 Good morning Distinguished Guests, Families and Friends of the Master's Leader Course Class 003-23. On behalf of the Henry H. Lynn Noncommissioned Officer Academy and Deputy Commodant Masters Art Norberto Morales, welcome to today's graduation ceremony. Today's official party consists of Master Art Norberto Morales, Deputy Commodant of the Henry H. Lynn Noncommissioned Officer Academy, Sergeant Major LeVon D. Brown, the Support Operation Sergeant Major for the 593rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command and First Sergeant Noel K. Frye, First Sergeant of the Henry H. Lynn Noncommissioned Officer Academy. Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the rival of the official party and remain standing for the invocation and the playing of the National Anthem. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to come together as a class, despite our backgrounds, M.S. or duty status. We thank you for the opportunity to learn from one another and to hone our skills as senior noncommissioned officers. We thank you for the dedication and commitment of the MLC facilities and the staff who participated with us in this stage of our NCO PDS. As we return to our units set within us, Lord, the fire to serve this nation as we fulfill our charge to be professionals, noncommissioned officers, leaders. Please be seated. The master leader course was designed to prepare senior noncommissioned officers for positions of greater responsibility and aims to develop the professional skills and competencies required of master sergeants in the 21st century. This is accomplished with a rigorous learning environment designed to teach each student all essential aspects of performance for the increased leadership and management responsibilities required of senior noncommissioned officers. These graduates have completed a demanding 14-day course which will enhance their professional abilities as senior noncommissioned officers. Additionally, they will assist the Henry H. Linn Noncommissioned Officer Academy and the Army as we formalize this significant NCO progression and education gateway. It is now my honor to introduce the deputy commander of Henry H. Linn Noncommissioned Officer Academy, Master Sergeant Norvoto Morales. Good morning. Command Sergeant Major Scarborough, command teams, friends, and families of the Henry H. Linn NCO Academy and the Master Leader Course Class 003-23. I would first like to congratulate the graduating class of 23 diverse unique senior leaders gathered here today. Please join me in a round of applause for our graduating class. Additionally, I would like to recognize our exceptional facilitators who have helped shake these future leaders. Please put your hands together for our outstanding MLC facilitators as well. Thank you. Over the past 14 days, these senior NCOs were challenged to curb their direct leadership ways of thinking and as we evolve into leaders capable of thinking about leadership at organizational and even strategic levels. For many of them, this course was their introduction to joint planning and staff functions at a senior level. Class 003-23, my hope is that you take these new found skills and not only apply them in the workplace but also introduce them to your up-and-coming leaders so they can benefit of your current level of knowledge and experience. These 14 days also challenged students with an academic rigor unlike typical institutional domain domains and they all have excelled. Well done. Now, it is my great honor to introduce our guest speaker, Sergeant Major LaVon D. Brown. Sergeant Major Brown is currently the Support Operations Sergeant Major for the 593rd Sustainment Command. He has served the Army as a Transportation Coordinator since 1993, serving in every leadership position from squad leader to the Talion Command Sergeant Major. He's a graduate of Sergeant Major Academy Class 66. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Sergeant Major LaVon D. Brown. All right. Good morning. How's everybody doing today? I'll stand. I'm gonna forget some of the announcements since the deputy did a great job and make sure we acknowledge everybody on ground but I do want to make sure I do acknowledge the ESC Command Sergeant Major, Command Sergeant Major Scarborough. Also want to recognize also look like Command Sergeant Major Martinez and Sergeant Major Jocks. So welcome. Thank you. Command teams, friends and families of the MLC class here, facilitators that put on such a great program that's actually outstanding, preparing our students for the next step in their career. I cannot say more than thank you more than enough to what you're doing. I had a question that was presented to me yesterday when I had a chance to meet with the class and it was a great question as it came to me asking me what do I contribute to my success or success in the roles I've been as in the senior leader role and it took me a quick minute not long to really see that I contribute my successes to as a senior leader as in my engagement with people and I think I wrapped it up with that and this was I know the CSA says the Chief Staff of the Army says people first well I've been living at my whole career. I always put people first, always have and always will, always put my soldiers first. I always want to make sure that I'm taking care of them and their families because if I take care of them they would take care of me. So my audience that I'm talking to please understand is by directing a