There's no magic formula to get past your fears, says retired Marine pilot Dave Berke, pictured. Courtesy of David Berke I was scared a lot during my 23 years as a fighter pilot and forward air controller in the Marine Corps.

I was scared of crashing, of being wounded, and of dying. I was scared of failing. I would love to tell you I developed a mantra, or a breathing ritual, or a magic formula that got me over those fears.

But I didn't.

When I led Marines in combat, they were scared, too. I would love to tell you that I offered some motivating words that pushed them into the fight.

But I didn't.

In Hollywood, the home team wins the game thanks to the coach's inspirational speech, and the troops hold the line thanks to the general's heroic sermon.

In real life, when fear, fatigue, and doubt set in, no speech can provide the motivation you need to keep going. The only thing you and your team can rely on is discipline.

"Discipline Equals Freedom" is Jocko Willink's formula for achieving success. I worked with Jocko in Iraq, where he preached the importance of discipline as commander of SEAL Team Three's Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated special operations unit of the war. Now I work with Jocko at the leadership consulting company Echelon Front, and he still talks about discipline. He says it is the most important characteristic; the root of all other qualities. He's right, and he's not alone in his thoughts.

Discipline is cherished in the Marine Corps. We cultivate it in everything we do, from how we fight to how we dress, cut our hair, and clean our rooms.

When I was an instructor at Top Gun, the Navy's fabled Fighter Weapons School, discipline — in preparation, execution, and debrief — separated the best pilots from the rest.

Now that I have retired from the military, I see that discipline also provides a template for what businesses should identify and develop in their employees. More than any other quality, discipline is what drives a person to succeed when faced with adversity. And that's what the real world is: adversity.

Long before I taught at Top Gun, I dreamed of flying fighters aboard an aircraft carrier. I loved my initial carrier qualification, and thrived despite the extremely demanding environment. I was selected to fly the F/A-18 Hornet, and every time I climbed into the cockpit my passion for flying, my desire to succeed and my confidence grew. Then, with only two days of training left aboard the supercarrier USS Constellation, I had to land on it at night for the first time.

And it absolutely terrified me.

Retired Marine pilot Dave Berke in 2010. Staff Sgt. Christine Polvorosa/US Marine Corps Literally overnight, my motivation evaporated – as did most of my interest in spending a career flying from a carrier. For the first time in my life, flying wasn't fun. I realized that the dream job was just that: a job. And it was a job that was going to require me to do things I didn't enjoy or find easy.

Fear can debilitate a carrier aviator, especially in combat. To succeed, I had to get past it. My self-discipline was all that I could rely on, and I needed every ounce that I had.

All told, over the next four years I completed more than 120 nighttime carrier landings, often following combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. I hated each and every one of them. No amount of motivation, visualization, or familiarization made me comfortable as I descended towards a faint string of lights in a sea of black. Night landings remained an unrewarding, unfulfilling, and constant misery. But they were necessary, so I did them.

When I returned to Iraq in 2006, I traded my F/A-18 Hornet for an M-4 Carbine. Although my image of Navy SEALs slinging machine guns and clearing buildings was realized through my experience with Task Unit Bruiser, that kind of excitement was relatively rare.

Most of my time was spent with men like Chris Kyle, who would sit next to me on rooftops, motionless for hours, observing the city through the scope of his rifle. Day in and day out, I watched him do the tedious, thankless, and unrewarding work they don't show you in recruitment videos or movies. Few things can sap your motivation and focus like Ramadi's suffocating dust and 115 degree heat. The only thing that gets you through an environment like that is discipline. And although that discipline often goes unrecognized, it doesn't go unrewarded: It allowed Chris to save countless lives and made him the most successful sniper in SEAL history.

Discipline's value transcends the battlefield. Discipline drives you to do the work you don't enjoy, but is required. Discipline conquers fear. Discipline keeps you going when your curiosity, motivation, and excitement evaporate.

At Top Gun, the pilots most likely to be invited back as instructors were the ones with the most discipline. They were the ones who did the tedious research to prepare for a brief. They were the ones who never cut short a debrief until every learning point had been identified. They were the ones who outperformed their more talented peers because they worked harder and longer.

Retired Marine pilot Dave Berke speaks at Echelon Front's Muster 002 event in New York in 2017. Echelon Front In business, I work with leaders trying to build a team by recruiting and hiring the right people. Those leaders are often looking for motivated individuals. My advice to them is simple: Motivation is a good quality — but it's not the most important. Hire people who are disciplined.

If you want someone who will handle adversity, find someone who is disciplined.

If you want someone who will conquer fear, find someone who is disciplined.

If you want someone who will never lie, cheat, or steal, find someone who is disciplined.

If you want someone who will do the tedious, thankless, and essential work, find someone who is disciplined.

If you want someone who will commit to doing everything necessary to win, find someone who is disciplined.

When you find these people, hire them. You will have employees who aren't just motivated, but who will have the discipline to put in all the work required to be successful — and that is the key to winning.