[April 24, 2025] Growing up in rural Louisiana, my grandmother often told me to “put your brain in gear” … and she was one smart woman, as grandmothers are known to be. What she was trying to do was get me to think and engage with what was happening around me; I call it intellectual engagement. One afternoon while helping her, I got my arm entangled in an electric wringer washing machine – there is no safety shutoff. Needless to say, I had my first visit to a hospital emergency room as a young kid.
What I didn’t know at the time, and not for many years later as a leader, was that thinking and being engaged are hard work and tiring. Yet to be among the best at what you do requires a certain level of intellectual engagement that some folks are unable to achieve without assistance. That, in itself, is a problematic issue when we work in a structured environment where directives always come down from the “boss.”
As a senior leader, one of my most difficult challenges was getting colonels to think at the next level—to think beyond the tactical to the operational/strategic level. That required me to change the way we functioned by removing those things that inhibited us. But the same problem exists at all levels in any organization. All employees need to be thinking and engaged to provide a level of excellence in their service to the organization.
This meant removing business practices that inhibited our natural ability to think clearly and implementing ways to force us to be intellectually engaged. The current management concept for this is employee engagement, which is all about improving competence and efficiency. In particular, this is most important in a complex world that is changing rapidly.
In the military, the few among us who truly wanted our military personnel to “think and be engaged” were mostly in the combat arms; those fields of professionals that would directly engage the enemy in armed combat. Failure could mean death. We wanted a thinking, fighting force that could adjust to changing circumstances by knowing their job and the intent of the commander. Doing so required new ways of thinking for our military men and women, but many understood what we were trying to do.
We used a few modern management techniques, but what worked best was when we enforced methods that required people to think about what they were doing. Leaders shifted the burden of preparation to our subordinates using various techniques. Our people began to think about what they were required to do and prepare for it separately. This significantly increased the level of competence among our folks and made us all more successful.
————
————
Please read my books:
BIgmama for the win.
Yeah, I love the articles that include his grandmother “Big mama.” She must have been one heck of a woman.
Leftists will tell you that “forced” intellectual engagement or any “forced” anythiing, then it is RACIST. Go figure. Liberals are mentally retarded anyway and never listen to them or you will also go crazy. They hate everything, blame everyone else for any problem they have or their currently-favored grifter, and are taking medication for their mental illness.
Sir, this is a topic that is underrated. Please work with us too develop the idea where we can better understand.
It may go without saying, but I’ll say it, in America today, we are subject to a dumbing down that is unprecedented. The dumber we are, the more celebrated we are. Case in point, the dumb rich entitled women who went up in Blue Origin’s “space capsule” were told they are now astronauts. LOL. They can’t even name the layers of the atmosphere and what is actually outer space. They made zero contributions to science since they were “up” there maybe 10 minutes but there was plenty of time to scream as the “space capsule” came floating down. How disgraceful and full of entitlement can you get? Jeff Bozo did get some knock knock since one of these girls was his girlfriend.
Your dedication to Jeff Bezos is amazing!
Liking this leadership website more and more.
FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS, this is part of the solution that Gen. S. is talking about. Get your sh## together and have a life aim to shoot far. That is how we know we are on the right track in life.
Good thing you had some wonderful and intelligent relatives, esp. your grandmother. I believe you called her “Bigmama” if my memory serves me correct.
We Called Her Bigmama
https://www.theleadermaker.com/we-called-her-bigmama/
[October 31, 2018] Occasionally we are the lucky ones who have someone in our family that keeps us on the straight path to being a good person and who does so by dispensing practical guidance. My maternal grandmother, we called her bigmama, was a no-nonsense lady with the utmost integrity, moral strength, and compassion.
—
Good memory, Saul.
Read this blog long enough and you become part of Gen. Satterfield’s family. 😁
INTERESTING
This sounds like my parents who were always trying to get me to engage my brain. They were only partly successful. But I later bloomed intellectually later in life. I credit them with my limited smarts today. Not at the time, since I didn’t really like them making me do things that were hard.
Yeah, Judy. I hear ya. Me too. 👍