[May 16, 2018] George Godwin has been a good friend of mine since I was a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Infantry. He likes to think of himself as a pretty good leader, and in reality, he is an exceptional leader. What does he do that most of us don’t? He is always asking people to please argue… Read More »
[May 13, 2018] The first time a soldier goes to war, that individual wonders how they will react when confronted with a situation that requires them to kill another human being. Will the soldier do as they are trained, freeze-up, run away, or do something else? This unknown is the essence of the Trolley Problem. When confronted by… Read More »
[May 12, 2018] It is often said that those who possess a thick skin are likely to live more satisfying lives and that is more successful too. From research into this area of study, we also see that those who are emotionally sensitive do not make good leaders. This is long been a question of social inquiry; why… Read More »
[May 11, 2018] On a quiet night where little enemy activity had been a pleasant break from the incessant mortar and rocket attacks on our small outpost, one lone rocket hit our unit’s ammunition storage bunker. Things went haywire after that. But leaders don’t panic and we were able to contain the fire and explosions rather quickly. Real… Read More »
[May 10, 2018] Leadership, in its most fundamental capacity, is not that different from a deep friendship. If a good friend calls upon you to help, then most of us would go to them as quickly as possible. In my first tour of combat in the Iraq War, I had a friend tell me, If you call, I’ll… Read More »
[May 9, 2018] Not that long ago in what we called the old brown-boot army, there was a saying that if you couldn’t wrap it in red tape (aka bureaucracy), then it wasn’t worth two cents. The implication was that the small stuff was important and leaders paid attention to detail … well, didn’t they? Well, boys, I… Read More »
[May 7, 2018] It was ten years ago but it seemed like yesterday. I was standing with three fellow U.S. military officers discussing our electrical designs for a construction project in the country of Iraq. We were at war and a young Engineer Lieutenant asked us a simple question, What’s the standard? We never answered that question with… Read More »
[May 6, 2018] Wilson, a childhood friend of mine, was an exceptionally smart guy but he had a real dislike of people who would criticize him in any way. One of the more difficult things for anyone to do is to listen patiently to criticism about themselves. This is a tough one. Wilson is someone without much tolerance… Read More »
[May 4, 2018] I saved this column for Friday to give my readers a little levity to charge into the weekend with something less serious. I’ve spent a lot of time in the U.S. military and during that time, living in many foreign nations, I saw some of the smartest, most interesting, and richest people on the planet. … Read More »
[May 3, 2018] I’ve begun reading more frequently these days, now that the weather has turned for the better. I get to sit on my sun porch, relax, pet my dog, and read. The book is about how tragic events in our past can have a positive effect on our psyche. My point here is that what happens… Read More »