[December 9, 2019] I’ve had the personal good fortune to speak with military veterans who were in the most desperate, destructive battles of the 20th Century.1 I learned a few things from them that I will pass along today. The most important lesson they gave me was – do those things you fear. Such advice seems counterproductive. Why… Read More »
[December 8, 2019] One dominant theme in the study of leadership is to prove oneself worthy of holding the mantle of responsibility. A successful leader is one who has built a reputation for accountability, trustworthiness, and sound judgment.1 How one does this is subject to debate. But when a leader is tested in the crucible of fire, there… Read More »
[December 6, 2019] Leaders have ambition. All types of leaders possess this trait; good, bad, or indifferent. I like to think about ambition like gasoline; it acts as an accelerant. Gasoline is used in vehicles to make them go, and we benefit, but gasoline can also cause highly destructive fires. If you are a leader, be prepared to… Read More »
[December 5, 2019] In Part 1 of this two-part series, I asked the question, “What is a hero?” and gave what I thought was a meaningful answer. In today’s article, I’ll address a more fundamental question that is germane to our understanding of human nature and of the character of leaders. “Why do we have heroes?” Growing up… Read More »
[December 4, 2019] As young boys in the 1950s, we listened intently to returning Korean War veterans to get some idea of what war was like. We asked stupid questions of these veterans. Who were the best fighters? Did you kill any Communists? Were you a hero? There was something that drove us to understand what it took… Read More »
[November 27, 2019] Leaders fill many roles. We often hear, for example, that an employer gets the employees he deserves. That bit of sage counsel is no small point. It is the duty of leaders to be a watchdog for their organization (or group); for it is those who guard the way they make for the best leaders.… Read More »
[November 26, 2019] Recently, I was asked to give my opinion why it is that people follow bad leaders. The answer is, of course, complex and not always easy to explain; this is why we don’t see much written on the topic. The problem we must struggle to overcome early in any discussion revolves around the definition of… Read More »
[November 24, 2019] Much has been said about adopting and the maintaining of good habits (see links here, here, and here) Humans, nonetheless, possess an inclination to shortcut or completely skip behaviors that are good for them. For example, my daily back exercises are something that I do only reluctantly because it takes time and it hurts. Any… Read More »
[November 21, 2019] It had been rainy for what seemed like forever the small village of Aberfan, a coal mining town in southeast Wales. On October 21, 1966, an avalanche of coal waste slid down a mountainside and into the village, killing 144 people, most of them children sitting in their school classrooms. The tragedy would become one… Read More »
[November 20, 2019] The defining of character, which colors our deeds and speech, is what separates this blog from traditional leadership websites. With the study of character we can see those primordial emotions that pull us into an abyss of conceit, vanity, and arrogance. Pride is overindulgence. Pride is an excess that pushes us upward to elation but… Read More »