Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson
2026-08-27 · 33 min · episode 156 · 23 entities
Asserted relationships
-
0.62
evidence rules-v5
author of The Power of Pivots
-
0.55
evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Mike Cole
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Education
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Health & Fitness
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Self-Improvement
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Mental Health
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Relationships
-
0.38
evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson": https://youtube.com/@YourThoughtsYourReality
-
0.38
evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson": https://empowerperformancestrategies.com/
-
0.38
evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson": https://necojohnson.com/
Entities found in this episode
concepts 11
-
0.50
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
-
0.50
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Education
-
0.50
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Health & Fitness
-
0.50
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Self-Improvement
-
0.50
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Relationships
-
0.42
evidence rules-v5
Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Education
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Health & Fitness
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Self-Improvement
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Relationships
websites 6
-
0.45
evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson": https://youtube.com/@YourThoughtsYourReality
-
0.45
evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson": https://empowerperformancestrategies.com/
-
0.45
evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson": https://necojohnson.com/
-
0.38
evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson": https://youtube.com/@YourThoughtsYourReality
-
0.38
evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson": https://empowerperformancestrategies.com/
-
0.38
evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Can You Lead Without Rank? | Identity — The 1st Silent War | Neco Johnson": https://necojohnson.com/
persons 4
-
0.70
evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Mike Cole
-
0.55
evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Mike Cole
-
0.50
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Mental Health
-
0.40
evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Mental Health
books 2
-
0.72
evidence rules-v5
author of The Power of Pivots
-
0.62
evidence rules-v5
author of The Power of Pivots
Episode description as stored
Send us Fan Mail
What happens when the rank comes off?
When the title disappears, the structure changes, and the position that helped define you for decades suddenly belongs to someone else?
For many veterans and leaders, transition is not simply about finding another job. It can force a much deeper question:
Who am I when the authority, recognition, and identity attached to my role are gone?
In this episode of Your Thoughts, Your Reality , Michael Cole sits down with Neco Johnson, a retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant with 28 years of service. During his career, Neco served as a First Sergeant, Command First Sergeant, and Commandant of the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. Today, he is the founder and CEO of First Class Leadership, a keynote speaker, executive coach, leadership consultant, and author of The Power of Pivots .
Together, Mike and Neco explore Identity — The 1st Silent War and what it takes to separate who you are from the rank, title, uniform, or position that once helped define you.
Neco’s story begins long before he became a Chief Master Sergeant. At 17, he became a father—something he admits terrified him enough that he initially ran from the responsibility. A direct intervention from his mother forced him to face what he was avoiding, and that moment became one of the first major pivots of his life.
The desire to become the father he wanted to be eventually helped lead him into the Air Force and began a 28-year journey of growth, responsibility, and leadership.
But one of the most powerful lessons Neco learned was that leadership was never really about the rank.
He began his Air Force career as an HVAC technician. Troubleshooting mechanical systems taught him not to react only to the symptom in front of him, but to diagnose the entire system.
Later, he realized people require the same kind of curiosity.
Poor performance may not simply be poor performance. Behind it could be fear, self-doubt, conflict, problems at home, lack of trust, or someone who simply does not believe in themselves.
That realization helped shape Neco’s approach to authentic leadership: understand the person before trying to fix the problem.
This conversation connects directly to several of The 10 Silent Wars :
Identity — The 1st Silent War: “Who am I when the rank and title no longer define me?”
Fear — The 9th Silent War: “Am I being called to pivot—or am I simply afraid of what comes next?”
Self-Worth — The 6th Silent War: “Does my value change when the recognition and authority disappear?”
Direction — The 8th Silent War: “How do I take everything I learned and find where it belongs next?”
Legacy — The 10th Silent War: “Did I build something strong enough to continue without me?”
Neco offers a powerful perspective for anyone struggling with transition: if the organization continues to thrive after you leave, that does not diminish what you contributed.
It may actually be evidence that you led well.
The uniform may come off, but the discipline, character, communication skills, experience, and ability to influence others do not disappear with it.
Civilian leadership is simply different.
People may no longer follow because rank requires them to.
The bigger opportunity is becoming the kind of person they choose to follow.
Neco also shares ideas from The Power of Pivots , including why growth often requires moving before you have complete certainty.
He challenges the familiar idea of constantly stepping “outside” your comfort zone. Instead, he suggests enlarging your comfort zone . Every time you confront something uncomfortable, develop competence, and move through it successfully, what once frightened you becomes part of what you now know you can handle.
He breaks that growth process into four C’s:
Commitment — Decide that you are going to do the difficult thing.
Competence — Develop the ability through repetition and experience.
Confidence — Allow competence to create evidence that you can handle it.
Curiosity — Begin ask