{"id":"guest:283","sourceProfileId":276,"slug":"andrew-sridhar","name":"Andrew Sridhar","headline":"Bullied Kid Called \"Feivel\" Became a Navy SEAL Class Leader, Hunted Qaddafi's Billions, and Built AI at Amazon","bio":"Andrew Sridhar is a former Navy SEAL, Harvard MBA, and executive coach who has spent his career navigating the intersection of high performance and human vulnerability. After earning a Bronze Star with Combat V during two combat deployments in Iraq, Sridhar transitioned from military service to the corporate world, where he held leadership positions at Amazon Alexa AI, Capital One, and Wayfair. His unique background as the son of an Indian immigrant and Irish Catholic mother shaped his perspective on identity and belonging from an early age.\n\nSridhar's military career began at the Naval Academy, where he nearly left due to injury before finding his calling in SEAL training. He became class leader of Class 244, where only 30 of 220 men survived Hell Week. His service in Iraq, where his mixed heritage allowed him to blend in with local interpreters and build trust with Iraqi forces, demonstrated his ability to leverage diversity as a strategic advantage. After military service, he earned his MBA from Harvard Business School before moving into technology and finance roles managing billions in global operations.\n\nToday, Sridhar operates as an executive coach through his practice, The Warrior Poet, specializing in helping high-performing leaders navigate pressure without sacrificing their humanity. He is refreshingly open about his personal struggles, including ADHD, anxiety, and divorce as a single father of three children. His coaching philosophy challenges conventional leadership wisdom, arguing that concepts like psychological safety are overrated and that true performance comes from building resilience rather than comfort. Sridhar's approach combines the mental toughness developed through elite military training with a deep understanding of the emotional and psychological costs of high performance, making him a unique voice in executive development and leadership coaching.","originalBio":"Andrew Sridhar is a former Navy SEAL, Harvard MBA, and executive coach who has spent his career navigating the intersection of high performance and human vulnerability. After earning a Bronze Star with Combat V during two combat deployments in Iraq, Sridhar transitioned from military service to the corporate world, where he held leadership positions at Amazon Alexa AI, Capital One, and Wayfair. His unique background as the son of an Indian immigrant and Irish Catholic mother shaped his perspective on identity and belonging from an early age.\n\nSridhar's military career began at the Naval Academy, where he nearly left due to injury before finding his calling in SEAL training. He became class leader of Class 244, where only 30 of 220 men survived Hell Week. His service in Iraq, where his mixed heritage allowed him to blend in with local interpreters and build trust with Iraqi forces, demonstrated his ability to leverage diversity as a strategic advantage. After military service, he earned his MBA from Harvard Business School before moving into technology and finance roles managing billions in global operations.\n\nToday, Sridhar operates as an executive coach through his practice, The Warrior Poet, specializing in helping high-performing leaders navigate pressure without sacrificing their humanity. He is refreshingly open about his personal struggles, including ADHD, anxiety, and divorce as a single father of three children. His coaching philosophy challenges conventional leadership wisdom, arguing that concepts like psychological safety are overrated and that true performance comes from building resilience rather than comfort. Sridhar's approach combines the mental toughness developed through elite military training with a deep understanding of the emotional and psychological costs of high performance, making him a unique voice in executive development and leadership coaching.","portrait":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/twin-portraits/1781345159648-dc3011217882-andrew-sridhar-twin-1781345159647.jpg","originalHeadshot":"https://app.conversationos.live/api/public/guest-photo/andrew-sridhar.jpg","topics":["Center Stage","Navy SEAL Leadership","Executive Coaching","Military-to-Corporate Transition","Performance Under Pressure","Elite Team Building","Mental Health in High Performance","Leadership Philosophy","Combat Operations","Technology Leadership","Crisis Management"],"expertise":[],"product":"center-stage","socialLinks":{"linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewsridhar/","instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/andrewsridhar/","youtube":"https://www.youtube.com/@AndrewSridhar","website":"https://www.thewarriorpoet.com"},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewsridhar/","https://www.instagram.com/andrewsridhar/","https://www.youtube.com/@AndrewSridhar","https://www.thewarriorpoet.com"],"appearances":[{"showName":"Mornings in the Lab","segment":"Center Stage","date":"2026-04-29","sourceUrl":"","videoId":null}],"primaryVideoId":"NuiznpWi5WU","primaryTitle":"","episodeNumber":"","authoritySegment":"","clips":[{"videoId":"NuiznpWi5WU","title":"FIEVEL","quote":"I was a skinny, scrawny kid, you know, who who, you know, was bullied a little bit on my soccer team, called Five Hole, the the Disney character back in the day.","description":"How