little more to the MLC class but this is also tidbits for my leaders I have in the audience as well but this right now I'm going to try to project towards class because I like to leave a little bit of tidbits with them that they can use in their future career because when I take this uniform off nobody wants to listen to me then. I'm just an old leather guy I'm wearing all the pins and stuff on my beret driving an Uber van trying to take people somewhere they don't want to listen to you then so let me get it out right now all right. So let's start with this it's about winning hearts and minds. If you win their heart and their mind their busts are going to come the rest of them will come they will come joyfully to come be with you as their leader because they see you as a servant leader they see that you put them first they see that you are all about their welfare. Soldiers can see sincerity a mile away. They can read genuineness. If you're just lip syncing it and you're just doing it and you're a nine to five leader your soldier's going to pick up on it just like that and what you're going to do you won't get by yet and I was a little bit of the conversation we had yesterday classes you want that buy-in from your soldiers because once again if they're on board it's nothing that your organization cannot accomplish. The limit for many of us that we face and will face as leaders that our soldiers have been through and continue to go through so much change and upheaval that they are questioning whether they had the motivation and desire to continue with organization continue with the army and even continue pushing forward. To be successful is imperative that leaders create a culture of motivation that's really core and excitement which is achieved through engagement with your soldiers and your organization within your organization. I want to share with you what I created towards my successful career in army and hope you can apply it toward your career. I had three points I'm going to share with you today about engagement and in three steps I used that was used by me as a leader that has worked very successful for me. The first point when focusing on engagement it's important to focus on understanding who the organization really well it's important to understand who in the organization is really ready and who may need some help moving forward. You've got some people going to report to you they're ready to execute ready to do everything you've got to do but some of them you got to tow along and you got to recognize them but you got to treat them all the same. Doing these times doing times like this a certain pattern of behavior sets into many organizations. Generally leaders create a strategy our living in the future. We're so focused so far ahead that we don't realize our soldiers are living in the now they're living in the present. What are you doing for me now not what we're going to do down the road. They are looking at the next quarters time frame soldiers primary function in the present they concentrate on accomplishing the key tasks of day to day missions that we ask our soldiers to do. Many soldiers find it difficult to shift into the mindset of future strategy and they need time to process. Point two it's important to understand when we what we mean by engagement. Energy not time. You can spend countless hours with a soldier but if it's not quality and there's no energy behind it then you're just really wasting your time. It is the currency of engagement. Engagement is a combination of perception of change. The events happening around you and the level of energy experience. So highly engaged people have positive perception on change going on around them and they put a high level energy into their work and everything else they do. And then the last point is the purpose of a leader is to engage others in committing their full energy to the creation of value and success. Buy in. Getting those soldiers to come on board. Getting those family members to support that soldier and what the organization purposes and the direction they're going. But no matter how strong a leader you are you cannot change soldiers. They have to make the choice to change themselves. You're going to have three types of soldiers that you'll be facing during this choice. You're going to have those soldiers going to be proactive. You've got those soldiers that are reactive and you've got those soldiers going to be inactive. Let's talk about the proactive ones. The proactive soldiers are fully committed. They're participating in all the activities. They're willing to comply with the organization's decision. They're setting motion. They are in that proactive state. When people are resistant to change and they gradually comply and some soldiers you've got to realize some of them want to do it to get even. Some of them are what comes your mission just because you said I couldn't do it. Or well you know what you don't take me off so I'm going to do it my way and it's really a get even mentality that they're moving forward but they're looking at the first opportunity that they're going to disrupt this train that's moving on this track. These people can act as deterrents to an organization's growth and progress and those who step back and wait and see you have those two well let's wait and see what's going to happen. Let's see who else is going to get on board and those people pretend to comply. They're disengaging entirely or they they're in an inactive