Jan Rutherford is a former Green Beret medic, founder of Self-Reliant Leadership, wilderness expedition leader, and author of the book, The Littlest Green Beret.

Jan’s expertise in grit and resilience come from the business world, the military and academia; but his philosophy is from a confluence of Sparta’s discipline, Socrates’ self-awareness, Aristotle’s courage, Emerson’s self-reliance, and Thoreau’s reflective seclusion.

His coaching and speaking work also includes leading expeditions with executives and military veterans, and sharing leadership insights from those experiences.


This series is produced by The Human Impact Studio of TA Group Holdings, a veteran-owned firm, in partnership with NuWest Healthcare which is staffing hundreds of travel nurses for the coronavirus response across the nation. The series is dedicated to our brave nurses and healthcare workers.