childhood bullying and being called 'Fievel' shaped his path to becoming a Navy SEAL.","thumbnail":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NuiznpWi5WU/hqdefault.jpg"},{"videoId":"NuiznpWi5WU","title":"ENGINEERING DEGREE","quote":"And all she does is ask me if I have an engineering degree or not. Like, she doesn't care about any of my SEAL experience, all the other stuff I've done.","description":"The moment at Harvard when military credentials meant nothing in the corporate world.","thumbnail":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NuiznpWi5WU/hqdefault.jpg"},{"videoId":"NuiznpWi5WU","title":"DON'T BE HAPPY","quote":"Don't be happy, be useful... happiness can can bleed into just transitory states, short-term things that are very dopamine heavy","description":"Why the former Navy SEAL believes pursuing happiness is the wrong goal.","thumbnail":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NuiznpWi5WU/hqdefault.jpg"}],"insights":[{"eyebrow":"IDENTITY FORMATION","quote":"I was a skinny, scrawny kid, you know, who who, you know, was bullied a little bit on my soccer team, called Five Hole, the the Disney character back in the day.","context":"Sridhar's early experience being called 'Fievel' shaped his understanding of how labels and mockery can either break someone or become the foundation for transformation.","topic":"Childhood and Identity","timestamp":null},{"eyebrow":"MILITARY INSPIRATION","quote":"My dad's from India and my grandfather on my mom's side was World War II era, wanted to serve, but got disqualified, I think because of flat feet or something like that. And so, he he volunteered in a Navy shipyard in New York City area so he could do something.","context":"The military service tradition in his family, combined with his immigrant father's patriotism, created the foundation for Sridhar's decision to serve.","topic":"Military Heritage","timestamp":null},{"eyebrow":"SELECTION VS TRAINING","quote":"It's the harshest filter that I think is known to man and they're finding the people who already have it... One instructor put it this way in advanced training. He's like, 'You guys know nothing. All all that we know about you is that you're trainable.'","context":"Sridhar explains that elite military training doesn't create resilience—it identifies those who already possess it, then makes them trainable for complex missions.","topic":"Military Training Philosophy","timestamp":null},{"eyebrow":"HUMANIZING HEROES","quote":"I think there's a little risk in making us seem like we're not human, like we're not normal people... I can't count the number of of SEAL brothers, other military folks from the Naval Academy that I was close with who committed suicide, right?","context":"Sridhar pushes back against the superhuman narrative around special forces, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging mental health struggles within elite military communities.","topic":"Mental Health in Military","timestamp":null},{"eyebrow":"CORPORATE REALITY CHECK","quote":"I go up, everyone's wait then then it's the queue of people waiting to talk to the person... And all she does is ask me if I have an engineering degree or not. Like, she doesn't care about any of my SEAL experience, all the other stuff I've done.","context":"At Harvard, Sridhar learned that military credentials don't automatically translate to corporate success—he had to prove himself in civilian terms and acquire new technical skills.","topic":"Career Transition","timestamp":null},{"eyebrow":"LEADERSHIP MYTHS","quote":"If you go on social media in the leadership space... you would very quickly think that like the key to building elite teams and doing awesome things is psychological safety... if you go to a pro sports team or you go to a SEAL team, like how often are they stressing psychological safety, right?","context":"Sridhar challenges the overemphasis on psychological safety in modern leadership discourse, arguing that elite teams succeed through different mechanisms than comfort and validation.","topic":"Leadership Philosophy","timestamp":null},{"eyebrow":"INTERNAL WORK","quote":"I tailor my executive coaching for founders and and other high ambitious folks to what they need... if you can't be uncomfortable, if you procrastinate, if you're constantly resentful of other people, if you've got to be the smartest person in the room all the time, like those are those are all internal issues that we have to work through.","context":"As an executive coach, Sridhar focuses on addressing internal psychological barriers that prevent high performers from reaching their potential, rather than just teaching technical skills.","topic":"Executive Coaching","timestamp":null},{"eyebrow":"JOY VS HAPPINESS","quote":"Don't be happy, be useful... happiness can can bleed into just transitory states, short-term things that are very dopamine heavy... meanwhile joy and and peace... as you mature, I feel like we all realize we want more of that.","context":"Sridhar distinguishes between temporary dopamine hits and deeper fulfillment, advocating for focus on purpose and contribution over momentary pleasure.","topic":"Life Philosophy","timestamp":null}],"quotes":["It's the harshest filter that I think is known to man and they're finding the people who already have it.","Don't be happy, be useful.","I think there's a little risk in making us seem like we're not human, like we're not normal people.","Everything I've done is great, but it's what what have you done for me lately and I got to play the game everyone else is playing.","Psychological safety is necessary but not sufficient."],"faqs":[{"question":"What's the difference between SEAL training building resilience versus finding it?","answer":"According to Sridhar, SEAL training doesn't teach resilience—it identifies people who already have it. The training is 'the harshest filter known to man' that reveals who possesses the mental toughness required, then makes those individuals trainable for complex operations. It's a selection process disguised as education, where only those with pre-existing grit survive the seven months of intense pressure."