[March 29, 2025] Ten years ago, I had a leadership toolbox series and one of those “tools” was the value of formalized leadership courses. Yes, such courses can be valuable, as I noted at the time, but they might not bring about the desired outcome. I noted that the courses’ objective to “transition their understanding from operational/tactical to… Read More »
[January 28, 2025] The brilliance of the Bible in its wisdom is beyond mind-blowing. Dennis Prager tells us of one of the most profound passages in the Book that gives us crucial advice that we should – counterintuitively – listen to hypocrites. Now, that is highly interesting. “So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow… Read More »
[December 31, 2020] I’m ending this year with an article on another essential item in the Leadership Toolbox. Tools are neutral; they can be used for good or bad, and, of course, leaders have many tools at their disposal. But it is the leader’s ethics to use those tools that matter. In today’s article, I will discuss an… Read More »
[May 7, 2020] I started this Leadership Toolbox series in the first month of my leadership blog back in September 2014. At the time, I saw the value of listing proven tools (regularly used by highly-successful leaders) was a great way to begin fixing leadership problems I saw in the U.S. Army. Today’s topic is about Red Teams,… Read More »
[April 15, 2020] One of the more embarrassing episodes of my military career happened on a 50 caliber Browning Machine Gun live-fire range when I was a lowly Lieutenant. I’d been given the assignment of Support Platoon Leader and was responsible for supplying ammunition and equipment to the ranges. What I had failed to do was to dig… Read More »
[October 26, 2019] On the surface, it may appear that an open door policy for senior leaders would be universal and a commonsensical procedure to implement. The fact is that few leaders follow-through on an open door policy even when they agree with it. While there are downsides to such an approach that encourages open communication, the positives… Read More »
[September 24, 2019] On July 3rd, 1990, I was standing at the copse of trees on Cemetery Ridge; the location of the most strategically important battle of the U.S. Civil War. It was hot and humid in the afternoon as the sun beat down upon the two dozen U.S. Army Captains; just as the sun’s intense heat had… Read More »
[May 10, 2019] I’m reminded each time I work with leaders about how their schedule restricts their ability to do their jobs effectively. The solution is a flexible schedule that allows on-the-fly changes to minimize mission disruption. “I am definitely going to take a course on time management … just as soon as I can work it into… Read More »
[January 10, 2019] Tell a story and people will listen; give them a bunch of facts, and they will run away. The power of storytelling, especially for an experienced leader, is arguably one of the most effective means to communicate a message. “Storytelling has a narcotic power.” – Robert Harris, a modern English novelist The power of storytelling… Read More »
[November 2, 2018] Every day you wake up it’s a new day to be great again and make great decisions. Decision making is something leaders do and are expected to do it well. One way to “see” the work environment and reach logical decisions is with the use of templates. Templates are established and proven analytical techniques that… Read More »