Author Archives: Douglas R. Satterfield
[February 14, 2018] Last week I was sitting in a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) when I overheard several young men talking about their upcoming Basic Training course. One was saying that the Drill Sergeants will tell you to do the impossible and then yell at you when you fail. I laughed to myself because that happened to me… Read More »
[February 13, 2018] I learned a valuable lesson in command leadership when I was sent to inspect an army unit that had failed its annual GI inspection. I often say that leaders can learn valuable lessons from the failure of others and this was a case I would never forget. The unit commander had decided he would focus all his… Read More »
[February 12, 2018] It has been said that the world’s intellectual elites have been attacking Christianity generally and Roman Catholicism specifically for at least a century. Communist nations led this effort but there is one person who stands up against the state’s efforts and that man is Cardinal Joseph Zen. Cardinal Zen is well known for his outspokenness on… Read More »
[February 11, 2018] Just a few weeks ago, the U.S. National Security Agency made changes to their published core values (see them below and here on the NSA website). While the agency received criticism for this change1, that is not as big a problem as we are led to believe by the media. First, the criticism. Changed from the NSA’s… Read More »
[February 9, 2018] Leadership can be taught. That is the premise on which all leadership training is based and it is the reason so many folks have achieved great things in their lives. Today, I’m beginning a new series on leader training and today my focal point will be on the Sapper Leader Course conducted by the U.S. Army… Read More »
[February 8, 2018] Leadership today involves navigating some of the most difficult situations without any signpost markers along the way telling us which way is best. That means a leader must be, by definition, resilient, tough-minded, and inner directed But more than anything else, a leader must have the self-awareness to “see” solutions to the obstacles of life.… Read More »
[February 7, 2018] I was a Private in the U.S. Army due for a promotion in rank. My Company Commander made the promotion into a special event that I never forgot and thereafter used his philosophy to reward achievements of my soldiers. Good leaders go the extra mile and celebrate the success of others. When leaders celebrate the success of others, it… Read More »
[February 6, 2018] It has been said many times that war is simply a continuation of politics by other means. Actually the Prussian theorist Carl von Clausewitz wrote it in his book On War (1832) and is one of the most important treatises on political-military analysis and strategy ever written. Clausewitz, like so many other theorists closely links war,… Read More »
[February 5, 2018] Just a reminder that this section on political leadership is part of an on-going series in which I focus on new and controversial ideas. Today, my focus is on Heather MacDonald, Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal. She, like so many others on this site, is provocative in her ideas;… Read More »
[February 4, 2018] Tonight at 6:30 pm (Eastern Time), the Super Bowl LII kickoff will bring us a wealth of lessons that leaders can take to heart and, if used wisely, can improve upon our knowledge and skills. Focus will be on gameplay and how the coaches and players do their jobs but it will also be on… Read More »