131: Dr. Liz Werly — What an Army Psychologist for Special Ops Teaches About High Performance and Emotional Intelligence

How do the best military leaders go from operating at an already elite level… to an even higher level under pressure?

In this episode, Army psychologist Dr. Liz Werly (who works directly with some of the U.S. military's most elite units) breaks down the exact framework she uses to help high performers:

build accurate self-awareness using gold-standard assessments,

"engineer" their personality to fit the context (calm under fire and present at home),

develop emotional intelligence as the differentiator once IQ and talent are in place, and

translate values into visible daily behaviors that protect what matters most.

We also dig into groundedness and intentionality as core high-performance habits, the basics that leaders ignore at their own risk (sleep, rhythm, connection), and how generational shifts and resiliency trends are reshaping today's force and workplaces.

In this episode, you'll learn:

How Dr. Werly assesses elite leaders (IQ, Big Five, emotional measures) and turns data into a growth plan

Why emotional intelligence becomes more important than raw intellect at higher levels of leadership

A simple values → beliefs → behaviors framework (including the "20-minute Lego" example)

How to recognize when your strengths (e.g., robotic under pressure) become liabilities at home or with your team