Author Archives: Douglas R. Satterfield
[April 29, 2017] In 1935, American R.K.O. movie actress Ginger Rogers agreed to help raise awareness for the crimson flower known as the poppy. Then as now, the red poppy was symbolic of the sacrifices of those who died in World War I. The Veterans of Foreign Wars discovered that when they pay attention to such things of… Read More »
[April 28, 2017] How do you measure a successful strategy? That is one of the major issues over changing United States’ policies toward North Korea. Over the past several weeks, the socialist dictator Kim Jong Un has followed a well-known successful strategy of using verbose and vitriolic rhetoric, threatening the community of nations, and showing resolve in the… Read More »
[April 27, 2017] Most of us work in an organization of some kind. It may be large or small, simple or complex, or prestigious or not so; but what really matters to its success is the people who work there and it’s the hard workers that make this achievement happen. That’s right. It’s not just anybody that makes… Read More »
[April 26, 2017] My grandmother enthralled us with riveting stories of bravery, tragedy, and love of family in her travels across the Great Plains of the American Midwest. She was just a girl when her parents and siblings began their journey in a Conestoga wagon pulled slowly by two large horses. This was something us grandkids had only… Read More »
[April 25, 2017] If someone was to write a book on how to fail as a senior leader, then it must include the U.S. politician Hillary Clinton as the definitive example. Her loss to Donald Trump, who was considered a weaker candidate, is not just about a failure to garner votes against a non-political opponent, it’s everything about… Read More »
[April 24, 2017] The thumbnail picture gives some hint to the identity of this man Georges Thenault. Americans won’t know the name but will recognize his story as Captain Thenault commander of the Lafayette Escadrille;1 a French organization made up mostly of American fighter pilots during World War I. The few American pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille (Escadrille… Read More »
[April 23, 2017] Many years ago before I was commissioned a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, I was an Infantry Drill Sergeant at Fort Polk, Louisiana. There I learned a valuable lesson while teaching the fundamentals of rifle marksmanship to new soldiers. I would explain to them how to shoot the M161A1 rifle … foremost, seeing it done… Read More »
[April 22, 2017] Believe it or not, one of my engineer Captains actually said that to me … once. If it’s stupid but works, it ain’t stupid, is one of the many Murphy’s Laws of Combat. While there is some morsel of truth to the “law,” I have a totally different take. Leaders should never fall for it.… Read More »
[April 21, 2017] Here at theLeaderMaker.com I like to encourage habits that make leaders effective. In that context, I’ve found whenever a leader asks good questions, good things happen. Indeed, this is a significant fact that cannot be overlooked by those who fill the role of leader. There is, however, some confusion I will clear up. Two key… Read More »
[April 20, 2017] We’ve all been told that railroads in the United States are a technology of the past and will soon go the way of the dinosaur. The classic steel rail and wooden crossbeam, heavy railroad car, and diesel locomotives are bound for the scrapheap … so they say. They are wrong and that is why the… Read More »