[October 14, 2017] As leaders, people don’t buy what you do, so much as they buy why you do it. British-American author Simon Sinek said something like this years ago when he was giving a presentation on leadership to an international audience. His observation is spot on because, as he noted later, the most basic human desire to… Read More »
[October 13, 2017] A good friend of mine who retired from the U.S. Air Force was offered an hourly-wage job at a local car dealership. After meeting with the man who would be his boss at the job, my friend turned it down. In the Air Force my friend was used to leaders not bosses. It makes a… Read More »
[October 10, 2017] A number of my old college buddies disagree with me. They disagree that leaders are never victims … but my buddies are, perhaps, talking about something different. I believe that good leaders are never victims because leadership means having a positive outlook and possessing a be-prepared approach to life. “There are hunters, and there are… Read More »
[October 9, 2017] After a wild afternoon where I burnt down the cotton fields behind their house, I sat down to dinner with both my grandparents. This was the same place where I was paid 10¢ a day to pick cotton and learned about teamwork. That day as a young child, I was to learn another valuable lesson;… Read More »
[October 8, 2017] Henry Ford, one of the best known captains of American industry, said this decades ago but it still provides us with a good working leadership philosophy today. The difference between a follower and a leader can be summed up in these few words; where one person finds fault (or problems), the other finds solutions. Don’t… Read More »
[September 29, 2017] The impact of leadership failure is directly proportional to the authority and power a leader possesses. Senior leader failure can mean the tragic death of many people while the failure of a new manager could mean the loss of a few dollars. Syria, North Korea, Iran, and much of sub-Saharan Africa are at a point… Read More »
[September 16, 2017] In early 2007 the Iraq War between a “coalition of the willing” and Iraqi insurgents was not going as planned for the U.S. and its allies. U.S. President Bush announced a “surge” of troops to compensate for too little forces operating there. To expand coalition operational area, the Osirak nuclear research facility was one of… Read More »
[September 14, 2017] My young son loved watching early morning television and his favorite show was Barney & Friends (see official site link here). In addition, he had a Barney stuffed animal which he slept with until he was about 8 years old. The character Barney, like some leaders today, spends his time playing it safe. For a… Read More »
[September 12, 2017] The media has reported extensively on the damage caused by Hurricane Irma, the strongest hurricane so far recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. As the Category 5 hurricane slammed into the north side of Cuba, little is being reported from that country. What we do hear from news outlets is that the island run by a… Read More »
[September 10, 2017] On August 20, 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama used the phrase “red line” in the context of warning Syrian President Assad that the use of chemical weapons was a point at which the United States would take firm action against that country. A relatively new term –but old concept –the idea of red lines means… Read More »