},{"question":"Why does Sridhar believe psychological safety is overrated in leadership?","answer":"Sridhar argues that psychological safety has become overhyped on social media and in leadership circles, creating the false impression that it's the key to building elite teams. He points out that high-performing organizations like pro sports teams and SEAL units don't focus primarily on psychological safety. While he acknowledges it's necessary, he believes it's not sufficient for creating excellence and that leaders have misplaced priorities about what actually drives performance."},{"question":"How did Sridhar's background help him during military deployments in Iraq?","answer":"Sridhar's mixed Indian-Irish heritage became an unexpected strategic advantage during his Iraq deployments. Iraqi army personnel thought he was the cousin of their interpreter, Johnny Walker, especially when he grew facial hair. This physical resemblance, combined with his efforts to learn Arabic, helped him build trust and credibility with local forces in ways that traditional American soldiers might not have been able to achieve."},{"question":"What's Sridhar's approach to executive coaching for high performers?","answer":"Sridhar tailors his coaching to address internal psychological barriers that prevent high performers from reaching their potential. Rather than focusing solely on technical skills like decision-making or strategy, he works on underlying issues like discomfort tolerance, procrastination, resentment, and the need to be the smartest person in the room. He believes these internal struggles are the real obstacles to peak performance in ambitious leaders."},{"question":"How does Sridhar distinguish between happiness and joy?","answer":"Sridhar views happiness as transitory, dopamine-heavy states that can be purchased or manufactured temporarily—like buying ice cream. Joy, on the other hand, is deeper and more sustainable, often coming from meaningful bonds, special time with children, or building something meaningful. He advocates for focusing on usefulness rather than happiness, believing that as people mature, they naturally seek more joy, peace, and equanimity rather than momentary pleasures."},{"question":"What does Sridhar mean by not making military veterans seem superhuman?","answer":"Sridhar warns against mythologizing military veterans as superhuman because it creates two problems: it prevents suffering veterans from seeking help, and it makes their achievements seem unattainable to others. He emphasizes that he was just 'a skinny, scrawny kid' who was bullied, and that anyone can achieve extraordinary things if they're willing to pursue them. He also highlights the suicide rate among his SEAL colleagues to underscore that elite performers are still vulnerable humans."}],"transcript":"The worst thing someone ever called you\ncan become the sentence you spend years\ntrying to outgrow. You don't just move\npast it. You build around it. You build\nover it. Sometimes you build against it.\nFor Andrew Shridhar, that sentence had a\nname, Fievel, the immigrant mouse. He\nwas a half-Indian, half-Irish Catholic\nkid in Daytona Beach. That joke was\nmeant to make him small. Today, he puts\nthat story first, before the medal,\nbefore Harvard, before Amazon. That\nchoice matters because every chapter\ncarried the same question. Who gets to\ndecide what his name means? At the Naval\nAcademy, he almost left. Injury forced\nhim to start over. Then class 244\nhappened. 220 men entered Hell Week. 30\nmade it through. Shri became the class\nleader. He served two combat deployments\nin Iraq and earned a Bronze Star with\nCombat V. After the military, he kept\nstarting over in new rooms, Harvard,\nWall Street, Amazon Alexa AI, and later\nCapital One and Wayfair. Behind all that\nperformance, he's still a human being.\nHe's divorced, a single dad of three,\nand open about ADHD and anxiety. Through\nthe Warrior Poet, he now coaches leaders\nwho perform under pressure without\nhiding what pressure costs. So today,\nwe're not asking how impressive Shri is.\nWe're asking who he became after the\nlabels stopped working. Patient, please\nwelcome Andrew to Mornings in the Lab.\nWe're happy to have you here today.\nHoney, Shri was once called the bully\nkid called Fievel, and then he became a\nNaval Academy graduate talking about\nsome ADHD. Oh, hold on, there's a\n[ __ ] squirrel over here. Hold on.\nAh, that's my ADHD coming on.\nThe Jimmy, let's Kyle, let's bring him\nup. Let's bring in Andrew Shri Shridhar.\nWhat's going on, Andrew? Hey guys, how\nare you? Good. How are you, buddy?