How the Army prepared Proterra CEO Ryan Popple to go from tanks to Tesla to electric buses – CEO guides company down a green path

The most important thing I learned in the Army was just values around leadership. All of the military services, not just the Army, stress that leadership is a privilege. It’s a huge responsibility. You don’t do it because it’s comfortable or because it’s access to some sort of benefit. We had a really great culture in our unit. We had little rules in our unit like, you never ate before an enlisted soldier. If you were a platoon leader, and you pulled into an assembly area — and there was actually hot food — one of the first lessons we stressed to the new platoon leaders is make sure all of your soldiers have gotten a plate of food, gotten water. If there’s anything left, then the last one to eat is the lieutenant, and then the captain eats.

By Louis Hansen, [email protected]

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