Business Leadership Excellence Institute

Leadership Strategist

Performance Protocol 

Leadership Coach

KAVEO Leadership

Served as an intern and Chief of Marketing for a leadership coaching startup. Helped KAVEO develop and codify their company vision and lay the foundation of strategic plans.

SkillBridge Fellow

Renovium Leadership Coaching

Founder/Leadership Coach

Special Operators Transition Foundation

Fellow

US Army

Information Warfare Director- U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Director of Information Warfare (Division Director) ♦ Capability Integration ♦ Team Development

I was selected to attend the U.S. Army War College (AWC) as the Latin American Studies Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. My Fellows Strategy Research Paper (FSRP; essentially a thesis) examined “Re-emerging Russian Influence in Latin America and U.S. Foreign Policy Response.”

My main responsibilities as a Fellow were twofold: Act as an ambassador for the U.S. Army to the University and local community while learning and incorporating different student and faculty viewpoints into my research. I attended class and worked with students from McCombs Business School and LBJ School for Public Policy advising predominantly in security matters.

Select accomplishments include:

► FSRP awarded 3rd place in the Secretary of Defense National Security Essay Competition.

► FSRP earned the U.S. Army War College Commandant’s Award for Distinction in Research.

► Created Venezuela research database indicators as part of a collaboration with LBJ graduate students on a Latin American Civilian-Military oversight database.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience at the University of Texas as an Army Fellow, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.


https://intelligencestudies.utexas.edu/news/item/802-u-s-army-war-college-fellow-earns-research-awards


https://www.armywarcollege.edu/news/Archives/13580.pdf

U.S. Army War College Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin (Student) ♦ Researcher ♦ Writer

During this time, I was responsible for managing the commander’s strategy sessions, which included capturing elements of the commander’s vision and distilling it into actionable tasks for the staff and subordinate units.

Select accomplishments include:

► Setting the foundation for the Command’s re-design of the U.S. Army’s Special Operations Command Information Warfare capability.

The Commander’s Initiatives Group is a select group of individuals from throughout the U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s units hand-picked to carry out the commander’s vision.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience at the Commander’s Initiatives Group please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Commander's Initiatives Group Officer (Strategic Planner) ♦ Concept Development

I am proud to have led, trained, resourced and cared for the Soldiers and families of a Special Operations Battalion, ensuring the mission readiness of 24 Psychological Operations (PSYOP) teams, all of which deployed to Europe.

While commanding 6th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) I was responsible for 8 direct reports (seven Soldiers and one Civilian), 265 Soldiers and an operating budget of $800,000.

While in this position, it was my goal to make training as realistic as possible for the Soldiers deploying to Europe. To do this I implemented an aggressive partnership program with our European allies and U.S. interagency partners, making these partnerships the focus of our training and operations.

Select accomplishments include:

► Being named top Psychological Operations Commander in U.S. Army 1st Special Forces Command.

► Setting the stage for the first ever international PSYOP training exercise in the U.S. for a PSYOP Battalion staff and PSYOP students.

The teams we deployed to Europe were responsible for protecting and advancing U.S. interests through media and by working with our European military partners to influence target audience thought and ultimately change behavior.

If you are interested in learning more about my time with 6th Psychological Operations Battalion (A), please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Battalion Commander (Division Director - Europe) ♦ Training ♦ Resourcing ♦ Project Management

As the Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Division Chief, I was responsible for strategic PSYOP planning and budget execution for PSYOP operations throughout Latin America. I also found myself in an education role, making sure that senior leaders understood the value PSYOP provided to their objectives.

In this position, I was responsible for a $2 million-dollar budget, which I was able to expand by $1.5 million dollars to augment our ability to assess the effectiveness of our PSYOP activity. 

Select accomplishments include:

► Served as the team lead for the 15-member Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) crisis action team. The team was responsible for providing options to the U.S. Ambassador in Brazil in the event of a terrorist attack or other crisis during the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games.

► Working with the unit that provided our PSYOP teams, we were able to restructure team deployments to achieve the same effects, with less people deployed.

► Structured a PSYOP assessment model which was used in other parts of the world via U.S. Special Operations Command.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience at Special Operations Command - South, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Psychological Operations Division Chief (Program Manager) ♦ Strategic Planning ♦ Crisis Planning

For this position, I was selected by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) Commanding General along with 6 other Soldiers from a 27,000 Soldier organization to serve on the Commander’s Initiatives Group.

