[August 31, 2015] The greatest threat to a nation outside of armed invasion is the degeneration of its military from its professional standing into a bureaucracy. If we are to believe the outgoing U.S. Army Chief of Staff who told us that there is a struggle for the Army to maintain its professionalism, we will have to reverse… Read More »
[August 30, 2015] Inspirational Leadership! Retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson is a Republican running for his party’s nomination to be the next U.S. president. Since the early August Republican debates where he held his own, his campaign has come alive with inspirational speeches. His campaign continues to grow despite what many talking heads have predicted. Carson makes it… Read More »
[August 29, 2015] Anti-establishment leadership! U.S. presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is an Independent running for the Democratic Party nomination. By his own claim, he is a “socialist democrat” who is working to unite people for a better world and opposes political cronyism in Washington, D.C. His popularity expanded quickly as he regularly draws large crowds to his speaking… Read More »
[August 28, 2015] An incident occurred during a military training exercise early in my career that taught me an important lesson – small things matter. After relocating my platoon to a new defensive position I set our machinegun foxhole in what I thought was an okay spot. My commander ordered me to change it and later during a… Read More »
[August 27, 2015] Texas A&M University is the first academic organization I’ve featured here under core values. The reason has everything to do with the fact that college-level organizations rarely have their core values advertised, if they have them at all. None that I attended had core values at the time and no one I know could recall… Read More »
[August 26, 2015] Game 7 of the Baseball World Series was the first ball game I ever watched on television. My family did not own a television set at the time so I watched the October 1962 game from the home of a good friend. It was something new for me but what I remember most about the… Read More »
[August 25, 2015] An old custom in the U.S. military is for newly commissioned Second Lieutenants to receive their first salute by a person of their choice. The new officer gives a U.S. silver dollar as a token of appreciation and in my case I received a salute from Sergeant First Class J. Benjamin Sessions … a great… Read More »
[August 24, 2015] In 1974 after joining the U.S. Army, I quickly discovered that I was completely unprepared. I’m sure the Drill Sergeants got a good laugh at my awkwardness and weak physical condition. For those interested in joining any of the military services, a few hard lessons learned from those who served honorably are listed here to… Read More »
[August 23, 2015] Military officers, CEOs, managers, and leaders of all types are constantly on the lookout for those who show a certain set of traits that help their organizations be successful. Of course, there has much written on this topic and many good characteristics have been identified but no one has managed to condense it to the… Read More »
[August 22, 2015] The sad fact is that many senior leaders do, in fact, promote divisiveness by their choice of words and inaction to promote basic standards of good behavior. Whether purposefully or by accident, some national leaders also encourage divisiveness and they are not good leaders in the sense that they portray the requisite traits of excellence. … Read More »