state. They also can be harmful effects to advancing your strategy. The three steps I'm going to close out with and telling you how do you get after this but first of all to get started here are three steps that you can take today that you can take today or you can follow today that's going to help you become the leader that you want to be in dealing with these so heavenly soldiers make any choices. First of all demonstrate a clear commitment. You as a leader cannot be the wishy-washy one. You can't be on both sides of the fence. You cannot straddle the fence. We rather you take a stand and pick a side at least with nowhere you're at. That shows commitment. The second thing be a positive role model for beliefs, practices, customs, behaviors. You want all your soldiers to exhibit in their interaction with one another in their day-to-day activity. Everything you want your soldier to be then you need to be. Don't ask them to be what you know you're not. Don't say do, don't do as I say not as I do. And then last but not least encourage all soldiers to understand and share those same beliefs and behaviors and coach coach mentor train. It is important that you reach out not just to the soldiers but you have to go that one step farther and go one level deeper. A happy soldier has a happy home. If a happy home if a home is happy then that soldier's happy. How can we ask our soldiers to do certain things when we haven't took the level to find out where they at in their home life or maybe they don't have a home life maybe they're a barracks soldier. How are they dealing in how they doing in the barracks? How often are we engaging in soldiers who don't have a wife who doesn't have a spouse who does not have a husband? Are we asking those questions how are your parents? What's the dynamics of your family? We have to understand where they're coming from so we can know what they're going to be for us. The cultural organization will happen whether you influence it or not and as you move your organization through these new exciting times are you willing to run the risk that your soldiers' behaviors less than are not what you need it to be? Are you a leader? Are you going to be a leader actively involved in establishing a culture of engagement? If not, you need to be and you start by setting the example. Train the lead, lead the train, live standard rest assured. During the course each student was evaluated on their abilities, aptitude, performance, and potential to serve in positions of greater responsibility. At this time Mastar Morales will be joined by Mastar Major Brown and First Sergeant Frieds present awards and coins to the NCOs that excelled during this course with special honors. To earn the title of Distinguished Honor Graduate the student must have the highest grade point average, far exceed core standards, and achieve superior ratings in both attributes and competencies. The Distinguished Honor Graduate for Master Leader Course Class 003-23 is Sergeant First Class Joshua Martin. He will receive an Academy Coin of Excellence, a graduation diploma, and a certificate of achievement. To earn the title of Honor Graduate the student must have the second highest grade point average in class, far exceed core standards, and achieve superior ratings in both attributes and competency. The Honor Graduate for Master Leader Course Class 003-23 is Sergeant First Class Jonathan Boynton. He will receive an Academy Coin, a graduation diploma, and a certificate of achievement. The following senior non-commissioned officers graduated in top 20% of their class and placed on the Commandant's List. They far exceeded core standards and achieved superior ratings in both attributes and competencies. Sergeant First Class Haven Smith. Sergeant First Class Michael Wanner. Please join me in a round of applause for these outstanding non-commissioned officers. The following senior non-commissioned officers graduated in the top 40% of their class and placed on the Superior Academic Achievement List. They far exceeded core standards and achieved superior ratings in both attributes and competencies. Master Sergeant Formica Griffin. Sergeant First Class John Roadwall. Sergeant First Class Stella Burgner. Sergeant First Class Chandra Yorth. Please join me in a round of applause for these outstanding non-commissioned officers. The following senior non-commissioned officers successfully achieved course standards and completed all Master Leader Course requirements. They will now receive their diplomas. Sergeant First Class Rodolfo Acosta. Sergeant First Class Linwood Cook. Sergeant First Class Stefan Dunham. Sergeant First Class LaKeisha Jones. Sergeant First Class Benjamin Crowell. Sergeant First Class Phillip Manuel. Sergeant First Class Arby Melendrez. Sergeant First Class Clovis Polk III. Sergeant First Class Ryan Pruitt. Sergeant First Class Brian Reber. Sergeant First Class Meliza Rodriguez. Sergeant First Class Jacob Stewart. Sergeant First Class Charles Taylor. And Sergeant First Class Robert Thompson. Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great honor that we present to you the graduates of the Master Leader Course Class 003-23. The Distinguished Honor Graduate will now present the guest speaker, Sergeant Major Brown, with a certificate of appreciation. On behalf of Master League Sergeant Major, on behalf of Master Leader Course 003-23, we thank you for your words of wisdom and encouragement. Train to lead, we train with the standard.