\nAwesome to be here. I love the energy\nhere. Dude, so I got to tell you, man. I\nJohnny, I'm suspecting right now\nas handsome as he is, I think he's\nactually a pretty smart [ __ ] I\nI I'm I'm just suspecting that somebody\nwho does the Navy SEAL stuff and John,\nwe've talked to a couple Navy SEAL\ndudes, ends up in Harvard and done some\ncrazy stuff, I think he might be maybe a\nlittle more smarter than he is handsome.\nAnd Let's see if he can answer a\nquestion that that you had for\neverybody.\nThat I I thought that I answered pretty\nwell, but let's just let's see if our\nman cuz he's a he understands the\nmilitary. So, Keith says the other day,\nyou know,\nwe got a green beret coming on the show.\nHe goes, but they all get the green\nhats. How can you tell them apart?\nDo you have an answer for that?\nI I don't have an answer for that.\n>> I kind of didn't either. I was kind of\nlike, are you [ __ ] kidding me? Yeah.\nNo, they they they tend to look more\nsimilar than than us, I guess. Yeah.\nAndrew, where you joining us from today,\nbrother? I'm in Washington, D.C. area.\nOf course you are. Of course you are.\nDude, I'm excited to have you here\ntoday, man, because your story is pretty\nexceptional. Like you talk about going\nfrom here to here,\nlike usually you got a guy who does\nHarvard, but you got a guy who's like\nNavy SEAL, the exceptional of the\nexceptional, and then makes his way\nthrough tour. First of all, thank you\nfor that. And then you end up being a\nHarvard MBA. Like where do you want to\nstart the journey, Andrew? How did you\nFirst of all, how did you end up in the\nNavy?\nGreat question. So, my my dad's from\nIndia and my grandfather on my mom's\nside was World War II era, wanted to\nserve, but got disqualified, I think\nbecause of flat feet or something like\nthat.\n>> Yeah.\n>> And so, he he volunteered in a Navy\nshipyard in New York City area so he\ncould do something. But yeah, my like a\nlot of immigrants to the US, my dad was\none of the patriotic most patriotic\npeople you could find and was watching\nwar movies and stuff like that like dads\ndid\nback then and got inspired. My my best\nfriend growing up on our cul-de-sac, his\ngrandfather had had assaulted the\nbeaches of Normandy in D-Day and he was\ntalking about that. So, yeah, that was\nthe beginning of my journey there. Yeah,\nhow could you not be inspired if you're\nbeing raised by those stories?\nYeah. Like how could you not be inspired\nby that anyways? Well, Keith, one thing\nyou said\nNavy SEAL to what was it? Harvard?\nForget it.\n>> Yeah. Yeah. Harvard. Well, my man will\nwill confirm this up, but I'm guessing\nthat\nyou go through something like Navy SEAL\ntraining or any really brutal type of\ntraining, they've just given you the\nskill set to do whatever the [ __ ] you\nwant in life.\n>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, yes, and like like\nthe improv people, you know, teach yes,\nand I think it's a little bit of a\nmisnomer that they're teaching you grit\nand they're teaching you resilience.\nLike you definitely do\nhone those skills through that process,\nbut at the same time\n>> finding the people that have it. Yes.\n>> You either have it or you don't. We're\non camera.\nYes.\nYeah, it's it's the harshest filter that\nI think is known to man and they're\nfinding the people who already have it.\n>> Cuz you put the three of us into that\ninto that Buds training. Let's just do\nthree of us for example. It's not so\nmuch discovering whether we are, it's\ndiscovering who has it. Yeah, exactly.\nLike they're not going to teach the\nthree of us how to be resilient. It's\nokay, we're going to put the three of\nyou guys there. Bill is is dropping out,\nAnderson is dropping out and there's\nstill three standing. That's basically\nhow it works, right? Yeah, I mean, well,\nyou know, one one instructor put it this\nway in advanced training. He's like,\n\"You guys know nothing. All all that we\nknow about you is that you're\ntrainable.\" Like after after 7 and 1/2\nmonths of what some describe and I like\nto describe as getting kicked in the\nnuts every day all day\nfor about 7 months. And and there's no\nthere's no like people sitting in a\nclass doing the breath work and\nmeditation even though I I think those\nthings are valuable. It's not skills\nbuilding in that sense. It's just yeah,\nseeing who has it. Johnny. Well, I've\nhad\nI've met many Navy SEALs over my life,\nright? And I've learned as I've met them\ngoing forward,\nyou can pretty much tell the the ones\nthat were actual SEALs versus the ones\nthat claim it. Because the ones that\nclaimed it, Mhm. their life's a [ __ ]\nmess.\nThe ones that actually did it,\nthey've [ __ ] orchestrated some pretty\namazing lives.\nThat I I That is true. I'm going I am\ngoing to pushing that a little bit\nthough, John. Like we're Well, it's a\nit's a I mean, it's a very small sample,\nfor sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah\nyeah. with the military. And I don't\nwant to take away from that. At the same\ntime,\nI think there's a little risk in making\nus seem like we're not human, like we're\nnot normal people. And And the risk\nthere is twofold, right? One is\nthat there are guys who are are really\nsuffering, who have been in special\noperations, have done best of the best\nsort of stuff. You know, I I I I can't\ncount the number of of\nSEAL brothers, other military folks from\nthe Naval Academy that I was close with\nwho committed suicide, right? Yeah.