[August 17, 2017] Speaking with soldiers over the past few decades, I’ve heard most of them say that their Commander is tough but fair. It was always good news to know rank-and-file soldiers believe their commanders were doing the right things. Good leadership depends upon it. But what I wasn’t prepared to hear was what they considered “fair”… Read More »
[August 16, 2017] This is the last entry in a two-part series on how leaders can avoid scandal (see Part 1 link here). The best solution to avoiding problems associated with a scandal is to not have them in the first place. Yes, we must assume a scandal will take place and establish procedures to ameliorate the impacts,… Read More »
[August 15, 2017] On this date, August 15, 1945, it was announced that Imperial Japan would surrender unconditionally, bringing World War II to a close.1 Called the Jewel Voice Broadcast, Emperor Hirohito personally announced the surrender in a recorded radio address across the Empire. Yet since that time there has been a systematic revisionism that downplays wartime atrocities… Read More »
[August 14, 2017] Somebody once said that one man’s scandal is another man’s creative performance. Whenever individuals are given the opportunity to break the rules, and a reward awaits, there will be someone who attempts to do so. It seems that there are always people willing to break the rules as well as those who love to hear… Read More »
[July 30, 2017] On a recent Friday morning I had the honor and privilege to attend a U.S. Navy Boot Camp graduation, located about an hour north of Chicago, Illinois. It was a proud day for everyone involved and it made all of us happy for those who made the decision to join the military. But this is… Read More »
[July 23, 2017] Nearly 50 years ago, Dr. Laurence J. Peter published a chillingly nasty but satirical book that helped shape in the minds of many what they had observed for so long. The idea was that in any “hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence”1 … and he called it the Peter Principle.… Read More »
[July 15, 2017] “Everything’s a priority!” yelled the commander of the U.S. Navy frigate. The story was from my uncle who sailed on an Anti-Submarine Warfare ship during the last months of World War II and so the story goes – as he told us children – the events that led to the sinking of his ship and… Read More »
[July 7, 2017] U.S. President Ronald Reagan once said of his political opponents that if “you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.” Leadership is about solving problems and senior leadership is about solving hard problems. That is exactly what is happening with the loose coalition of nations led by the United States which… Read More »
[July 5, 2017] In early 2004 on the outskirts of Baghdad during one of our firefights with insurgents, a calm voice came over the radio describing the critical situation in matter-of-fact tone. U.S. Army Captain Steve Bates1 had learned as a Boy Scout that staying calm helped when others were losing their composure. That was also his secret… Read More »
[July 1, 2017] Albert Einstein was an remarkable man. In the recent miniseries “Genius” produced by Ron Howard, the script looks at the peculiar Einstein through the lens of modern-day society. Einstein, like all great people, did make mistakes but quickly learned from them. Only those that truly put forth a rigorous effort will be a success when… Read More »