[April 21, 2015] With a small group of high school friends, we began college as freshmen engineer majors and with the hopes that we would survive the heavy course load heaped upon us. A few of us did finish but only those of us who had the ability to organize details in our lives and school were able… Read More »
[April 20 2016] A number of folks have commented on my two military leadership priorities; quality training (in peacetime) and taking care of people. There are many reasons for having these two as important aspects of military officer responsibilities but I’ve found that they work reasonably well and people remember them. The only problem I encountered was that… Read More »
[April 19 2016] A good friend of mine, I’ll call him Bill, was a truly good leader of soldiers. He was an U.S. Army Infantry officer and he was the type of person you wanted to be in charge of troops in time of war. Bill was aggressive, reliable, trustworthy, and could operate with little guidance or help. … Read More »
[April 18, 2016] Geez, you would think that with so many senior political leaders running for high office that they would know the first rule of mature leadership … Rule #1 … never blame the other guy for failures where you have responsibility. Everyone knows that leaders don’t personally do everything and that their job is to provide… Read More »
[April 17, 2016] One day in the future, I hope to travel to North Korea and tour the countryside to see inside a nation that has been at the heart of impoverishing millions of its citizens and threatening the world. The hermit kingdom of North Korea has revealed signs of collapse (or implosion) for decades and despite predictions… Read More »
[April 16, 2016] What’s great for leaders about reading books is the chance to pickup lessons that are only truly learned in times of crisis. Today I have a special treat for those who read for strategic lessons. Those who read my blog know that I’m a fan of Winston Churchill because he was the epitome of a… Read More »
[April 15, 2016] To be a great mentor doesn’t require much … but it does demand a passion and purpose to arouse the spirit of those mentored. Much has been said about mentorship here in theLeaderMaker.com and elsewhere. How to separate fiction from fact and opinion from reality is what leadership is all about. What I’ve done here… Read More »
By guest blogger Ernest M. Kennedy III [See Biography] [April 14, 2015] In helping fight the wars of the United States, I gained a personal and up-close view of the human depravity of war, the particular ignominy of Communist aggression, and the shame of those Americans who degraded our returning servicemen. As I age, the Vietnam War gains… Read More »
[April 13, 2016] Military commanders are responsible for what happens within their commands; the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is a steadfast rule that has long been accepted as a way of ensuring everything possible is done to ensure success on the battlefield. Many lessons can be learned from examples where leaders are held to that… Read More »
[April 12, 2016] Yes we do accumulate bad habits and it’s not unusual for senior leaders to be hindered seriously in their job performance directly for this very reason. I’ve seen it happen many times. Leaders are particularly susceptible to picking up bad habits because they’ve reached their position through successes that have given them a bit of… Read More »