Author Archives: Douglas R. Satterfield
[October 29, 2015] Occasionally here in my leadership blog, I recognize someone who shows moral courage in the face of strong criticism. Many will not even recognize the name James Comey but for those who don’t him, Comey is the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and as a high official involved in law enforcement it… Read More »
[October 28, 2015] Today is the 75th anniversary of start of the Greco-Italian War. I know that many people laugh off the suggestion that the battle for Greece was anything but a minor and inconsequential part of the global war against the Axis powers … but that would be too simplistic and wrong. When Italy’s fascist dictator Mussolini… Read More »
[October 27, 2015] The arrival of our first grandchild earlier this October was a day of celebration in the Satterfield family. Such a tiny little girl and with her birth I hope that, when she grows up, that we have better senior leadership at the political level in all countries. Alas, I push these political speculations aside as… Read More »
[October 26, 2015] In January 1999 U.S. Navy Captain L. David Marquet took command of the nuclear submarine USS Santa Fe (SSN-763). At the time, the sub was known throughout the Navy as its worst performing vessel and yet had been listed for a deployment later that year. The story of Captain Marquet’s success was, at its core,… Read More »
[October 25, 2015] Every year, once a year in the 1950s, my family and I watched our black and white television and were thrilled to see the Walt Disney Animation Studio’s movie Pinocchio. I had no idea at the time that the movie was in color and no idea that I was learning a valuable lesson. The lesson… Read More »
[October 24, 2015] Seventy years ago on this date the United Nations was born. And today we’ll see and read a lot in the media about the greatness of the organization, its accomplishments, its ownership by all peoples, and its evenhandedness in crises. There will also be a few complaints about it for academics to study with the… Read More »
[October 23, 2015] At least sometimes this is true and leaders must know the difference. Any good leader will know that there are circumstances under which rules (laws, regulations, establish procedures, etc.) must be ignored and also know the risks associated with such a decision. That is why doing what is right is the embodiment of a leader… Read More »
[October 22, 2015] I’ve been a listener to many speeches in my lifetime; several hundred if I could add them up. Some were great, others poor, but one thing they had in common was that they were mostly filled with just talk. It reminded me of speeches of many politicians; they want the “face-time” with voters and they… Read More »
[October 21, 2015] Many times I’ve written about traits of successful leaders; those who have the ability to articulate a good cause and rally people to it. It has always been clear that many of those traits, although perhaps not all, are universal. A recent article at The Art of Manliness blog (see link here) got me to… Read More »
[October 20, 2015] One of my early military mentors advised me that to do well required being able to keep my head together while everyone else around me was losing theirs. Of course, it’s not that leaders thrive on chaos but that they can thrive in chaos. It requires special skills and experience that a leader either has… Read More »