About
Miles Garrett has twenty-five years of military experience and extensive academic credentials. He is also an author and a creative. His LLCs are On Executive Leadership and Creative Networking.
Introduction
I met Miles Garrett on Goodreads, and we had a bonding moment over the topic of the Greek philosopher Plato. I immediately felt confident that I needed to interview Miles with his vast repertoire of knowledge and skills, especially in the US Navy, on my blog insaneowl.com. With his rich and varied educational and military background, I think Miles’ contribution to the genre of motivational and inspirational leadership literature is yet another milestone which he can tick off with the phrase ‘top of the class’. I’ve never had such an erudite writer here on my blog insaneowl.com and I heartily welcome Miles here on my turf where any reader can find excellent and quality bookish content always! Welcome Miles to insaneowl.com!
Miles: Thank you so much for the kind introduction, Fiza! This is truly a pleasure. Please allow me to emphasize that my thoughts are my own and do not reflect the official position of the United States Department of Defense.
Interview
Fiza: First of all, Miles, thank you for saying yes to this interview. I’m glad to have you here on insaneowl.com. Can you start off by giving my readers some background information about yourself and your current position in the US military?
Miles: I joined the United States Marine Corps in 1999 and obtained a commission in the United States Navy in 2011. I served in the Marine Corps throughout the early 2000s as a ground radio repairman and infantryman. I have served in the United States Submarine Force for the past 14 years, touching all longitudes and all northern latitudes in the process. Submarine service has taken me to places as varied as Sicily, Germany, the Philippines, Japan, Hawaii, Guam, and the North Pole.
My areas of professional expertise include nuclear propulsion, naval operations, strategic leadership development, organizational networking, and executive leadership.
I have extensive academic credentials, including degrees in physics, philosophy, and sociology, and graduate-level expertise in thermodynamics, reactor operations, nuclear chemistry, and electrical engineering. I am committed to lifelong learning. My current areas of study are in financial management and executive leadership.
My other pursuits include small business ownership, community engagement, and teaching my kids piano. I am a product of the United States.
Fiza: What prompted you to join the Navy to serve your country?
Miles: I fundamentally believe in the United States Navy’s primary mission, which is to facilitate naval diplomacy. There is a great quote from George Washington, America’s first president, which says, “Without a decisive naval force, we can do nothing definitive, and with it everything honorable and glorious.”
The geostrategic importance of naval power has been indisputable for millennia, and it remains so today. Naval power was decisive in the Peloponnesian War, the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, the Russo-Japanese War, World War II, and many other conflicts. Short of conflict lies diplomacy. A strong navy facilitates naval diplomacy, which in turn facilitates peace and prosperity. I joined the Navy to contribute to peace and prosperity.
Fiza: Give my readers a background of your varied and rich educational qualifications. Was it necessary for you as a military man to study so much?
Miles: It was and continues to be absolutely necessary to study so much. Leaders are expected to be philosophers. Great minds have pursued leadership throughout the ages, and leadership literature is vast and diverse. It would be hubris to assume a person could master it without devoted effort. To properly understand leadership, one must devote decades of time to its study and practice.
I was an Honors Program student and University Scholar at the University of Kansas, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Physics and Philosophy. My Master of Arts is in Sociology from Cornell University. I graduated top of my class at Naval Nuclear Power School and am certified in Joint Professional Military Education from the United States Naval War College and in Submarine Command from the United States Submarine Force.
I am currently studying Financial Management at the Naval Postgraduate School and Executive Leadership at Cornell University.
Fiza: What is your family life like, if you wish to share. LinkedIn says that you are a dad…
Miles: Thank you so much for this question. My role as a father is fundamental to my personality. I am proud to say that I have four children, ranging in age from 7 to 13. At least two of them are philosophers, including my 8-year-old son. At the tender age of 8, that boy can do philosophy. I see leadership potential in all four of my children, and I make every effort to ensure their childhoods are fun and fulfilling.
I insist that, regardless of financial means, my kids attend public schools. My reasons for this are varied, but the most important is that I want my kids to benefit from and contribute to America’s public education system. In my view, primary, secondary, and undergraduate public schools are the best, and I want the best for my kids. If they someday choose to attend graduate school, that would be an appropriate time to consider private schools due to the specialization required.