\nYou know, there's that. I want to shine\na light on that. Yeah. But But also,\nright? If we're If we're superhuman and\nwe've got these superpowers, like that's\nnot as moti- motivating to everyone\nelse, right? Like I was, you know, like\nin the intro, you know, I like I was a\nskinny, scrawny kid, you know, who who,\nyou know, was bullied a little bit on my\nsoccer team, called Five Hole, the the\nDisney character back in the day.\nYeah. No, and like\nI just wanted a thing, and I I went and\ngot it. And, you know, like I It sounds\ncheesy, but like everybody else can can\ndo that, too. Well, you know, people say\nlike we say superhuman.\nI think what it is is more of you've\njust been attached to what you're\ncapable of.\nI love that. That's interesting, yeah.\nHey, Johnny, can you imagine what you\nwere doing at 28? I know I can. I wasn't\nmaking some good decisions in life.\nWell, get this. So, after Harvard,\nAndrew ends up at the Command Global\nServices co-leading a global operations.\nDude, you're 28. We're talking 30 to 80\nbillions in diamonds, gold, and cash\nhitting around the world. Malta,\nGermany, the Middle East. You're 28 and\nyou're deputy director, head of finance,\nand lead contract negotiator. Like, how\ndo you, 28 years old, former Navy SEAL,\neven get that job?\nWell, I I'll talk I'll talk generally\nabout kind of the this the stuff I've\nI've done post-military and I remember\nbeing in a session, I call them\nafter-school specials at Harvard\nBusiness School. You know, and you go\nthrough your classes and it's great, but\nthen people come, companies, and they\ntry and court Harvard Business School,\nyou know, people are going to graduate\nsoon for internships or whatever. Oh,\nyeah. Yeah. And I remember I wanted to\nget into technology and entrepreneurial\nthings and\nthe Google folks come in\nand this lady, great presentation,\nthey've got alums there who are coming\nback talking about working at at these\ngreat companies and, you know, there\nwasn't Anthropic or anything. Like,\nGoogle was\nthe stuff back then.\n>> Yeah. Yes. And\nI go up, everyone's wait then then it's\nthe queue of people waiting to talk to\nthe person and kind of, you know, kiss\ntheir rear end a little bit and and make\nsome small talk to see if they can be\nremembered. And it's finally my turn and\nI I ask about being a product manager,\nwhich is not the not the most technical\nthing you can do, right? It's not an\nengineer or data scientist something\nlike that. And all she does is ask me if\nI have an engineering degree or not.\nLike, she doesn't care about any of my\nSEAL experience, all the other stuff\nI've done. It's just, do you have that\nor not? Well, no, actually, you know,\nyou should work in this other\ndepartment. Like, see you later and\nshe's like, talk to the next person. And\nit was so dismissive that, you know, I\nlearned like, hey, everything I've done\nis great, but it's what what have you\ndone for me lately and I got to play the\ngame everyone else is playing. So, it\nwas just baby stepping my way\nto more and more technical and more and\nmore complex things and just trying to\nget get the bonafides as I say. Andrew\nStree Cedar joining myself and John\nAnderson this morning. Andrew, you say\nthat psychological safety is overrated.\nYou say that introverts are not natural\nleaders. You say prioritization\nframeworks are mostly useless. Andrew,\nthose are three provocative statements.\nYeah, I'll try and keep them straight.\nYou can\nkeep me on track.\nI have my own ADHD. Yeah, I might get\ndistracted.\n>> psychological safety? What does that\nmean to you?\nSo I I believe Amy Cuddy is the the\nresearcher speaker responsible for for\nthat\nbody of work that concept and\npopularizing it and\npsychological safety means to me if you\nare on a team that\nyou can express your views and not be\nworried about other people judging them\nor Yeah, judging them and getting down\non you or or where or where you or your\nmental health and your career are not\nconstantly in danger. Yes, okay.\n>> good and that's important, right? I'm\nnot I'm not dismissing that. Okay. But\nif you go on social media\nin the leadership space Uh-huh. and and\nyou were naive and you knew nothing\nabout leadership you would very quickly\nthink that like the key to building\nelite teams and doing awesome things is\npsychological safety.\nAnd and the the reason for that is like\nthe internet at times can be really\nreally negative but in other places can\nbe toxically positive\nas I like to say and it's making people\nfeel good.\nThose are the things a lot of times that\ngo viral, right? And so psychological\nsafety makes people feel good because\nwe've all experienced, you know, bad\nexperiences in the workplace. And so\nthat's that's why I say it's vastly\noverrated. Like if you go to a pro\nsports team or you go to a SEAL team,\nlike how often are they stressing\npsychological safety, right? Is that the\nreal key to why those organizations are\nelite? Like that's it's laughable on its\nface.\n>> Oh, oh, but Andrew, so so we got to Dr.\nJohn Petzold jumping in here and you\nguys should meet actually. Dr. John's\none of the world's greatest [ __ ]\nprofessors. He's one of the members of\nthe lab here. He's out of he teaches out\nin the Carolinas. There Amy Edmondson,\nanother Harvard professor, initiated the\npsychological safety research. Andrew,\nyou made a statement there which is, you\nknow, in dress rooms or in Navy SEAL\nteams it is\nis it maybe just implied? Is that just a\ntrait of yours where your trait is you\njust know that like so I'll use the term\nsafe space. Is that okay? I'm hanging\nout with Keith and John. They're going\nto give me a safe space. I can be how I\nwant to be. I'm going to do how I'm\ngoing to be because I get a sense from\nthese guys\nthey operate in the same mindset as I\ndo. So while we are not we are not\nimplicitly speaking it,\nthere's just some maybe some\nsome assumptions that this is a safe\nspace. Hence we operate effectively. No?