[May 27, 2016] Two days ago, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton rebuked the Democratic House Minority leader Harry Reid on the senate floor.1,2 Cotton summed up his comments by calling Reid’s leadership “cancerous.” Many will dismiss Cotton’s comments as politics as usual but those who have seen Harry Reid speak publically will agree with the “cancerous” observation. The real… Read More »
[May 26, 2016] I’ve burnt many bridges in my time as an army engineer; blown them up, disassembled them, and crushed them with heavy equipment. But that’s not my topic today. Leadership means, among other things, to possess the capacity to work with people of all types. To balance mission and people is difficult and yet that is… Read More »
[May 19, 2016] This past weekend, U.S. Justice Clarence Thomas gave a commencement speech at Hillsdale College that differs from most speeches at colleges these days and is worth watching in full (see link here). It differs from most commencements speeches because it was about how to ensure liberty; to do so by carrying out the important duty… Read More »
[May 18, 2016] Throughout 1940, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Congress debated and delayed preparing the country’s military for the war raging across Europe and Asia. Fortunately, armament production began in earnest late that year. Only the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 brought the America into the war. For leadership, it’s never… Read More »
[May 17, 2016] It was midsummer of 2006 and a group of four U.S. Army colonels deployed to combat in Iraq. I was one of them. What we had in common was that 25 years earlier we had together been a part of the Army’s Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. What we were to experience a few… Read More »
[May 16, 2016] In 2003 during an interrogation of an Iraqi policeman suspected of helping setup an ambush on American soldiers, a U.S. Army officer fired shoots near the policeman’s head. Ostensibly to obtain information to protect his troops, the officer went too far according to U.S. Rules of Engagement and behavioral standards.1 This behavior, however, is indicative… Read More »
[May 15, 2016] In Part 1 of this two-part series, I argued that boys differ from girls in many fundamental ways and that for boys to acquire leadership skills then they need to be taught differently than girls. Turning boys into leaders entails a greater hands-on approach that benefits them; providing a solid foundation for future education, family,… Read More »
[May 14, 2016] Boys and girls are different. Surprise … that statement will generate controversy in a politically correct climate; but everyone knows it to be true. It follows that to teach leadership to boys involves different techniques. Turning boys into leaders means starting at a younger age than girls and requiring boys to be more actively, directly… Read More »
[May 13, 2016] A young man attending college in his first year and the only child of loving parents, and also close friends of mine, regularly disrespected his father and mother. The parents had secretly saved for their child’s education but decided not to use it as intended because of their child’s disrespectful behavior. A big lesson for… Read More »
[May 11, 2016] The other day I was perusing the Internet looking at the popularity of various ideas. My interest was how the subject of leadership compared with other concepts such as gaming, music, food, and sports. Leadership was hardly a blip on the radar (depending on how it’s measured), while music and television were consistently at the… Read More »