[January 9, 2016] Ever hear of the fable about how a group of frogs taught humans a good lesson about what we say? It’s a good one and a story my mom used to tell me whenever I got into trouble with my big mouth. In retrospect my mother was giving me advice on how to be a… Read More »
[January 8, 2016] A few years ago I had the privilege to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta where we had an open-ended discussion about major events in the world. In the opinion of many, Panetta was one of the great defense secretaries of our time and his opinions on leadership are grounded in authenticity. While… Read More »
[January 7, 2014] One of the most disheartening trends today in leaders is their propensity to lie; to lie about things great and small. There is an apparent innate tendency to lie – this includes embellishment of the truth – to others and to ourselves about a variety of issues from the time we are children onward. To… Read More »
[January 6, 2016] Like all my peers, during our time as commanders of military units, we were relentlessly required to provide detailed data on many things and told how to conduct our units in detail. Rarely were we asked how effective our unit might be if we were to deploy into combat. While this has been true for… Read More »
[January 4, 2016] Yesterday my wife asked me why I’d not made any New Year’s resolutions like I always do. Note that she usually gets a good laugh out of some of them like the year I resolved to spend less than $1,000 on Starbucks coffee. This year I’ll be a little different and offer a list of… Read More »
[January 3, 2016] As luck would have it, I was reviewing some reading material and notes taken from my Infantry Officer Basic Course the other evening. In it I stumbled upon my study of the Mi Lai Massacre in Vietnam. I remember clearly how the course instructor had told us the shame it had brought upon the U.S.… Read More »
[January 2, 2016] Now is the time of year for new resolutions that we create to hopefully make us better as a person and as a leader … but more on those resolutions later. Today, I’d like to add that to be a leader means doing the job, not just observing leadership. While we can learn from observing… Read More »
[January 1, 2016] Happy New Year 2016. Thank you for reading my leadership blog this past year and for making it one of the more popular blogs on the topic of senior leadership. I will be making a number of changes based on input from readers like you. Here are some of the things that I’m working on… Read More »
[December 28, 2015] The ability to absorb lessons on leadership begins at an early age. Most people start to discover solid leadership ideas as early teenagers and the best of them never lose that learning appetite. As a sophomore in high school I got a job pumping gas at a gasoline station in central Texas. I’ve never forgotten… Read More »
[December 27, 2015] The habit of treating all people like you would like to be treated is an adage that goes back before recorded history. It is the basis for all religions and for successful customer service in any business enterprise. Good habits for leaders also means taking the Golden Rule further and treating people like they would… Read More »