Why Leadership Starts with You: Mike Vincent on Identity, Strength, and Service

After two decades in the Marine Corps, Mike Vincent didn’t chase a new title—he answered a deeper calling. Now co-leading Kaleo Coaching, he helps leaders move from burnout to clarity by aligning with their strengths and leading from identity. In this Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight, Mike shares how shifting from ambition to service unlocked lasting impact—not just for him, but for entrepreneurs, veterans, and educators navigating high-stakes transitions. His journey reminds us that clarity often follows action, and true leadership begins when we stop trying to be everything and start becoming more of who we already are.

Hi, Mike Vincent! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?

Kaleo Coaching helps leaders and teams gain clarity, build resilience, and lead with purpose.

We serve entrepreneurs, business owners, educators, veterans, and small teams—especially those navigating transitions or seeking sustainable growth.

As ICF and Gallup-Certified CliftonStrengths coaches and with a Marine Veteran, we equip people to lead from their natural wiring. Whether through workshops, 1:1 coaching, or team development, we help clients turn their lived experience into insight, their strengths into strategy, and their work into calling.

The impact? People stop running on empty and start leading from identity—making better decisions, creating healthier cultures, and multiplying their energy where it matters most.

Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.

The moment I knew I had crossed from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur was when I stopped chasing my preferences and started answering a real need.

My calling didn’t come as a lightning bolt—it came through changing circumstances. My family, my community, and our small business needed someone who could lead with clarity, consistency, and care.

And I realized: that’s what the Marine Corps had prepared me for all along.

I wasn’t launching something just for myself—I was showing up for others. That shift—from ambition to service—is when the work got real… and deeply rewarding.

Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.

It wasn’t one moment, it was more of a convergence.

After two decades in the Marine Corps and years around small business, I found myself at a crossroads: people were burned out, disconnected, and disoriented, not for lack of effort, but for lack of alignment.

I kept hearing the same questions from business owners, veterans, and community leaders:

“How do I lead well without burning out?” “How do I help my team rise?” “How do I find purpose in the work in front of me?”

That’s when I knew it was time to come alongside my brother who had started Kaleo Coaching.

Not to chase a title, but to create a space where people could reconnect with their strengths, rediscover their voice, and lead with conviction.

That’s the mission. And it still fuels me every day.

Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?

The CliftonStrengths assessment has been the single most transformative tool in our business.

It gives people a precise language for how they naturally think, work, and lead—and that clarity is everything.

At Kaleo Coaching, we use it to help clients pivot from burnout to alignment, from guesswork to confidence. When a leader understands their top strengths, they can stop trying to be everything to everyone—and start showing up as themselves with purpose and power.

It’s not just a personality test. It’s a blueprint for energy, clarity, and sustainable leadership.

We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.

One of the hardest pivot points in my life was stepping away from further career progression in the Marine Corps.

I had the credentials, the momentum, and the opportunity to keep climbing, but something deeper told me my calling was shifting.

My family needed me. My community needed leaders outside the uniform. And I realized that success isn’t always about going further...it’s about going truer.

That moment of letting go became the launch point. Now, I help others navigate those same crossroads with clarity, strength, and purpose.

What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?

At Kaleo Coaching, one of the most unconventional strategies we’ve embraced is this: we don’t tell people what to do.

Instead, we help them ask better questions.

While most coaching and leadership training leans on advice, templates, and “how-to” models, we focus on self-awareness, decision-making energy, and strengths-based orientation.

This approach feels slower at first—but it scales infinitely better. Because when people own their mindset, their language, and their energy, they stop waiting for instructions and start leading from within.

That’s the difference between compliance and conviction. And it’s why our clients don’t just change their behavior—they change their trajectory.

What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?

I wish I had known that clarity doesn’t come before action—it comes through action.

In entrepreneurship, as in warfighting, waiting for certainty can stall your growth and progress.

The best advice I’d give? Start with what you know your community is asking of you, move toward the doors that are opening in front of you, regardless of your preferences, and find what feels aligned, and trust that clarity will meet you along the way.

That’s why, at Kaleo Coaching, we help people orient around their strengths—so even if they don’t have all the answers, they have the energy to take the next step.

Want to dive deeper into Mike's work? Check out the links below!

• Visit Kaleo Coaching's website: kaleocoaching.com
• Connect with Mike Vincent on LinkedIn: Mike Vincent
• Find Mike Vincent on Facebook.