[October 26, 2015] In January 1999 U.S. Navy Captain L. David Marquet took command of the nuclear submarine USS Santa Fe (SSN-763). At the time, the sub was known throughout the Navy as its worst performing vessel and yet had been listed for a deployment later that year. The story of Captain Marquet’s success was, at its core,… Read More »
[October 25, 2015] Every year, once a year in the 1950s, my family and I watched our black and white television and were thrilled to see the Walt Disney Animation Studio’s movie Pinocchio. I had no idea at the time that the movie was in color and no idea that I was learning a valuable lesson. The lesson… Read More »
[October 23, 2015] At least sometimes this is true and leaders must know the difference. Any good leader will know that there are circumstances under which rules (laws, regulations, establish procedures, etc.) must be ignored and also know the risks associated with such a decision. That is why doing what is right is the embodiment of a leader… Read More »
[October 22, 2015] I’ve been a listener to many speeches in my lifetime; several hundred if I could add them up. Some were great, others poor, but one thing they had in common was that they were mostly filled with just talk. It reminded me of speeches of many politicians; they want the “face-time” with voters and they… Read More »
[October 21, 2015] Many times I’ve written about traits of successful leaders; those who have the ability to articulate a good cause and rally people to it. It has always been clear that many of those traits, although perhaps not all, are universal. A recent article at The Art of Manliness blog (see link here) got me to… Read More »
[October 20, 2015] One of my early military mentors advised me that to do well required being able to keep my head together while everyone else around me was losing theirs. Of course, it’s not that leaders thrive on chaos but that they can thrive in chaos. It requires special skills and experience that a leader either has… Read More »
[October 19, 2015] In mid-2006 Coalition Engineers in Iraq were given the mission of protecting military personnel (i.e., soft targets) from incoming missiles and mortars. The task itself was overwhelming due to the number of people the engineers had to protect. Because there had been no thought given to what this really meant or the timeframe in which… Read More »
[October 16, 2015] The Democratic candidates for U.S. President debated at their first televised appearance of 2015 this past Tuesday. Just as I had done with the Republican debates, I rounded up a few folks for my senior leadership analysis to gave some insights into how successful the candidates conducted themselves. Remember that senior leader views will diverge… Read More »
[October 15, 2015] One of the aspects of Western nations – for some time now – has been for leaders to discourage formal education. In contrast, Asian nations are actually encouraging it aggressively. But in both cases their attitude toward education is very selective, culturally influenced, and resourced based on their social biases. The impact on the success… Read More »
[October 14, 2015] The year 1962 was an atypical year in sports for a young boy in the Deep South. But it was also a year of growing up when adult events took center stage and interrupted our thoughts of school and sports. On October 14, 1962 the discovery of Soviet-made, nuclear-capable missiles in Cuba increased the threat… Read More »