Author Archives: Douglas R. Satterfield
[November 23, 2015] The weather has turned cooler and the tree in front of my house has lost all but a few of its leaves. With cooler weather and the political season heating up I find it satisfying to sit down with a good book; one that pushes my intellectual boundaries. Books that create controversy are some of… Read More »
[November 22, 2015] As a new Private in the U.S. Army in West Germany in the mid-1970s, my fellow soldiers and I regularly and passionately discussed the personal deficiencies in our leaders. We saw (at least what we thought we saw) among them inflated egos and careerism. Typical of junior soldiers throughout our history of any military, we… Read More »
[November 21, 2015] Occasionally it’s good to take a break from the challenge of the study of leadership. Today I’m providing my personal list of favorite war movies … those that made an impression on me when I saw them. Yes, they’re English movies so the list doesn’t include some great, non-English movies. For some reason these movies… Read More »
[November 20, 2014] When three of my friends and I joined the U.S. Army, we were happy to be away from home and thrilled to finally reach the pinnacle of real men by being real soldiers. After two days of intense basic combat training (emphasis on “combat”) we had second thoughts. My best friend asked us on the… Read More »
[November 19, 2015] The first two parts of this 3-part series proposed that the U.S. military has a leadership problem and it begins with the rejection of its mission to fight the nation’s enemies. The American military has experienced an increase in the overall number of its leaders at all levels since WWII but, I have proposed, it… Read More »
[November 18, 2015] No, we are not brave! This may come as a shock to many but nearly every person I’ve ever met, whether in the military or in civilian life, are cowards and so am I. We put up a good front … of course … and we do this by talking big, owning cool stuff, and… Read More »
[November 17, 2015] The second Democratic debate was held this past Saturday. There are a number of well constructed analyses of the debate but I will depart from them, as I’ve done before here at theLeaderMaker.com, and provide a senior leader analysis. Remember that senior leader input will likely differ substantially from public opinion polls.1 The broadcast network… Read More »
[November 16, 2015] In the first installment of this 3-part series I proposed that the U.S. military has a leadership problem. Irrespective of how we measure leadership or determine its leader effectiveness, it has been accepted that the quality of military leadership today is in decline. For those of us currently in the military or recently retired, this… Read More »
[November 15, 2015] A nation’s best leaders rise to the occasion when their skills are needed during a crisis. Such was the need for French President François Hollande to quickly and clearly establish that he could show strong leadership in uniting France during the latest Islamic terror in Paris and in that, he was successful and more. The… Read More »
[November 14, 2015] It was once written by military theorist Carl von Clausewitz that “war is a continuation of politics by other means.” We should remember the truth in that statement when the Battle of Ia Drang is reviewed for its origins and aftermath. Like any battle, it cannot be viewed in isolation, nor can the importance of… Read More »