During this time, I was responsible for developing concepts and proposed solutions to complex challenges involving USASOC forces. This included daily interaction and managing projects with executive level decision makers and leaders from inside and outside the Department of Defense.

Select accomplishments include:

► Developed and managed the first ever initiative between U.S. Army Special Operations Forces (SOF) and academia (The University of Notre Dame) to experiment with SOF’s role in conflict prevention using economic methods.

► Contributed to the concept development of “ARSOF NEXT” USASOC’s examination of core values and organizational purpose.

► Planned and organized the USASOC Commander’s Conference, bringing in over 200 leaders, speakers and attendees from around the globe to educate and foster collaboration on complex issues facing USASOC.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience at the Commander’s Initiatives Group, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Commander's Initiatives Group Officer (Executive Project Manager) ♦ Partnerships ♦ Collaboration

During my tenure as an operations officer, I ensured our Psychological Operations (PSYOP) teams were ready to deploy to Europe and Africa in support of U.S. objectives in the area.

Along with the day to day operations of our 250 Soldier unit, I was entrusted with the readiness by planning exercise management, training, concept development, special projects and creating opportunities to partner with NATO allies.

Select accomplishments include:

► Created the first ever training simulation at the Joint Readiness Training Center for a PSYOP battalion as a rotational unit in its entirety (approximately 250 Soldiers).

► Led the deployment of a PSYOP Group staff to the Joint Readiness Training Center validating new concept for scalable PSYOP headquarters to be ready for any size and type of operational deployment.

► Preparing 23 PSYOP teams for successful deployment to Europe and Africa.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience as an operations officer, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Operations Officer ♦ Deployment Readiness ♦ Exercise Management ♦ Training

During this time, I was a student at the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) where I studied leadership, operations, logistics and military history to become a more effective staff officer at higher levels of the U.S. Army Enterprise.

I was frequently called upon to serve as the Psychological Operations subject matter expert to help educate my classmates. I also served as the Special Operations Interagency Studies Program class leader coordinating professors and resources between University of Kansas and the CGSC.

Select accomplishments include: 

► Earning a MS from the University of Kansas in addition to the CGSC curriculum.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience as a student at CGSC, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Command and General Staff College (Student) ♦ Planning ♦ Operations ♦ Logistics

I was handpicked for this position by the Deputy Commanding General (DCG) of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) who saw my team’s work firsthand in my previous position. In this eye-opening role, I had the opportunity to observe how a 27,000-person organization functioned and the decision-making process it required.

In this position I was responsible for ensuring the DCG was prepared for his engagements to included speaking, decision making meetings and collaboration on behalf of USASOC. I assisted with managing his priorities so that his travel and engagements were as efficient as possible.

Select accomplishments include:

► Planning and carrying out 34 separate travel itineraries totaling 80 days of travel over the course of a year, travelling with the DCG and successfully conducting all scheduled engagements.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience as a General’s Aide, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

General's Aide (Executive Assistant) ♦ Information Management ♦ Priority Management

I was assigned to this position to lead, train and deploy a nine Soldier Psychological Operations (PSYOP) team to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. We were initially brought in to carry out strategic messaging, but quickly found ourselves in support of a tactical hostage rescue operation with other U.S. agencies and respective Colombia counterparts.

The team was responsible for national marketing campaigns in Colombia. To do this we collaborated with local media vendors and other U.S. agencies in the U.S. Embassy to analyze audiences and disseminate media on various platforms.

After returning from Colombia, I served as an assistant operations officer for a nearly 300 Soldier PSYOP Battalion responsible for providing PSYOP forces to Latin America. My responsibilities included coordinating and carrying out training for deploying teams. By collaborating with U.S. interagency organizations, I was able to incorporate them into training providing realism to the exercises.

Select accomplishments include:

► Leading a small team to support the Colombian led rescue of 11 Colombian, 3 American and 1 French hostage from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

► As a junior Captain, selected to brief the Chief of Staff of the Army on the results of the hostage rescue operation.