\nYeah. Well, thanks for correcting me by\nthe way. It's Amy Edmondson not Amy\nCuddy. So,\nsort of. Sort of, right? Like I I it's\nit's a great point you that and there\nthere is a lot of that implicit hey,\nwe're taking care of each other. I like\nYeah, but you know\nYeah. You know as a new guy SEAL get\nshown up to a SEAL team like, yeah, all\nthese guys are going to be hard on me,\nbut you know what? Like when we're in\ncombat Like John's got your back. John\nIf John's here, John's got your back.\nYou just know it. So it's not Is it you\nthough, Andrew? Yeah, so there's there's\na shared language, but like I don't\nthink new guys when they show up to a\nSEAL team are feeling psychological\nsafety. Like it's it's pretty stressful.\nLike\n>> Yes. By design, Yes.\n>> you're the low of the low at that point.\nAnd so I think I think the issue is that\npsychological safety is necessary but\nnot sufficient. It's like you're not\ngoing to become elite just through\npsychological safety and that's what I'm\ntrying to shine a lens on is that like\npeople have misplaced priorities\nin in what they think moves the needle.\nJohnny? When you when you say\npsychological,\njust let's define that so that word's\nnot being mis- misread or misunderstood\nin this conversation.\nYeah well\n>> Are you talking about just the one's\nfeeling of wellness, no matter what the\nsituation is?\nI I mean, to me that seems very\nplausible, right? Like, I didn't make up\nthe term, so I don't want to I don't\nwant to fight me and Ben Sasse. But, I\nthink also\n>> we judge just it, I agree. But, then I\njust want to make sure my definition\nwasn't different than what you were\nusing it your definition for this\nconversation. Sounds like we're on the\nsame point. I think I think I'm with\nyou.\nI do you point out something actually\nthat\nbothered me about this as well, which I\nthink the insertion of the term\npsychological is like both it's very\nit's sciency, right? Which gives it\ntraction, and it's vague enough where it\ncan mean whatever it's like a Rorschach\npainting of a concept, where it can mean\nto you whatever you want it to mean.\nWell, cuz my psychological safety then\ncomes from the fact that and it was\ndefinitely learned, but I wasn't born\nwith this.\nCame through development of myself.\nAnd it's basically no matter what no\nmatter how hard I get hit,\nI number one, I'm going to be okay.\nNumber two, I'm going to get I'll be\nbetter for that hard hit than if I what\ndidn't have the hard hit. So,\nthe hard is it's I don't want I mean,\ngranted, the getting hit hard getting\nhit hard hurts, but I know that I'll\nturn that pain into something better\nthan what I had before I started. That's\nwhere my psychological safety comes from\ncompletely completely within.\nSo, whatever setting I'm in, hit me.\nBecause it'll hurt, but I know I'll be\nbetter for it.\nWell, you know,\nGo ahead. Go ahead. No, Andrew, please,\nplease. Yeah. I was just going to say I\nI think that's I think that's a great\npoint John.\nI I think most people would call that\nresilience.\nAnd it's not that using the term\npsychological safety is wrong because\nthat those are two words that go\ntogether and they mean what you're\narticulating, but in the context of\nleadership like frameworks and things\nlike that, psychological safety is\nmostly used within the concept of what\nis the work environment like\nwithin which all these individuals are\nare operating. So, are we talking about\nsurviving cuz resilient to me says\nsurviving. I'll survive.\nThriving says I'm going to get better.\nTo me psychological safety doesn't to me\ndoesn't [ __ ] I'll survive. That doesn't\nfeel very safe to me.\nI'm going to thrive feels very safe to\nme. Yeah. I I mean I'm I'm aboard. I\nthink more more\n>> and I'm not brother that's I'm not at\nall questioning what you're saying. I\nlove what you said. Just kind of\ninteresting to break it down so people\ntruly understand the the conversation.\nWell, and Johnny our brother Petro jumps\nchimes in and says and I love it so it's\ngreat Andrew cuz Petro is always\nlistening. He's always offering his\nnuggets of fact and truth and he says,\n\"You know, psych safety is another\nconcept hyped up like it's the end all\nbe all similar to people who take more\nthan excessive amounts of vitamins that\nthey don't need.\"\nSo, very much the same thing, right?\nIt's like it's like setting up this\nspace that maybe I'm interpreting as\nsetting up a space that is not needed or\nit seems fake.\nIt can you can you can go to excess. You\ncould you could certainly go to excess,\nright? Speaking of excess, so you said\nthat Richard Strozzi said you asked the\ncoach and client if she deserved joy.\nAnd there was 30 seconds of dead\nsilence. You coach people on execution\nand performance.\nBut the question about joy isn't about\nperformance, it's about worth.\nSo,\nwhen you ask about that,\ndo you deserve joy? Do we deserve joy,\nAndrew?\nYeah. Every everyone deserves joy. It's\nanother interesting one, too, brother.\nBreak the joy up because joy and\nhappiness are two very different things.