Scott McCarthy

Scott McCarthy is a senior military leader, leadership coach, and host of the long-running Peak Performance Leadership podcast. With more than two decades of experience leading in high-pressure, real-world environments, Scott has commanded teams ranging from small operational units to large, complex organizations with multimillion-dollar budgets.

He is the founder of Moving Forward Leadership, where he works with managers, executives, and business owners who are tired of leadership theory and want practical clarity they can actually apply. Scott’s work is grounded in lived experience, not buzzwords. He focuses on three core domains of leadership: leading yourself, leading your team, and leading your organization.

Scott’s writing is direct, honest, and intentionally unpolished. He challenges the idea that leaders ever “figure it all out,” arguing instead that self-awareness, discipline, and humility are the real markers of effective leadership.

His debut book, You Don’t Know Sh*t About Leadership: And Neither Do I, reflects that philosophy—stripping away romanticized views of leadership and replacing them with hard-earned lessons from the field.

Scott lives in Canada with his family and continues to serve while building a leadership practice designed for people who want to lead well without pretending to be perfect.