podcast. We're looking for leaders to share how they're making the impact beyond themselves. If that's you, please go to Ally's for me.com/guest and sign up there. If you got something out of this interview, we would love you to share this

00;29;12;07 - 00;29;14;02  
Craig Andrews  
episode on social media.

00;29;14;04 - 00;29;37;14  
Craig Andrews  
Just do a quick screenshot with your phone and text it to a friend, or posted on the socials. If you know someone who would be a great guest. Tag them on social media and let them know about the show, including the hashtag leaders and legacies. I love seeing your posts and suggestions. We are regularly putting out new episodes and content to make sure you don't miss anything.

00;29;37;16 - 00;29;45;21  
Craig Andrews  
Please go ahead and subscribe. Your thumbs up. Ratings and reviews go a long way to help promote the show. It means a lot to me.

00;29;45;21 - 00;31;47;24  
Craig Andrews  
It means a lot to my team. If you want to know more, please go to Ally's for me.com. Or follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.

<https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold> <http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold> <https://twitter.com/home?status=Episode%20#223:%20From%20Iraq%20to%20EOS:%20Why%20Every%20Leader%20Needs%20a%20Coaching%20Team%20with%20Hark%20Herold+https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold> <https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold&linkname=Episode%20#223:%20From%20Iraq%20to%20EOS:%20Why%20Every%20Leader%20Needs%20a%20Coaching%20Team%20with%20Hark%20Herold> <https://www.addtoany.com/share.php?u=https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold>

## Listen

[![](https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Allies4me_May2022/images/podcast/podcast.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leaders-legacies/id1696297530) [![](https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Allies4me_May2022/images/podcast/spotify.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0auloXIhebk9wF5qAQUUdU?si=85faf016e6e54fc4&nd=1) [![](https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Allies4me_May2022/images/podcast/iHeart-Radio.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-leaders-legacies-118603498/) [![](https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Allies4me_May2022/images/podcast/google-podcasts.png)](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vbGVhZGVycy1hbmQtbGVnYWNpZXM) [![](https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Allies4me_May2022/images/podcast/amazon-music.png)](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/45df905a-5690-4c40-a887-d4a2e742d0d5/leaders-legacies) [![](https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Allies4me_May2022/images/podcast/rss.svg)](https://feeds.captivate.fm/leaders-and-legacies/)

---

## Be a Guest on Leaders & Legacies

[![](https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Allies4me_May2022/images/podcast/guest-microphone.svg) Apply Here](https://podcast.allies4me.com/podcast-guest)

### Recent Episodes

#### Allies Blog

---

[View All Blog Posts](https://allies2.wpengine.com/blogroll/)

#### Analytics Tips

#### allies4me

 12400 HWY 71W  
 #350-109  
 Austin, TX 78738  
 +1.512.410.4204

[Privacy Policy](https://allies4me.com/privacy-policy/)

[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/allies4me) [Twitter](https://twitter.com/allies4me) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/3559775/) [YouTube Channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSIeVA1wQbkil841BBy6J1Q)

© Copyright 2009-2026 allies4me · All Rights Reserved

© Copyright 2009-2026 allies4me · All Rights Reserved

- [Call](tel:+15124104204)
- [Navigate](https://maps.google.com/?daddr=30.309940,-97.917470)

Menu

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Craig Andrews",
    "url" : "https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/author/craig-andrews"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-09-08T19:49:05.373Z",
  "datePublished" : "2025-09-04T10:30:00.000Z",
  "headline" : "Episode #223: From Iraq to EOS: Why Every Leader Needs a Coaching Team with Hark Herold",
  "image" : [ "https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/Podcast/Episodes/Hark-Herold-R-2.jpg" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast/episode-223-hark-herold",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://pod.allies4me.com/hubfs/allies4me-jan2016/1000x964-allies-logo.jpg"
    },
    "name" : "allies4me"
  }
}
```