\nYeah, can go buy some happiness by\nbuying my grandson an ice cream and I\ncan buy that happiness for a moment.\nThat's not joy.\nYeah. Yeah. Well, I'll take a step back\nand John, if I if I don't get to your\npoint, then please bring me back. Number\none,\nI tailor my executive coaching for\nfounders and and other high ambitious\nfolks to what they need. Sometimes\nthat's purely work. Sometimes that's\npersonal stuff and and what we do in the\nend for everybody is working a lot of\ninternal stuff. Cuz that's that's where\nit starts, right? I can teach I can\nteach someone decision making. I can\nteach them negotiations. I can teach\nthem business strategy. But you know\nwhat? Like if you can't be\nuncomfortable, if you procrastinate, if\nyou're constantly resentful of other\npeople, if you've got to be the smartest\nperson in the room all the time, like\nthose are those are all internal issues\nthat we have to work through. And\nsometimes I like asking questions that\nseem obvious on their face, like do you\ndeserve joy? But sometimes those those\nquestions hit deeply. And for for that\nparticular client, she had a she had a\nlot of trouble with that. She couldn't\nlet herself enjoy the things that she\neven said that she enjoyed, right? Which\nis crazy, but that that affects a lot of\npeople. Like happiness to joy,\nwe can't we can't be happy all the time.\nWe can't be joyful all the time.\nAnd I I've kind of had a mantra lately\nof don't be happy, be useful.\nIt's based a little bit off of off of\nsome things Alex Hormozi has said. Like\nlike like him or hate him, he says a lot\nof wise stuff sometimes. [ __ ] yeah,\ndude. He's got a He's got a version of\nthat where he was struggling a lot.\nYeah, like happiness can can bleed into\njust transitory states, short-term\nthings that are very dopamine heavy, a\nlot of things that my mental health\nprofessional Jeff Boss, fellow CEO,\nwould call unproductive coping.\nAnd you know, meanwhile joy and and\npeace, to kind of use the the Christmas\nterms\nin a lot of songs, like like as you\nmature, I feel like we all realize we\nwant more of that. Right? We want more\nequanimity.\nWe want more calm in our minds, and to\nhave have those, you know, and joy is\nlike to me it's a feeling of euphoria.\nYes.\nWhere and it could it could come from\ndifferent places, right? It can come\nfrom just an amazing bond with a\nromantic partner, making come from, you\nknow, special time with your kids, or it\ncan come from like\nbuilding something cool.\nThat's yours.\n>> no, I like it, brother. You know, I feel\nlike for me personally, I I have to\nprotect my joy because there are there's\nthere's so much out there that that can\nliterally get in the way. Like my own\ncontrol of my own personal anxiety is\none of those things that I have to keep\na tab on or it will [ __ ] my joy up big\ntime.\nSomething I can enjoy, I can be like\ntotally doing it and not enjoying it\nbecause I've got some [ __ ]\nunidentified anxiety that I can't\n[ __ ] figure out what it is. So, at\nthat point I just got to stop and stop\nmyself and realize, okay, look,\nyou know, let's let's get the [ __ ]\nbrain on the right track. Look at all of\nthe [ __ ] that you are grateful and lucky\nand that you get I get my brain back on\nthe right foot.\nUsually that anxiety is something that\nwas [ __ ] Never even something I\nshouldn't even I didn't even know what\nit was in most cases, and but I guess\nwhat I'm getting at is if I don't\nprotect my joy, I won't have it.\nYeah. You know, so there's there are\nresearchers found that they looked at a\nthousand people that were stressed out\naround America looking for joy. You know\nwhat they did?\nThey did they surveyed 155,000\ntracks.\nLinkin Park number one band that brings\npeople more joy the last number of years\nto remove stress.\nTrue story. Yeah, just found a little\nfact here that Linkin Park is removing\nthe for humans who were looking for joy,\nwhich I found quite fascinating. Andrew\nI'm curious, too. I'm very curious if\nthey understand what joy really is,\nthough.\nWell, yeah. Well, you can give me this.\nWhat do you think, brother? Yeah.\n>> Well,\nGo ahead. Yeah, we in the there's three\nmain phases of buds. There's kind of a\nphase before the real stuff starts, but\n>> Buds like in cannabis buds or No, buds\nseal training. Bud Oh, so we're talking\ncannabis now. Sorry to interrupt you,\nbuddy. Hey, that was my ADHD taking over\nthere so.\n>> It's all good. I basic underwater\ndemolition seal training is what it was\ncalled. So, so yeah, in seal training,\nsecond phase, our our one of our main\ninstructors, he listened to that What\nwas it? Meteora? That like big Indian\nalbum?\nAll the time. So, so many of our\nworkouts on the beach were listening to\nthat album front to back over and over\nand over again.\nKeith Shawn and Shree hanging out this\nmorning on Morning to the Wild with\nKeith Shawn and friends. Shree, I want\nto be respectful of your time. I had you\nfor 30. We are going to talk a little\nbit about divorce in the top of the\nsecond hour. Are you Are you on Are you\nable to stick around or do you got to\nrock and roll out of here?\nI do have to rock and roll, but I will\ntell you guys it was it was a blast\nbeing here, and I would love to come\nback if you would have me. I can talk\nabout divorce. I've got all sorts of\nthoughts. We'd love to have you back on\nthat show.