[August 2, 2020] Standing in line to get my field issue from the Supply Sergeant, I was given an M5A1 Korean-War era bayonet. I had to sign for it, of course. Asking what it was for, I was told to ask my Platoon Leader. Later that week, my Infantry Company was part of an extensive Field Training Exercise… Read More »
[July 28, 2020] Date: the early morning hours of December 7, 1941. This day was beautiful by any standard. Most wars start with a surprise attack. When the Japanese attacked ships in Pearl Harbor and planes on the airfields of Hawaii, things happened elsewhere too. You have probably never heard of the Battle of Schofield Barracks. Maj. Gen.… Read More »
[July 22, 2020] Experienced leaders understand that not everything they do is intuitive or makes complete sense on the surface of it. When it comes to carrying out one’s duties, success is often hard-won, complex and ambiguous, and requires good judgment. That is why the concept – if you want peace, prepare for war – is both controversial… Read More »
[July 15, 2020] Good news; junior leaders are given a high quality, respectable identity, and significant freedom provided by society. There will be no other time in the life for such a leader to have this much opportunity. Today, we all have full access to the most celebrated thinkers civilization has ever assembled, perhaps even beyond human comprehension.… Read More »
[July 14, 2020] The best thing that ever happened during my military training was to experience immediate feedback on whatever I did. At the beginning of my career, I was first insulted, then shocked, and then mad that someone would tell me how wrong I was. Later, I changed. I came to welcome the clarity of instant feedback,… Read More »
[July 13, 2020] One thing that sets the best leaders apart from others is that they read, study, and discuss ideas. Long ago, when I was a staff officer as a U.S. Army Infantry Captain, a small group of junior officers was joking one day about the 1991 Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. Why did it pique… Read More »
[July 12, 2020] Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, has some sage advice for young people. Today, I’m introducing his 10 rules for success. Evan Carmichael compiled these from a series of speech’s Obama has given over the past few years.1 Readers of this leadership blog will see the commonality of these rules with my regular… Read More »
[July 9, 2020] Amazingly, several idioms from World War II are still with us 75 years after the end of that great conflict.1 If you’re taking flak, you’re over the target is an old, WWII Army Air Force phrase. It means to take criticism (flak) from a position on a controversial topic (the target). Leaders are first to… Read More »
[July 7, 2020] A good leader is someone who can show another how to reach their potential. A great leader helps that person discover their potential for themselves. That is what Robert Woodson is all about. Controversial, tough-minded, creative, and patriot; these words describe the man, but who is he? Former civil rights leader Bob Woodson is a… Read More »
[July 6, 2020] There are no words in the English language that is worse than being called a coward. Growing up in a culture steeped in military customs and populated by veterans, I feared being called a coward or, worse yet, a yellow-bellied snake. The rhetorical references are explicit; if you are a coward, then there is nothing… Read More »