Lessons from a Navy Admiral

How do you pivot? How do you move on? How do you not beat yourself up? How do you even take a job as a Loop? 

So I just finished recording with a lawyer. I host the You Are Lawyer podcast and I talk to lawyers every single week. And this week was really special because I got to speak to Mark C. Fava. He is actually the author of this book, Lessons from the Admiral. 

And I interviewed him for the podcast, and he also sent me a signed copy of his book. So proud of myself. The genre of this book is non-fiction. The book's theme is leadership and motivation. Okay? So this book is not huge. It's about a little under 170 pages, and I could not put it down. I was like, ‘Ohhhh, so you're an aviation lawyer, but you were in the Navy?’ And he's like, oh, yeah. The Navy has this entire air squadron fleet. Really? I had no idea. You know, part of the reason why those ships are so big is because, like, planes can land on the back. Maybe I thought it was the air force or something, just using the ship. 

He's in the Navy, but his entire job had everything to do with airplanes and how the Navy admiral will call someone a shipmate as a of endearment because he wasn't actually on ships. And I was just reading the book, not embarrassed because he was giving me an education, which was the point. I didn't know. I'm reading it, and I'm a romantic at heart. And so Mark starts the book, and he's like, yes. I'm in Jacksonville, and I'm doing all this stuff. And then I go to become the Loop three years later. End up marrying that girl. So now you're reading it. You're reading and thinking… what's all the stuff he's gonna go through? But then, eventually, you know, he gets back to this girl, they get married. Because he also mentions having three daughters in the beginning of the book, and you're like, so it's a love story and the military is in the middle? 

It's not a love story. He is telling a very generalized version of his life because he can't tell everything about all the missions and stuff that he did when he was in the Navy. But he is sharing lessons that he learned from the Navy admiral because the Lessons from the Admiral is all about how to live. It's straight-up life lessons for anyone. Okay? The chapter on teamwork and why you should shout out or celebrate other people. Because later on you found out that they were like, no, it really was because of Mark. It's the teamwork. It's supporting the entire team and making sure the entire team is shown as being good. Right? Mark tells us about how he's working for the Navy admiral, and he's like, ‘My entire job is to make him look good. My entire job is to make sure that he is never disrespected or seen in a disrespectful light.’ 

What would that be? This wasn't something that happened to Mark, but it was a story that admiral told. That would be wearing an all-white uniform with this harness on, and it's staining his white suit; he has to walk around. I could not stop laughing. What are you gonna do? Right? So the Navy Admiral, of course, followed through because he's here. He's not gonna say ‘I can't do that. I'm wearing white.’ 

This book is all about how Mark constantly had to anticipate the needs of the admiral. I have to always know where the head is, which is what they call the firm, so that in case he ever needs it. Having the toothpicks with him all the time. Right? I've worked as an assistant befor,e and I'm thinking ‘I would love to have an assistant who anticipates my needs. I would love to have someone who was just like, well, ‘No, Kyla always drinks room temperature water so we're gonna have that.’ That's one less thing that I have to think about which will make me more productive. You know what mean? When I don't have to think about these things and I know I can show up and I can be my true authentic self, I can give this speech in this crazy hot soup and don't have to worry about things because my Loop hasn't handled, which is the person who supports the Navy Admiral when it's their closest hand in addition to the other people that are in the Navy Admiral's office. 

But the truth is, like, Mark is sharing real-life examples of how he made mistakes. He excelled. He showed teamwork. He could laugh at himself when he forgot the admiral's pillow and how those lessons have taught him to create this amazing life. The admiral did not tell you to make sure it was prepared just because he wanted to, just because he's being a jerk and he wants you to spend all your time thinking about this. He wants you to possibly in some way not have to deal with the mass being frozen on the top of the car. Those lessons have taught him to create this extraordinary life, have taught him and trained him to get through law school to become an aviation lawyer which taught him to write a book. Writing a book is not just sitting down and writing. You're gonna get distracted, you're gonna want to quit, you're not gonna want to tell your story, you're gonna get defensive when they want to edit it, all of that. Right? And you can take every single lesson from this book and use it in your life because Mark is literally showing you how he does that. 

So the overall theme of the book is that there are so many experiences that you go through. Right? Even if it's where you forgot the admiral's pillow and they're just like, how did you forget the pillow? You can't forget the pillow. What about the pillow? You can do everything you could possibly want to do to be prepared and mistakes will still happen. How do you pivot? How do you move on? How do you not beat yourself up? How do you even take a job as a Loop? So you're a senior officer in the Navy, you apply for this job, or you say that you're willing to do the job. Right? Because once you're chosen as the you selected for the Loop, you're chosen to be the Loop. One of my favorite stories is where he gets stuck on a marina. He's driving with the admiral and so they're out and they get into some car trouble. And the admiral doesn't get mad. Well, Mark says that he has his own little ways of letting you know when he's irritated. But he steps aside and lets Mark figure it out. And then later on in the car, the admiral says, I'm glad we're out of this. Don't let it happen again. And that's all it takes. Right? I don't have to yell. I don't have to raise my voice. 

I can picture the scene, and I'm sure Mark was already beating himself up enough. There's no way it'll happen again. And also he's relieved that they're out of it. And also the fact that a marine was literally just exercising and ends up being the one to help them and pull them out. Like, there were so many layers to the stories. And so I appreciate the humility. Mark is saying these are lessons that he learned from the admiral, and I I do respect that and I appreciate it. I appreciate the fact that Mark C. Fava is sharing these lessons with us, as I can now learn from his wisdom. Now I can learn from all of his experiences. And I was never stuck on a marina in California. You know what I mean? It it was great. Absolutely great. Alright. So if you are interested in a book that will give you wisdom and advice in a way that is not condescending whatsoever, consider picking up Lessons from the Admiral by Mark C. Fava. This is a former navy man. He is also an aviation lawyer. 

So a very cool perspective to see how all of his experience in the navy transferred to him being a corporate lawyer, and even a parent, and just a decent human. Alright? So thank you for hanging out with me and reading this book review, and I'll see you in the next one.

If you'd like to learn more about Mark C. Fava, watch his You Are A Lawyer interview:

Until the next book review,

Kyla