\n>> Yeah, bro. I love I mean, it's the\nconversation is [ __ ] really good,\nbrother. Yeah. Well, cuz it is it\nJohnny, you know, and just so it doesn't\nsound so loud instead of behind your\nback, I I I'm always searching for\ninteresting humans. I'm looking for\ninteresting humans on the planet. You\nare an interesting human. Just say that\nout loud. I'm not going to like So,\nJohnny, like a Navy SEAL guy, hunting\nMoammar Gaddafi's stuff, Amazon guy, AI\nguy, ADHD, divorce, three kids. Like you\ngot you got you got a dossier, my\nfriend. And I mean that as a compliment.\nLike you're not just uh\nLike you got you you've accomplished\n[ __ ] in your life. And you know, I got\nto say one thing that I'm really I'm\njust actually curious about, and I know\nyou got to rock and roll, but Yeah. So,\nan Indian fella in America\njoins the military, ends up in the\nMiddle East.\nI have to think\ntake this for how you want to take it.\nI'm paid to ask the tough questions. I\nhave to think your physical appearance\nis not being like the white guy\nworked to an advantage for you.\nYeah, so on in Iraq on on my a couple\ndeployments in Iraq, we had the same\ninterpreter each time. Yes. And he's got\na book. Johnny Walker was his alias.\nOkay. Um crazy story with him, but\nall of the Iraqi army folks that we were\nworking with, they all thought I was\nJohnny's cousin. So she when I when I\ngrew some facial hair out, she was\nalways happy.\nSo yeah, we're it worked a little bit. I\nlearned some Arabic and hopefully earned\na little trust I bet. I bet. I bet. And\nfor all we know Johnny, he's an\nintelligence operative here in North\nAmerica today. Andrew Street Sodar.\nOtherwise known as Five-O. All kidding\naside, brother, I've I've surely enjoyed\nyou here today, man. A great\nconversation with you. Thanks for\nhanging out. Yeah, I appreciate it,\nguys. This was this was a blast, truly.\nYou guys are also very interesting\npeople and I I need that. I get bored\neasily with with with some people and\nand not you guys by any means. Oh no,\nwe're not boring. No, definitely not\nboring. No, not to Johnny. You didn't\neven You didn't even hear about the\n[ __ ] farm work he threw out.\nOh,\noh Johnny's teasing Andrew to come back.\nYes, I agree. And and Andrew meet meet\nto John Pet Jelly John Pet Jelly. And\nAndrew says, I'd like to hear more from\nAndrew Sodar. Very interesting. I agree.\nAndrew, official invite to come back for\nround two, okay? Love it. I'm in. Let me\nknow. All right, Andrew's Andrew's out\nof here. Thank you, brother. Beautiful,\nbeautiful.","conversationTopics":[],"images":[{"url":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/announcement-cards/1781345161220-e2876f5ade91-andrew-sridhar-announcement-b3f43a2e.png","label":"Announcement card","description":"Pre-show shareable graphic generated by the Authority Page Builder.","type":"announcement_card"},{"url":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/story-plates/1781345166588-f81cfd5e91b3-andrew-sridhar-plate-1-375f2679.png","label":"IDENTITY FORMATION","description":"","type":"story"},{"url":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/story-plates/1781345188370-f697cb501de0-andrew-sridhar-plate-2-ddcc67ad.png","label":"MILITARY INSPIRATION","description":"","type":"story"},{"url":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/story-plates/1781345211167-79641fc2124d-andrew-sridhar-plate-3-1c93f873.png","label":"SELECTION VS TRAINING","description":"","type":"story"},{"url":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/story-plates/1781345231775-926250465ae6-andrew-sridhar-plate-4-f91d26b5.png","label":"HUMANIZING HEROES","description":"","type":"story"},{"url":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/story-plates/1781345254667-b255f6b3ee6c-andrew-sridhar-plate-5-02121bc3.png","label":"CORPORATE REALITY CHECK","description":"","type":"story"},{"url":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/story-plates/1781345274438-606f8b4d4add-andrew-sridhar-plate-6-9737a5ac.png","label":"LEADERSHIP MYTHS","description":"","type":"story"},{"url":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/story-plates/1781345296097-574a0ca3bd2b-andrew-sridhar-plate-7-ca3707c5.png","label":"INTERNAL WORK","description":"","type":"story"},{"url":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/story-plates/1781345317463-5a4246d168d9-andrew-sridhar-plate-8-4cb94b07.png","label":"JOY VS HAPPINESS","description":"","type":"story"}],"livingPortrait":"https://pub-176ab0b7668b46259a6c72d4ad146d40.r2.dev/transitions/1781345389622-4ba82515fbab-veo-1781345389622.mp4","heroVideo":"","heroPoster":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NuiznpWi5WU/maxresdefault.jpg","storyVideo":"","mediaKit":"","sourceUrl":"https://guestengine.live/profile/andrew-sridhar","publishedAt":"2026-04-25T13:35:38.560Z","publicationStatus":"published","canonicalUrl":"https://mornings.network/shows/center-stage/guests/andrew-sridhar","verifiedVideos":[{"status":"available","videoId":"NuiznpWi5WU","title":"Sri Sridhar: Bullied Kid to Navy SEAL Leader, Hunting Qaddafi's Billions & Building AI","channel":"Mornings in the Lab with Keith, Jon & Friends LIVE","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/@MorningsintheLab","thumbnail":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NuiznpWi5WU/hqdefault.jpg","verifiedAt":"2026-10-04T00:40:24.453245+00:00","evidence":"https://www.youtube.com/oembed?format=json&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuiznpWi5WU"}]}