[October 13, 2013] Today I’m adding more books that I found especially interesting: Rumsfeld’s Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life by Donald Rumsfeld Donald Rumsfeld is controversial writer and figure in U.S. politics, war, and business. In this book, Rumsfeld captures his rules, gathered over his lifetime. There are many pearls of wisdom for us. … Read More »
[October 12, 2013] It is certainly no surprise that we Americans today are not happy with our federal government. Our dissatisfaction has reached a record-breaking low point. Consider how dissatisfied we are in the following sampling of survey results: 18% are satisfied with the way the nation is being governed1 60% say fire every single member of Congress2 … Read More »
[October 11, 2013] To discuss core values, the Boy Scouts of American (BSA) is a classic. The BSA is universally seen as an organization that instills moral character into young boys. The cause is noble and it has been successful beyond what people thought possible. The BSA was inspired by and modeled on the Boy Scout Association, established… Read More »
[October 10, 2013] Senior executive leaders need to possess not just more experience and focus, but they must also be capable of exceptional performance. This performance should be an order of magnitude better than average. When I was a new second lieutenant at the Infantry Officer Basic Course in Fort Benning, Georgia, my class of 300 officers were… Read More »
[October 9, 2013] Understanding the psychology of human beings; what motivates us and focuses our employee talent is something every senior executive leader wants. From the beginning of the human race in the most primitive settings to our modern world, a good story is something we all can relate to and remember. Thus, the use of storytelling1 in… Read More »
[October 8, 2013] Yesterday I was fortunate enough to visit the corporate offices and museum of Hillerich & Bradsby Company who make the Louisville Slugger1 baseball bat in Louisville, Kentucky. For the baseball enthusiasts out there, you can understand the thrill of visiting here. But this is really a story about a family that through determination, hard work,… Read More »
[October 7, 2013] People make assumptions1 on just about every aspect of their life. It is a simple fact of life that we do not know everything and those knowledge gaps are filled by assumptions. Put another way, assumptions are mental shortcuts that save us time and effort since we don’t check out all the information surrounding the… Read More »
[October 6, 2013] George Washington came forward as the most significant leader in the founding of the United States of America and became known as the Father of the Country. To select George Washington as an important senior leader for this profile was important. I wanted to select Abraham Lincoln originally but eventually decided to go with Washington… Read More »
[October 5, 2013] The photograph accompanying this article is famous in many respects. It is a photo taken June 6, 1944 of the Omaha Beach landing during World War II. It is used to symbolically represent courage. More accurately it is symbolic of physical courage. Moral courage, on the other hand, is more difficult to show symbolically and… Read More »
[October 4, 2013] “Popularity is not leadership.” – Richard Marcinko, US Navy Seal, Author The saying that leaders need to be popular to get things done is a myth. However, there is some confusion about this in the workplace and among leaders and lay people alike. Certainly, leaders do not want people to hate them because that… Read More »