Brigadier General (Ret.) Paul Peters
Leadership Advisor | Special Operations & Executive Development
Paul Peters spent over 30 years leading at the intersection of strategy and execution, more than 25 of them inside U.S. Special Operations Forces. That experience shaped everything he now teaches about leadership. His core belief: organizations don’t become high-performing. People do. High-performing organizations are simply the byproduct of high-performing people who trust one another, communicate clearly, make sound decisions, and execute with discipline.
As Deputy Commanding General of 1st Special Forces Command, Paul served as the second-in-command of a 23,000-person organization focused on readiness, human performance, and complex system integration. He directed U.S.-Iraq military engagement as head of the Military Advisory Group in Iraq, overseeing more than $500 million in security cooperation efforts, and commanded the 19th Special Forces Group, with operations around the globe. Over the course of his career he visited more than 35 countries. He led through combat, crisis, and conditions where information was incomplete and the cost of a wrong decision was high.
Today, Paul teaches and advises on a developmental framework he built around eight stages: Becoming, Leadership, Trust, Clarity, Decision, Execution, Growth, and Legacy. Leadership, team performance, and organizational performance all flow downstream from who the leader has become. Paul works with universities, companies, and individual executives to build trust that holds under pressure, create clarity inside chaos, make sound decisions with imperfect information, and execute once the decision is made.
His teaching comes from lived experience: operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, moments where trust was tested and rebuilt, expeditions where preparation and judgment made the difference between success and failure. As he puts it, leadership is clearing away the storm, the chaos, and the complexity so people can see what matters, what is right, and what is needed, then leading them through it.
Paul holds an MSS from the U.S. Army War College, an MBA from Westminster College, and a BS from the University of Utah. His military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Combat Infantryman’s Badge. He is a Special Forces-qualified Green Beret and holds a Top Secret clearance with SCI access.
Paul is a seasoned mountaineer, having summited Mt. McKinley (Denali), Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Kilimanjaro, Mount Rainier, and the Grand Teton. He is currently preparing for an attempt on Mount Everest, applying the same preparation, resilience, and judgment under uncertainty that have defined his military and professional career.
