Author Archives: Douglas R. Satterfield
[June 17, 2015] In the 1991 while surveying land for future military activity, a number of my fellow U.S. military officers were jailed by Panamanian police. Because they looked Hispanic they were assumed to be ex-presidente Manuel Noriega1 troops in disguise; the police force arrested them. The legal process to free them through the Department of State would… Read More »
[June 16, 2015] I missed the anniversary yesterday of the signing of the Magna Carta1 in 1215 AD; 800 years ago. A good friend alerted me to an editorial in the New York Times entitled Stop Revering Magna Carta which tells that the Magna Carta’s “fame rests on several myths” and then goes on to say that it… Read More »
[June 15, 2015] I once had a senior officer tell me that because I was commissioned through ROTC that I would never make Flag rank. Those senior positions, he told me, are reserved for those from military academies like West Point. Needless to say, I proved them wrong but there remains many myths about military leaders that should… Read More »
[June 14, 2015] For those who’ve served in the U.S. military, there will always be a special place in our hearts for the Stars and Stripes – the flag of the United States of America. In our most recent war against terror, like the servicemen of World War II, we wore a U.S. flag patch on our right… Read More »
[June 13, 2015] Anyone who has not personally witnessed high-levels of corruption and the caustic effects cannot understand the enormous toll it takes on people and organizations. The price of corruption can be huge; destroying lives of the innocent, costing ordinary citizens large portions of their income, and creating mistrust in political and business leaders. The fact that… Read More »
[June 12, 2015] There is a saying that “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely …”1 When Lord Acton wrote this in a letter to Archbishop Creighton in 1887, he was disagreeing with the moral relativism of his time that was not critical of past corrupt leaders. He argued that all people should be held to… Read More »
[June 11, 2015] One of the lessons people everywhere have learned is that a leader will make occasionally make blunt statements about important issues. When senior leaders – national leaders, corporate CEOs, military generals – use blunt language, it gets our attention and that is often their purpose. I once had a two-star general from the country of… Read More »
[June 10, 2015] Most of my readers know that I’m partial to the study of the Korean War. There are so many precedents to how we fight today. True, the Korean War was fought on mountainous terrain and in many battles the extreme cold created great suffering. In Iraq, the terrain and weather could hardly be more different.… Read More »
[June 09, 2015] Those who have had the good fortune to know a great leader from the leader’s childhood are in a position to give a long-term view of leader growth. What those lucky folks tell us is that two things stand out in their relationship. First, that the person has been, through most of their life, very… Read More »
[June 08, 2015] A lot can be said about the many characteristics we find in the best of leaders; loyalty, morally courageous, accountability, etc. Conversely, there has been much written about leader characteristics that are destructive; those traits that damage those inside their organization and act as impediments to excellence. But among those destructive traits, which one is… Read More »