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BY Maddie Reese

E241: How to Build Elite Teams (with Saša Mirković)

In this episode, Joel Junker sits down with Saša Mirković, author of The Inspire Code, to talk about freedom, the importance of trust and conflict, and how leaders can build teams that can run without them.

Saša’s story doesn’t start in the boardroom. It starts in Sarajevo.

He survived the siege of the city in the 1990s, served two years in the military, and came to the United States after the war. In 1998, he applied to 385 jobs. He got one reply.

He eventually landed at American Express Financial Advisors, worked his way up to VP, and in 2006 started his own practice. Today, the Inspire Confidence Group spans multiple offices, alongside a leadership company and a tax firm.

But the most important lesson in this episode came from a failure.

In 2018, Saša’s business partner left the firm. Eighty percent of the team walked out with him. That was the moment Saša realized he had been talking about leadership without actually building trust.

Why does trust matter so much for a team?

Trust is the currency of leadership. You can’t lead without it, the same way you can’t run a business without money. And Saša is clear on where it starts: the leader gives trust first. It’s planted, earned, and renewed every day.

Trust is also what makes healthy conflict possible. Saša describes problems like a beach ball. You see one side. Your teammate sees another. Strong teams fight the problem together instead of fighting each other.

Joel and Saša also get into Slack and Flow, Saša’s framework for working smarter: eliminate half of what you do, delegate the rest to technology and to people who love that work, and protect real thinking time every week. It’s how his team doubled the business without adding headcount.

Whether you’re a junior military officer preparing for your transition or a leader building your first civilian team, this one is full of ideas you can use right away.

Want to learn more?

– The Inspire Code by Saša Mirković (Amazon bestseller! Hardcover now out)

– The Nudge — Saša’s weekly two-minute leadership newsletter, Wednesdays at 5 a.m. ET

– Inspire Network — white papers, Tug Cards, and a complimentary coaching session

Thinking about your own career transition?

At Cameron-Brooks, we help junior military officers transition from the military into rewarding business careers.

See what career fields our candidates move into.

If you’re a company-grade or field-grade officer exploring what’s next, Joel, the entire Cameron-Brooks team, and I are here to help. Feel free to reach out below. We’re here to help and listen and see if this path could be right for you.

Email: candidates@cameron-brooks.com 
Call: 210-874-1500
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