[September 1, 2018] All serious leaders are relentlessly looking for ways to improve their ability in bringing people together for a common goal. One technique I’ve found valuable is the use of documented best practices. “Companies that model best practices, that model the most upstanding principles, end up as the most profitable. It’s not a trade of profits… Read More »
[May 14, 2018] Most of us associate checklists with pilots getting ready for takeoff or with home inspectors going through a house to verify it is ready for occupancy. Leaders also use checklists and they do so as a matter of course; one that is customized to their needs and a necessary part of their toolbox. “The checklist… Read More »
[April 15, 2018] Early in my military career I learned about being brief and to the point. “Don’t waste people’s time,” was said about as often as we cleaned our rifles. I’m always looking for leadership methods I can put into my personal toolbox and the standup meeting is one of them. Also called morning roll-call or daily… Read More »
[February 23, 2018] Yesterday I ran across some of my notebooks from combat tours in Iraq. As an army engineer, those were laced with a military analytical framework that helped us overcome the complexity of construction in a combat zone. Based on the more well-known SWOT analysis, we planned, developed, built, and maintained more work than engineers had… Read More »
[December 12, 2017] Good leadership means possessing a well-developed sense of planning ahead. Not surprisingly it is also recognized in basic leader development that planning is the key to being prepared, good decision-making, and quality of life. That is why the best leaders have a planning cell in their leadership toolbox. This “planning cell” – or whatever name… Read More »
[November 5, 2017] Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into a potential coordination between U.S. President Trump’s campaign and Russia. The legal counsel’s look into possible wrong-doing is an example of a formal investigation and an item that all leaders should evaluate as part of their leadership toolbox. This formal investigation, largely open-ended and with considerable power to… Read More »
[September 20, 2017] Back in my early unmarried days, I had the opportunity to take a graduate-level course in Organizational Theory and Practice. I sat in on one of the most intellectually useful academic courses of a lifetime because of the “professor” (a retired U.S. Marine and now a manufacturing CEO) taught us about useful leadership tools. One… Read More »
[August 21, 2017] It was a gloomy, dark night when we moved into a hide position west of Baghdad from where our unit was to await the approach of a “courier” with suspected nuclear material in his possession. Our mission, hastily assigned, was to intercept the courier and take him and all his possessions into custody. Unfortunately, our… Read More »
[May 25, 2017] Having brutally frank, warts-and-all feedback is a crucial instrument in the leadership toolbox. Found in the U.S. military and a few commercial enterprises the after-action review (AAR) is a rare form of open criticism that is the perfect way to make a leader stronger, more resilient, and honest. It works! And it works only if… Read More »
[December 20, 2016] Confusion, chaos, and frustration will result from simple miscommunications and, unsurprisingly, is a fundamental problem whenever humans are involved with one another. At its most basic level, good leadership means establishing formal definitions in a leadership toolbox for selected concepts as a way to avoid potential misunderstandings; we call these terms of reference. Miscommunications will… Read More »