[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 24, 2015] Seventy years ago on this date the United Nations was born. And today we’ll see and read a lot in the media about the greatness of the organization, its accomplishments, its ownership by all peoples, and its evenhandedness in crises. There will also be a few complaints about it for academics to study with the… 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 18, 2015] There are always generational differences. Those differences are more pronounced now than ever – at least it seems that way – and that is often credited with improving technology, medical advancements, and cultural change brought on by great movements of people. But do we really appreciate the differences between generations? I think yes and I… Read More »
[October 17, 2015] My maternal grandmother and parents spent much of their time educating me in the ways of the world. They taught me much about the fundamentals of leadership without it being called such and pushed me to be a real man by being responsible for my actions. But today we see less of this in our… Read More »