► From scratch, created a training regimen for deploying teams using Central Intelligence Agency, Department of State and the Joint Chiefs of Staff resources to train and deploy 8 PSYOP teams.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience as a PSYOP team leader and assistant operations officer, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Psychological Operations Officer (Team Leader) ♦ Operations ♦ Planning ♦ Marketing

I started the Army leading small teams where I realized my personal fulfillment comes from Soldier leadership, project collaboration and adapting to the needs of the situation.

I served one tour of duty in active combat as a Field Artillery Officer during Operation Iraqi Freedom I, being named the humanitarian aid coordinator later in the tour.

For my second combat tour in Iraq I had to adapt to U.S. Army helicopter operations as I planned and oversaw helicopter missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom V-VII.

Select accomplishment include:

► Earned two Bronze Star Medals for performance in combat.

► Working with Iraqi counterparts, completed 15 humanitarian aid projects including village electricity restoration and local employment initiatives.

► Supervised the execution of over 1,000 helicopter missions, successfully coordinating multiple downed aircraft and personnel recovery events.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience as a Field Artillery Officer please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Field Artillery Officer (Team Leader) ♦ Combat Leadership ♦ Training ♦ Operations

Eric Kreitz

Connector of Talent and Success 💼 | Empowering Businesses to Thrive through People | Culture Growth Strategist | Coach | Writer | HR leader | #1 LinkedIn Belgium | Top #150 LinkedIn 🌍

“Speak up.” “Be more visible.” “You’re too quiet for this role.”  

I heard this for 15 years. Then I became CHRO, helping introverts and quiet leaders grow their careers without changing their personality.

Through SC4People, I serve as CHRO at Montea, a BEL 20 logistics real estate company (stock quoted). 

Alongside that, I write The A+ Introvert, a newsletter read by thousands of professionals every Saturday, with a 60% open rate and 5% CTR.150,000+ followers. Massive engagement. Not because I’m loud. Because I’m consistent.

Who I help:  
→ Introverts who want career growth, promotions, and visibility without burnout  
→ Quiet leaders navigating executive roles, career transitions, and personal branding  
→ People-first companies building inclusive cultures where introvert talent thrives

What I believe:  

I want introverts to grow in full respect of their introvert nature, without shrinking themselves for others and without blaming or sidelining the extroverts around them.

What you’ll find here:  

↳ Daily posts on introvert leadership, quiet confidence, and energy management  
↳ Saturday deep-dives in The A+ Introvert Newsletter  
↳ Real frameworks from 20+ years in HR leadership, executive coaching, talent strategy, and culture transformation 

"I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say."

📩 Follow me or subscribe → www.aplusintrovert.com

Your next breakthrough might be sitting silently in the corner.

Steven Claes

The quietest damage a manager can do is convince you your silence is a flaw.

I watched a friend disappear over six months.
Not loudly. That's not how it works for introverts.

She didn't storm out of meetings.
She just stopped speaking in them.

Her manager slowly made sure of that:
➟ Shot down her ideas before she could finish a sentence
➟ Praised the loudest voices and ignored her written follow-ups
➟ Told her she needed to "be more visible"

She started apologizing before every thought.
Started cc'ing people on emails for "proof."
Started believing that quiet meant incapable.

Then she switched teams.
Her new manager did something radical.

She read my friend's pre-meeting notes and said:
"These insights are brilliant. Let's build the next sprint around them."

No performance theater. No forcing her to "speak up more."

After 20 years as a CHRO, I've seen this pattern hundreds of times.

Susan Cain nailed it in Quiet: Introverts don't lack ideas. They lack environments that value how they share them.

Kim Scott's Radical Candor adds another lens. The best managers care personally and challenge directly. They don't reshape your personality. They reshape the conditions around it.

When a manager makes you shrink, you have two options:

Believe the mirror they're holding is accurate.

Recognize that a cracked mirror distorts, not you.

Your talent didn't change between those two teams.
Your depth didn't vanish.
Your worth was never the variable.

The only thing that changed was who held the mirror.

And for introverts, the right mirror doesn't demand volume.
It reflects clarity.

♻️ Repost this if it resonated.

What's one thing a manager did that made you feel seen for being thoughtful, not loud?

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Eric Kreitz

Steven Claes

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Steven Claes's LinkedIn Performance

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