[September 9, 2020] A few days ago, on September 3rd, we celebrated our happy seventh anniversary here at www.theleadermaker.com. Usually, I would start by thanking everyone who reads my blog, for their continued loyalty and for their input to make the blog so successful.
Thank you! It is not easy to attract and keep intelligent folks. I’m satisfied that you are enjoying and learning.
Yet, what I have to say today is more critical. It has to do with the failure of our trusted social institutions to teach, coach, and mentor young people on the fundamentals of leadership. As you know, I volunteer for a local Boy Scout Troop. A small team of older men, those without sons in the troop, continue year after year to devote their time and resources to help young boys become trustworthy, reliable men. This is not an easy task. The boys come to us without a rudimentary understanding of leadership, loyalty, teamwork, motivation to learn, or how to treat another human being respectfully.
It is not easy, in part, because our schools do not address these essential skills. A student in the 12th grade spends more time learning how to put on a condom than how to shoulder the responsibility of helping others. They study history, but that history does not speak to how our Founding Fathers guided our country from a loose collection of states to a real nation. Schools today do not prepare our youth for adulthood; they are not preparing them for a responsible future.
I would ask each of us to stop, reassess what you are doing in your life, and carve out a few hours each week to work with our young. Now is the perfect opportunity. Classrooms have been eliminated or reduced in size, on-line learning is the craze, and academic standards are mostly abandoned. If you doubt my assessment, talk with any High School student.
Like my Tac Office at the Infantry School told me, “You can’t learn leadership from a book.” You also can’t learn it on-line because to “get” leadership, you have to be there. Good luck. Thank you all, again, for making my leadership blog what it is today.
Yes, and congratulations to Gen. Satterfield and his staff.
Hi Fred, I don’t think Gen. Satterfield has a staff. This is his personal blog but he does have guest bloggers on occasion. We all learn more each day on leader skills just by coming here for a few minutes daily.
Congratulations, Gen. Satterfield on 7 years of excellence in leadership education.
Amazing, thank you! ?
I was thinking of writing the same thing. I love this website and have learned so much from it and from the forums too. It is a motivator to get me to learn even more.
Yes, and congratulations to Gen. Satterfield and his staff.
I continue to lose respect for public school teachers. Now they are also doing their best not to go back into the classroom, but guess what? They also want to be paid.
Once again, you’ve done it, Gen. Satterfield by identifying those things that are important (in this case, that our schools are failing us). I will add, IMHO, that our schools are failing spectacularly. They would rather teach about condoms that real history. They would rather teach how to “protest” than learn logical thinking. Anything they teach now is suspect.
Great info on the things you see as important, Gen. Satterfield. Your discussion of what is lacking in our basic education is indeed frightening. The salutation shows that there is a deliberate decision to NOT teach actual history but to indoctrinate our children. This has been going on since the 1960s, right under our noses. And the media (like the NY Times) has been covering for them and encouraging the cultural decline that goes along when you turn history into propaganda.
Excellent points here, Max. I believe too many young folks are being led around by their nose ring and not using their brain when it comes to this. And I know plenty of people that still do not know or simply refuse to acknowledge that rioting, burning, looting, and murder, etc. are going on in our big cities.
Loved your comment, Max. That is why I also read the forums. More info for my intellectual rucksack.
And so, let’s all be sure to read what is happening here. Thanks all.
This is something that is so important that we should never look past it or even stop and refuse to do anything about it. Draw your kids out of public school. Never support your public school. Until they see a massive backlash on their indoctrination, nothing will be done.
I support what you say, Joe. Excellent.
Well done, Gen. Satterfield, You’ve been giving us leadership info now for more than 7 years.
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Yep, wish I had found this site seven years ago.
Congrats to THELEADERMAKER