[October 26, 2016] In the early days of World War II, the Allies had many strategically difficult problems to solve. The most pressing and most dangerous if wrong was how to fight the Germans and Japanese (and the Italians) simultaneously and not be stretched too thinly and thus be defeated by either. In the past 100 years, this… Read More »
[October 25, 2016] My great uncle owned and operated an animal feed store in Arkansas until the early 1960s when his business failed; which he blamed on racial integration of blacks. His racism was a serious blind spot because it deprived him of potential customers. Blind spots for leaders can also have disastrous consequences. But what are typical… Read More »
[October 24, 2016] Ten years ago exactly on this date in 2016, my unit was part of a major fight north of Baghdad. At the end of the day I was getting on a transport at the nearby Forward Operating Base that would take a few officers back for a debriefing. The appearance of the senior civilian in… Read More »
[October 23, 2016] If we were to have an official slogan for leadership it would be Follow Me! From the beginning of human existence, those who lead have inspired others to follow them to perform a task, to complete a mission, to engage the enemy on the battlefield, or to win on the playing field. It means that… Read More »
[October 22, 2016] In 1868, former U.S. Army General Ulysses S Grant was elected president to an office that had bore witness to a national divisiveness over the aftermath of the great U.S. Civil War that ended just a few years before. While Grant is best known for his generalship during that war, it was what he did… Read More »
[October 19, 2016] One of the greatest military commanders in history, Napoléon Bonaparte, once said that a leader is a dealer in hope. Leaders everywhere strive to give their followers hope … even when that message has only the flimsiest chance of success but especially during times of great danger. Hope is the great motivator. This is the… Read More »
[October 18, 2016] It’s my belief, based upon experience and study of leadership, that the proper development of good leaders requires a bad leader to give them lessons on how not to act. For my purposes here, when I write about a “bad leader” this refers to those with poor skills, not evil traits; not to confuse evil… Read More »
[October 17, 2016] There’s an old saying in the U.S. Army that goes something like this … “If you pass a problem by, you just set a new standard … a lower standard.” As a military leader when a problem (or issue, or concern) is overlooked, the troops will notice and see that leadership expectations are not as… Read More »
[October 15, 2016] Understanding the thinking of senior leaders is a difficult task under the best of circumstances but in doing so, even if imperfect, it helps us understand how leaders approach problems and make important decisions. Such is the theme of my “who is” series here at theLeaderMaker.com. French politician Pierre Laval is an example of how… Read More »
[October 11, 2016] In early September 2001 a conference was held at the Pentagon by the U.S. military joint staff on the “decline of leadership” within our ranks. The issues were a belief that many of our youngest and brightest lacked certain societal values and this was seen as a harbinger of things to come. Anytime over the… Read More »