When Ramón “CZ” Colón-López handed over the flag as Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, there was no prolonged farewell tour, no gradual easing out of the spotlight. The ceremony ended. He took off the uniform. He got in his car and headed home.
“I knew I was done,” Colón-López told Military.com. “I was no longer the SEAC. I was just Ray Colón-López again.”
For many senior leaders, that moment, the transition from the highest enlisted position in the U.S. military back to civilian life, can be disorienting. Identity, purpose, and routine often collide all at once. But Colón-López’s transition was anything but abrupt. It was deliberate, thoughtful, and, in many ways, a reflection of how he approached leadership throughout his career.
In a wide-ranging interview with Military.com, former Senior Enlisted Advisor Ramón “CZ” Colón-López reflected on leadership, service, and why he felt compelled to write Carnivore Leadership.
Planning for Life After the Uniform — Years in Advance
Colón-López began preparing for life after military service nearly a decade before retirement. Long before the SEAC role, he and his wife, Janet, were already asking hard questions: Where do we want to live? What kind of life do we want? And just as important, what don’t we want to do?
That clarity mattered.
“The most important thing was that I never let the position become me,” he said. “I was filling the position. I wasn’t the position.”
It’s advice that resonates deeply with service members at every rank, especially those who enter the military young and spend decades defining themselves by their role, rank, or title. For Colón-López, identity always came first. Before he was an airman, before he was a command chief, before he was the SEAC, he was Ray Colón-López. And he knew he would be again.
That mindset, he believes, is one of the most powerful buffers against the loss of purpose that so many veterans experience during transition.
Staying Grounded at the Highest Levels
Leading at the senior-most enlisted level of the Department of Defense brings prestige, influence, and visibility, but also risk. The risk of ego. The risk of isolation. The risk of believing your own press.
Colón-López credits his wife, Janet, as his most important check on that reality.
“She was the one who would tell me, ‘Hey, you’re going about this the wrong way,’” he said. “That honesty at home created better leadership at work.”
Equally important was building teams willing to challenge him, people who would speak up when expectations weren’t realistic or when timelines weren’t achievable. That openness, he said, is what prevents leaders from drifting into entitlement or detachment.
At the strategic level, where decisions unfold over years rather than days, humility becomes operationally necessary.
Leading Up When Leadership Falls Short
Colón-López is candid about another reality many troops recognize immediately: not all leaders are good leaders.
He experienced it himself, as a junior airman, as a command chief, and everywhere in between. His response was never to complain, but to learn.
“I would strive to become the leader I wished I always had,” he said.
For those serving under ineffective leadership, his advice is simple but demanding: control what you can, lead where you are, and build credibility through competence and character. Progress, he believes, is often the most effective form of leadership upward.
From Experience to the Page: Why He Wrote Carnivore Leadership
Leadership books are everywhere. Colón-López knows that. But he also knows something else: theory alone doesn’t prepare people for responsibility under pressure.
That belief is what led him to write Carnivore Leadership, a blunt, experience-driven guide rooted in decades of operational leadership, not abstract frameworks.
The book evolved from a short leadership paper he wrote in 2012 while serving in special operations. Known originally as the “20 Silver Bullets,” the paper was meant for local professional development. A decade later, people were still using it.
That persistence told him something.
“We need more analog leadership,” Colón-López said. “Face-to-face. Clear expectations. Accountability. Tough conversations.”
In an era dominated by digital communication, metrics, and messaging, Carnivore Leadership argues for a return to fundamentals: humility, courage, intellect, and accountability. Leadership, he emphasizes, is hard, and pretending otherwise does a disservice to those stepping into it.
Leadership Isn’t a Position — It’s a Privilege
One of the book’s central themes challenges a common misconception: that leadership comes with rank.
“Position doesn’t create leadership,” Colón-López said. “Character does.”
He has seen leaders with authority but no credibility, and junior service members who led through example long before wearing stripes or bars. The difference, he says, is authenticity. People can sense when leadership is performative.
“You can smell it a mile away,” he said. “And once people see it, they don’t forget it.”
The antidote is simple, if uncomfortable: be yourself, accept failure, and take responsibility. Trust follows.
The Discipline of Leadership, Day by Day
Despite operating at the highest levels of the Pentagon, Colón-López relied on surprisingly simple tools: daily task cards and what he calls block management instead of time management.
“You can’t manage time,” he said. “You manage priorities.”
That approach allowed him to stay present, carving out moments for face-to-face engagement even in schedules dominated by senior leaders and snap meetings. People, he insisted, always came before process.
Continued Service Beyond the Uniform
Retirement didn’t end Colón-López’s commitment to service. Today, he remains deeply involved with organizations supporting service members and veterans, including the Robert Irvine Foundation and Miles for Military. He also travels extensively, speaking at installations and using Carnivore Leadership as a professional development tool for the next generation.
“There’s a lifelong expectation to give back,” he said. “And I intend to honor that.”
That sense of obligation is rooted in something deeper than duty. It’s about stewardship, of standards, of people, and of the profession itself.
Why Leadership Standards Still Matter
Colón-López is unapologetic about standards. In fact, he sees them as non-negotiable.
“If you get the standards right,” he said, “everything else falls into place.”
Lowering expectations to attract people, he argues, misunderstands why many choose to serve in the first place. Service members don’t want it easy. They want meaningful. They want hard things done well, and leaders who won’t compromise on what matters when the pressure is highest.
Lighting the Spark for What Comes Next
Asked why Carnivore Leadership matters now, Colón-López doesn’t hesitate.
“It’s short. It’s direct. It doesn’t sugarcoat leadership,” he said. “And it tells you exactly how hard it’s going to be — and how to do it anyway.”
For a military navigating generational change, evolving threats, and increasing complexity, that message lands with clarity. Leadership, he insists, isn’t about comfort or recognition. It’s about responsibility, and being willing to carry it, long after the uniform comes off.
