Episode 31: Finding Your Inner Warrior and Leading Courageously

In Session: Leading the Judiciary

In this episode, we explore how leaders can find their inner warrior and lead with courage. D.J. Vanas, author of The Warrior Within: Own Your Power to Serve, Fight, Protect, and Heal, explains that being a warrior is not about steely-eyed individual toughness. Rather, it is about practicing aggressive self-care, openness, and collaboration so that you’re emotionally, mentally, and physically prepared to serve and support your “tribe.” D.J. is a former U.S. Air Force officer and a member of the Ottawa Tribe of Michigan. He has inspired thousands of public sector and Fortune 500 company leaders to find courage and lead with their inner warrior. He hosted the 2021 PBS television special Discovering Your Warrior Spirit and delivered the closing keynote at the FJC’s National Leadership Conference for Circuit and Court Unit Executives in Oklahoma City in October 2022.