[March 8, 2020] The Company Commander at my first unit in the U.S. Army was a jerk. The story is common; the world revolved around him, he was smarter, more reliable, better looking than the rest of us (at least he thought so), and he was “going places” in the Army. When the boss is a jerk, our… Read More »
[March 7, 2020] As I sit in my comfortable armchair watching cable news, I watch many politicians pointing fingers to who they believe is responsible for the spread of the Coronavirus. At first, they blamed China and their leaders, then it was U.S. President Trump, and now they are accusing local health officials of allowing more outbreaks. “Confusion”… Read More »
[March 6, 2020] With the U.S. Presidential election scheduled for later this year, many of our politicians are doing their best to prepare themselves to get votes. Everything tends be politicized, and so the spread of the Coronavirus has become a topic of volatile political partisanship. World leaders have jumped into the political fray faster than a one-legged… Read More »
[March 5, 2020] Much has been written about the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union and elsewhere in the world. Coming on the heels of a concerted effort throughout the world to expand the reach of Communist ideology, some may have thought this fall not possible. Cuba is one country that adopted it when Fidel Castro took… Read More »
[March 4, 2020] To the surprise of my close friends, the current literature on psychological traits, and these traits’ relationship to leaders, the effect of agreeableness is somewhat of a mixed bag. They were hoping for some positive correlation, especially since I believe that a kind, respectful, an empathetic leader can be very successful. I knew better. A… Read More »
[March 3, 2020] We all know that for good leadership to work well, we need to speak and write clearly. Like my grandmother, bigmama, that means sometimes being blunt. Today, I’m doing introducing the psychological big five personality traits 1,2 because I will use those more here at www.theleadermaker.com. Over the next few weeks, I plan to draw… Read More »
[March 2, 2020] H. Jackson Brown, Jr. is an American author of several inspirational books. I’m a fan of his and often quote him because he makes plain sense. One of my favorite quotes is the one below. Brown has often written about the idea of success and easy it can be to achieve if we were only… Read More »
[March 1, 2020] Like all little boys, I was fascinated by a military last stand. The tales told to me by WWII, and Korean War soldiers were a part of my growing up, and they help instill in me a sense of duty, honor, and courage. Today, I will highlight one of the most vivid last stands in… Read More »
[February 29, 2020] If there is one thing in life that is certain it’s that you don’t get something you don’t aim for. A few, less skilled leaders will not specific their goals because it is “too hard” or unpleasant. The reason for having clear goals, however, is to have standards that specify what it is failure and… Read More »
[February 28, 2020] There is an old U.S. Army Engineer motto Essayons, a French word that means “Let us try.” It refers back centuries into the haze of French and English history, meaning that when things get tough, send in the Engineers. Another, more modern military one-liner meaning roughly the same thing is – put me in the… Read More »