Fiza: What prompted you to take to writing?
Miles: I have always been a writer. Writing is integral to language and learning. We live within the linguistic revolution of philosophy, which says that language comes before knowledge, and knowledge comes before the nature of being (ontology).
At one point when I was a submarine Executive Officer, I asked a group of leaders in my unit to list 50 ways we communicated with one other. The group produced the list of 50 in less than five minutes. If given the time, I am fully confident that we could come up with 5,000 forms of communication actively in use. That is no exaggeration. Writing happens to be one of the most effective and prevalent forms of communication. I am committed to the writing process for my roles as a leader and as a defender of justice and democracy.
Fiza: What is your highly acclaimed leadership book ‘Executive Leadership: A Warfighter’s Perspective’ all about? Where can we find this book easily globally but also especially in India? I would certainly love to read it ASAP. I’m always up for a new motivational leadership read!
Miles: Executive Leadership is a work of strategic leadership development. Its main body comprises a series of talks I gave to key shipboard leaders as Executive Officer onboard a nuclear-powered submarine. The book’s frontmatter and afterword contextualize the talks.
The audience for Executive Leadership is quite narrow. In the military, we distinguish between tactics, operations, and strategy. Leadership coaching books are analogous to tactics. My work is one of strategic leadership development. Although it is written in plain language, I consider it an advanced work. Any prospective reader must have a certain baseline understanding of leadership to understand Executive Leadership.
Executive Leadership is published through an American company called BookBaby. It can be found on Bookbaby’s website. It will be electronically available in the coming months. In the short term, signed copies are available upon request. If there is sufficient demand in India, I would be happy to ship a bulk order to you.
Fiza: How did you go about writing this book? What are the accolades you received for the same?
Miles: The book resulted from my role as the Executive Officer on a nuclear-powered submarine. Many business schools teach that executives should narrow their list of stated organizational values to between three and five. Any more than five values would confuse and distract employees. I spent the first four months of my job as Executive Officer learning the crew and its tendencies. At the end of those four months, I determined the three values most important to emphasize were intrinsic motivation, professional trust, and the pursuit of excellence. Those three sub-topics feature throughout the book.
I addressed those topics with the crew in a series of talks and then converted those talks into a book. After 25 years of leadership study, the book proved quite easy to write. It is a short work, which I consider to be a strength. One of my goals as a writer is to concisely get to the point in order to free up the reader’s time for other endeavors.
My proudest accolade is from Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. Dr. Goldsmith wrote the following: “The broad topic of leadership—in the military, athletics, business, or in life in general—has been the subject of many speeches, books, and articles, but few accomplish the goal of conceptualizing this valuable commodity any better or more succinctly than former US Navy submarine officer Miles Garrett in Executive Leadership: A Warfighter’s Perspective…His style is direct, understandable, and well-illustrated with examples and quotes from other proven leaders of men and women…Garrett’s tenets can and should be applied in daily life.”
Fiza: You published ‘Executive Leadership: A Warfighter’s Perspective’ in the year 2024. Is there another book in the making or a sequel to this one?
Miles: I am considering writing a book on statesmanship for limited distribution. Other planned works include a leadership book for teens and young adults, a sociological dissertation on criminal justice reform, and a book on linguistic philosophy and political theory.
Fiza: Why should my readers want to read ‘Executive Leadership: A Warfighter’s Perspective’? Induce them to do so ASAP!
Miles: I can give many more reasons for not reading my book than for reading it. It is a strategic work, so any prospective reader should have the capacity for strategic thought. It is also situated within existing leadership literature. To understand Executive Leadership, readers must have a baseline understanding of existing leadership principles and theories.
A common definition of leadership is to inspire a group of people to a common purpose. But that definition oversimplifies the matter. Leadership cannot be relegated to specific situations and particular groups. As both Martin King and Mohandas Gandhi so clearly demonstrated, leadership, properly understood, embodies the whole person. One must strive to live the ideal rather than apply some formula to a particular team in a particular setting. To be convincing, true leaders must be authentic, and to be authentic, they must espouse their principles most, if not all, of the time, even while alone. Executive Leadership, as a strategic work, seeks to inform readers on certain aspects of their overall development. In no way can the book be considered in isolation.
