[July 25, 2014] A small group of friends and I had our first taste of college life after graduating from high school. We were all engineer majors and figured that since we knew nothing about their trigonometry courses we would take one our first summer. The teacher was smart and dedicated but his accent made us struggle to… Read More »
[July 24, 2014] Military commanders know that they are personally responsible for what does or does not happen inside their unit and also in “unit cohesiveness”. Leadership at all levels means building and maintaining teams, building and maintaining a togetherness, a cohesiveness that allows the group to accomplish things far greater than any individual can accomplish. The worst… Read More »
[July 24, 2014] High School teaching can be a tough job, especially in schools that are in poor neighborhoods with growing crime rates. One young lady from New York City wanted to be a teacher more than anything else in the world but after only 6 months quit her job. The reason? She was unable to “connect” with… Read More »
[July 23, 2014] While driving over the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday morning, a number of commuters noticed white flags flying atop both bridge towers. The mystery is who put them there and for what reason. Clearly this was a planned effort despite our city politicians saying it was “allegedly” planned. There is a lot of conjecture to why the… Read More »
[July 23, 2014] Senior leaders are busy people with too much to accomplish and too little time to get it all done. Using time wisely is a key to successful leadership. One of the most difficult of good habits to obtain and to keep is the focus required to make effective use of time. Superficially this is easy.… Read More »
[July 22, 2014] There are many types of leaders from the most charismatic to the most introverted and inward thinking. My best friend when he was younger and a lieutenant had a commander who would issue the craziest of orders to his unit. My friend was told once to drive his armored vehicles up and down the road… Read More »
[July 22, 2014] As I progressed through the military ranks, I was always both surprised and amazed those senior officers 2 or 3 ranks above me always seemed to ahead of my peers and me. To us it was like they were intellectually superior and were able to predict the future. It turns out that they were like… Read More »
[July 21, 2014] It seems that humankind is at war with itself somewhere in the world every day. In the Clash of Civilizations, Samuel P. Huntington put forth the idea that cultural and religious identifies will be the main source of conflict. Today’s conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas is just one example to support… Read More »
[July 21, 2014] In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey writes that the most successful people are able to “sharpen the saw”. He means is to balance and renew your energy, especially mental renewal. This is done, he notes, through “good reading.” In the military it is recommend that all leaders read… Read More »
[July 20, 2014] One advantage of living near a large park in New York City is the ability to get away from the hustle during the week. It offers a time to relax a little and for those so inclined, a chance to see a game or two played by locals. Playing sports in the park is something… Read More »