[October 07, 2014] Occasionally we hear about the good works of Hollywood stars – those helping people in need by giving money – but rarely do we hear about them providing opportunities and real leadership. Twenty years ago Gary Sinise co-starred in the movie Forest Gump alongside Tom Hanks. Unexpectedly, the movie helped propel him into a leadership… Read More »
[October 06, 2014] The War to End all Wars is largely fixed in our minds as one of trench warfare and rigid militaries. While this is taught to us in the most basic history courses, WWI was also marked by continuous maneuver warfare, technical innovations, and complex politico-military relationships that resonant today. From these complexities, we can derive… Read More »
[October 05, 2014] More senior leadership failures and successes who speak their mind Note. This week we have seen a number of senior leaders in the news. Most of them are addressing failures in their organization or are justifying actions taken by those they oversee. In the case of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, the damage caused by… Read More »
[October 04, 2014] A theme sometimes expressed here at theLeaderMaker.com is that leaders will occasionally allow emotion to dictate the direction of their decisions. This can have disastrous effects on the organizational mission. Senior leaders emotionally fixated on a topic may not be able to look past legitimate options in the decision-making process. They may also handicap staff… Read More »
[October 03, 2014] The recent news that a citizen of Liberia West Africa carrying Ebola made it into the United States without being stopped and then discharged from a Texas hospital says much about the poor disease screening procedures worldwide. If the U.S. can’t get it right, how do we expect others with fewer resources to do better?… Read More »
[October 02, 2014] During World War I, on October 02, 1918, a true American hero gallantly led his men in the Argonne Forest offensive. Attorney by trade before the war, Major Charles Whittlesey was the uncompromising commander of what became known as the “Lost Battalion.” Major Whittlesey’s battalion was so named because shortly after his unit crossed into… Read More »
[October 01, 2014] Senior leaders have been known to make grand errors in judgment and to have failed to foresee catastrophic events that happen in the future. Such superb abilities are indeed rare when we look to people, as imperfect as humans are, to lead us. We will forgive our leaders for their poor predictions of the future,… Read More »
[September 30, 2014] New policies at the U.S. Department of Defense, initiated by the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, have caused some controversy in military ranks. The real problem at the Pentagon is how to reduce the combat force by over 20 percent and still protect the United States and allies while worldwide threats are increasing. Now comes… Read More »
[September 29, 2014] Bill and Joanne were married after high school, joined the U.S. military for education benefits, deployed to Afghanistan, served honorably, and finally were able to enroll in Mississippi State University after their four-year tour in the Army. The problem? They both failed out of their first year of academic studies despite being provided with tutoring,… Read More »
[September 28, 2014] All senior military leaders I know today were taught early in their careers that a key component of being successful officers was based on their ability to teach, coach, and mentor. The question that is being asked of many junior leaders today is, “Can we mentor?” In other words, can we effectively ensure that those… Read More »