Fiza: What are some of your most favorite non-fiction books, especially in the motivational-inspirational category?
Miles: I have read thousands, if not tens of thousands, of books. I know the following subjects to be essential to leadership development: philosophy, language, mathematics, biography, and, of course, leadership. This applies to businesses, educational institutions, military units, and all other organizations, and so does the fact that leaders exist to serve their subordinates.
Among my favorite nonfiction books are Alfie Kohn’s Punished By Rewards, Marshall Goldsmith’s What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Rick Atkinson’s An Army At Dawn, The Bhagavad Gita, Ron Chernow’s Washington: A Life, Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, Robert Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership, Simon Sinek’s Leaders Eat Last, Plato’s Republic, Immanuel Kant’s Prolegomena, Alfred Thayer Mahan’s Influence of Sea Power Upon History, William McRaven’s Make Your Bed, Edmund Morris’ trilogy on Theodore Roosevelt, Jan Swafford’s Beethoven, Donald T. Phillips’ Martin Luther King, Jr. On Leadership, and The Constitution of the United States of America.
Fiza: As I mentioned in the introduction to this interview, we bonded over Plato when we first interacted. Is he your favorite Greek philosopher or do you have other favorites? Who are your favorite philosophers and why so?
Miles: My favorite Greek philosopher is Socrates, based on his commitment to authenticity. Plato is a close second, based on his Republic. I also love Zeno and often ponder his paradox. I hope to name my next dog after Zeno.
Fiza: When did you first start leadership courses or when did you start seeing yourself as a leader who could guide others especially with your talks and books towards them becoming better leaders and versions of themselves?
Miles: I have been a student of leadership since the age of eighteen. The key moment came when my boot camp Company Commander told the entire company he expected us to think of ourselves as men (we were all males). I expect the same of those under my charge. As a first step, one must recognize that he, she, or they are an adult. From that, as a starting point, the relationship between action and consequence can begin to be understood.
Leadership has been an everyday conversation in my life since being a Private in the United States Marine Corps. I began teaching leadership principles in my 30s and published my first work at the age of 43. Anyone who studies leadership should consider themselves competent to teach certain aspects of it. Have the courage to share what you know and give yourself the grace to be wrong from time to time.
Fiza: In your book ‘Executive Leadership: A Warfighter’s Perspective’ you have described your idea of leadership on the lines of the Military. That is something I’ve never read before for sure! How have readers received this kind of Leadership training in a book form?
Miles: There is significant overlap between leadership studies in the military, business, education, and politics. This is for good reason. All of these arenas are pursuing the same leadership principles, they just happen to come at it from different perspectives. My military perspective has limited my audience, but that does not necessarily have to hold. Executive Leadership examines common leadership principles through the lens of a submariner’s periscope, if you will.
Fiza: Which was your most challenging military task and why?
Miles: Without question, my most challenging assignment was as the Engineer Officer on a nuclear-powered submarine. Submarines operate nuclear reactors in diverse and sometimes hostile environments. We make our own drinkable water and breathable air, and we stay on station for prolonged periods of time. As Engineer Officer, I was responsible for the operation, maintenance, and personnel of a 60-person department, including its nuclear reactor and all auxiliary equipment. 14-hour days were the norm, and I started many days before 4 a.m. and finished well after sundown.
Fiza: Have your children been induced to join the navy or military to serve their country like their dad? Or have they chosen other professions to pursue?
Miles: My oldest child is 13, so all four of my children are a bit too young to have this answer. That said, I am proud to say that my 13-year-old has often expressed an interest to follow in my footsteps. When the time comes, I will encourage all of them to pursue military service.
Fiza: Choose one from the following and give a reason for your answer:
Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Zeno, Parmenides
Miles: I love this list. I choose Socrates first, because without Socrates we would never know Plato’s name. Plato is a close second for his Trial and Death of Socrates and The Republic. Zeno is also among my favorites because of his fascinating paradox.
