This post contains affiliate links. I earn commissions from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I genuinely use and believe will help you. Full disclosure: https://othersoverself.com/affiliate-disclaimer/
Think great leaders are just born positive and outgoing? Retired Brigadier General Doug “Odie” Slocum commanded 5,000 people and has news for you: “I am very much a natural introvert. You put me into a crowd, I normally want to run the other way.” In Episode 10 of Hardcore and At Ease, Odie reveals how he developed his “violent positivity” leadership philosophy—and why the most powerful leadership tool isn’t a personality trait you’re born with, but a cognitive choice you make multiple times every day. Listen to the full episode here. Or, Watch on YouTube.
The False Choice Most Leaders Make
Before commanding the largest National Guard base in America, Odie believed what most ambitious leaders believe: that you have to choose between being demanding and being positive. The military reinforced this—tough leaders don’t smile, they bark orders and intimidate people into compliance.
But when Odie stepped into leadership at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, he discovered something counterintuitive. The most effective approach wasn’t choosing between high standards and team morale. It was rejecting that choice entirely.
“We are so bombarded with negativity nowadays,” Odie explains. “A lot of what passes for leadership comes from leaders who probably took that authoritarian negative approach to dealing with people.”
The Hawthorne Effect: Your Secret Leadership Weapon
The core of Odie’s “violent positivity” philosophy centers on a psychological principle most leaders have never heard of: the Hawthorne Effect.
“If you tell somebody that they’re good, they’re gonna think that they’re good, they’re gonna act like they’re good, and they’re going to get better,” Odie explains. “It’s just like a child—if they’re in school and you tell them that they’re good, they’re going to try and raise to that level of expectation, wherever you set it.”
This isn’t feel-good motivation speak. It’s a measurable phenomenon. People literally rise to the level of expectation you set for them. But there’s a dark side too: the Gollum Effect. Those hurtful comments from past leaders? They still affect performance today because negative expectations are just as powerful as positive ones.
The choice becomes clear: create an environment where people rise to your expectations, or watch them shrink from your criticism.
Why Most Leadership Advice Gets It Wrong
Here’s what separates current leaders like Odie from retired experts theorizing about leadership: he admits that effective leadership goes against his natural instincts.
“It is a cognitive choice, and to me, it was a choice I had to make multiple times every day. It wasn’t just ‘I’m gonna lead like this’ and it happened, because that wasn’t my nature. So to deal with things, a lot of times it kind of went against what I wanted to do and I had to consciously go, this is the right thing that I need to do.”
This connects directly to the Hardcore and At Ease Framework’s principle of conscious choice. Being Hardcore about excellence while staying At Ease in your authentic self requires making deliberate decisions that align with your values, not just reacting from your default personality.
The 90% Accuracy Principle That Changes Everything
Odie shares a teamwork principle that revolutionizes how you think about imperfect people creating perfect results:
“Let’s say I can only make you 90% accurate at what you do. But now I bring in somebody else that I’ve trained who’s only 90% accurate, and they’re gonna work with you, and they’re gonna catch 90% of that 10% of the errors that you make. Now we bring in a supervisor who checks the work—they’re only 90% good, but they catch 90% of the 10% of the 10% errors that were made. Suddenly, a two-person team with correct supervision, working together effectively, are gonna have an error rate of less than one in a thousand. Yet nobody on that team is better than 90% good to begin with.”
This reframes everything. Instead of getting frustrated that your team isn’t perfect, you can design systems where imperfect people create near-perfect outcomes.
From Wendy’s to the Pentagon: The Foundation of Excellence
Before commanding thousands, Odie was scraping dumpsters at Wendy’s. His mindset? “I was the best hamburger flipper that they had at Wendy’s. You have to take pride in what you do at whatever level you do. You have to take that ownership.”
This wasn’t just about flipping burgers. It was leadership training: “You have to be good at wherever you are right now, and that’s what’s gonna prepare you for that next step, whatever it happens to be.”
Implementation: What You Can Do Today
The beauty of the Hawthorne Effect is its simplicity. You don’t need complex systems or expensive training programs. You need conscious choices:
Start with one person today. Find someone on your team and genuinely tell them something they’re doing well. Be specific. Watch how they respond over the next week.
Examine your default reactions. When someone makes a mistake, do you immediately point out what’s wrong, or do you first acknowledge what they did right before addressing the issue?
Apply the 90% principle. Instead of expecting perfection from individuals, design systems where people can catch each other’s errors and create collective excellence.
The Hardcore and At Ease Connection
Odie’s violent positivity perfectly embodies the Hardcore and At Ease Framework. He maintains impossible standards (Hardcore) while operating from authentic care for people (At Ease). He’s not naturally positive—he chooses positivity as a conscious leadership strategy.
This is Generate Momentum in action: building collaborative excellence where individual limitations become collective strengths through intentional systems and positive expectations.
Listen or Watch the Full Episode
Hear Odie’s complete leadership philosophy, including his continuum of harm approach, the Applebee’s leadership lesson, and why he believes leadership is about taking care of people, not intimidating them. Episode 10: “Violent Positivity: Doing Extraordinary Things with What You Have Right Now” delivers frameworks you can implement immediately. > link to Watch on YouTube
Join the Community
Connect with other ambitious leaders who’ve figured out how to keep their edge without going over the edge at join.othersoverself.com.
Resources Mentioned
- “Violent Positivity: A Fighter Pilot’s Journey” by Doug “Odie” Slocum – purchase at THIS LINK or visit violentpositivity.com
- Article on the Gollum Effect (indeed, named after the Lord of the Rings Character): https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.889236/full
Meta Description: Retired General reveals why positivity isn’t natural—it’s a cognitive choice. Discover the Hawthorne Effect and 90% accuracy principle that transforms team performance.
Social Snippets:
- “Positivity is a cognitive choice you make multiple times every day—not a personality trait you’re born with.”
- “If you tell somebody they’re good, they’ll think they’re good, act like they’re good, and get better.”
- “Three 90% accurate people working together can create less than 1 in 1,000 error rate.”
