[October 16, 2019] While attending college in Oklahoma – part of my requirement for commissioning in the U.S. Army – I traveled through a small town without traffic lights, big stores, or movie theaters. When I first arrived in Sentinel, Oklahoma, the name immediately reminded me of the inherent responsibility of good leaders to always be a sentinel… Read More »
[October 15, 2019] The average person thinks that when people make mistakes, they should be punished (e.g., fired from their job, go to prison). This, however, does not fit reality. From experience, leaders quickly learn to tolerate the mistakes of others. They have learned that making mistakes is a well-trodden path to success for us all. Immediate punishment… Read More »
[October 14, 2019] You will them throughout airports as you travel across the United States, in train stations, and on buses. Members of the U.S. Marine Corps are easy to spot by the way they hold themselves, dress, and speak. But there is one thing that is also easy to “see.” The Marines Corps values and their slogans! … Read More »
[October 13, 2019] An entrepreneurial career is exhilarating; you are your own boss, you get to call the shots and you can physically see the results of your hard work. However, it is not an easy sail. Entrepreneurship involves risks, uncertainties, and management of multiple aspects of running a business. This blog lists the benefits of an entrepreneurial… Read More »
[October 12, 2019] The tendency to take control over things and make everything work by a personal set of rules is inherent in each individual. However, there are a number of things that separate the need to satisfy our dictatorial desires and the dynamic practice of managing the control we have successfully and efficiently. Leadership is driven by… Read More »
[October 11, 2019] He came from “the other side of the tracks.” Staff Sergeant John Crèche was young, brash, and flippant. Born to a poor family on a ranch in southern Texas, John had a refreshing ability to see beyond the platitudes, the red tape, and the prima donnas that infect all large organizations. And, he never hesitated… Read More »
[October 10, 2019] In late 1944, my uncle “DJ” was a cook with the 2nd Infantry Division in Belgium when the Germans attacked. The Battle of the Bulge would go down in history as one of the most famous and strategically important battles of WWII. In his recollections, my uncle was ordered to “grab a rifle and be… Read More »
[October 9, 2019] My boyhood friend Wilson (who lived next to me until we were 12 years old) and I were dragged out of bed early before daylight. It was the first day of the quail-hunting season and a dozen of my dad’s friends to teach us the finer points of successful bird hunting. I’d been dove hunting… Read More »
[October 8, 2019] It was sometime just after midnight when our base came under intense mortar fire from Shia militias pledged to fight for cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Our combat engineers had been on route clearance duty “outside the wire” looking for IEDs on the roadside.1 I approached one gruffy engineer Staff Sergeant who had been leading his men… Read More »
[October 7, 2019] My brother was about 10-years old and didn’t understand when our dad said that the “yard needed mowing” and he owned it. To him that meant belonged to him – literally – but of course that was not the case. Dad meant that my brother’s job was to mow the yard anytime the grass got… Read More »