Fiza: What have you been reading recently? Hope you’ve been having many 5 star reads on Goodreads!
Miles: I recently read Wittgenstein’s On Certainty and am currently reading Donald T. Phillips’ Lincoln on Leadership and Mariana Mazzucato’s Entrepreneurial State. All three of these are 5-star books.
Fiza: What role has your home state played in you becoming the military man, leader, and author you are today?
Miles: My home state, Kansas, formed the basis for my personality. Kansas is in the dead center of the continental United States, and its centrist position on societal issues reflects its geographic position. Kansas’ state motto is ad astra per aspera, which means to the stars through hardship. I thank God every day for my hardships, and I pursue the stars through rather than around those hardships.
Fiza: Name some of your favorite fiction reads. Or do you prefer non-fiction?
Miles: This is such an excellent question. The proper subject of all fiction is the human condition, and, as such, I positively love fiction. Some of my favorite fiction books are Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Song of Solomon, Helen DeWitt’s The Last Samurai, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Mark Helprin’s A Soldier of the Great War, Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, Lawrence Hill’s Someone Knows My Name, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, Ben Lerner’s The Topeka School, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, and Dr. Seuss’ Wacky Wednesday.
I am also a passionate consumer of film. Some of my favorite films are The Sound of Music (1965), Gavin O’Connor’s Warrior, S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR, Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born, Interstellar (2015), and The Brutalist (2024).
Fiza: Choose one from the following and give a reason for your choice:
Paulo Coelho, Will Durant, William Shakespeare, Toni Morrison
Miles: Wow, great list. My choice, without hesitation, is Toni Morrison. Her Beloved shocked me awake. I twice had the privilege of hearing her speak and once took the opportunity to relay to her my gratitude. Toni Morrison’s Nobel Lecture should be required reading or listening worldwide.
My favorite Shakespeare subjects are Henry IV and Henry V, and my favorite Shakespeare quote is, “Happy are they that can hear their detractions and put them to mending” (Much Ado About Nothing, 1599).
Fiza: Which is the book that really hit you in the gut and changed your life for the better and which you would easily recommend to others, especially bookaholics like me!
Miles: As stated above, Toni Morrison’s Beloved shocked me awake for its examination of slavery and its human consequences. On the nonfiction front, Alfie Kohn’s Punished By Rewards hit me in the gut and changed my life for the better through its examination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. For biographical study, I recommend Jan Swafford’s Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph.
Fiza: Where can my readers on insaneowl.com easily find you online?
Miles: I am on LinkedIn (Miles Garrett) and Medium (@mag98). My website is OnExecutiveLeadership.com
Fiza: What are you up to these days and how much of it incorporates your writing ventures?
Miles: All my efforts focus on the pursuit of justice and democracy. I own two small businesses devoted to justice and democracy. One is a small publishing company called On Executive Leadership, and the other is a strategic networking company called Creative Networking. My major project at the moment is producing an animated short film on nonviolent resistance titled And Domestic.
Fiza: Are you more of a Sociologist, Creative Writer, or a Philosopher?
Miles: Philosophy is inherent in my personality, so that comes first. Although philosophy needs to be studied, it also needs to be practiced. I practice philosophy in every waking moment. To be sure, I am a creative writer, but I am more broadly a creative. I apply creative thought to the areas of filmmaking, art production and consumption, and organizational networking, to name a few. Sociology is something I have had to learn and incorporate into my knowledge set. I continue to study sociology, because it informs my understanding of societal realities and trends.
Fiza: Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
Miles: In 5 years, I will be pursuing justice and democracy through national and international politics.
Conclusion:
Fiza: Thank you, Miles, for giving me this opportunity to interview you on my blog insaneowl.com where we discuss all things bookish. I wish you the very best in your future ventures, especially in the area of writing and publishing.
Miles: This was truly my pleasure. I would consider it a privilege to do this again at any point. From the Rigveda, “Let noble thoughts come to us from every side.”
Copyright © 2025, Fiza Pathan
Leave a Reply