[June 7, 2016] I remember that day well; one of my junior soldiers came to me to ask questions about how he should deal with a problem sergeant. With my mindset of not telling people how to do their job but rather just giving tasks, I failed this young man because I failed to consider his suggested ideas. … Read More »
[June 06, 2015] During one of my combat tours, my senior headquarters gave our troops the souvenir opportunity to have a U.S. flag flown over the Saddam’s main palace in Baghdad. We had to buy the flag and turn it in with a written request that included name and date to be on a certificate. My good friend… Read More »
[June 3, 2016] A few days ago (as reported here in theLeaderMaker.com, link here), Journalist Katie Couric produced a gun documentary inserted an inappropriately and purposefully biased segment. Couric saw the bias but failed to recognize it as biased and deceptive; her reasoning we can only guess. But leadership means being able to recognize problems and then take… Read More »
[June 2, 2016] It is much less destructive on a leader’s trustworthiness to learn from the mistakes of others than to make a big mistake and try to justify it. That is what we can learn from the media and Katie Couric, American Journalist, who recently produced a “documentary” on gun violence. While the topic is not relevant… Read More »
[June 1, 2016] TheLeaderMaker.com was offline today for about half a day. We experienced a complete shutdown of the site due to trouble at my website host, iPage.com. Occasionally this occurs and is typical after a major holiday … in this case Memorial Day. The techie experts tried to explain it to me but I just wanted the… Read More »
[June 1, 2016] Soldiers make mistakes in all armies and have historically done so. Most soldiers do their best in most circumstances and the reason they join directly affects the mistakes they make during their time in the service to their nation. However, errors in judgment and behavior can hinder their performance and team productivity. “The patriot volunteer,… Read More »
[May 31, 2016] No one likes sudden change and no one likes radical new ideas or concepts. Yet senior leaders who possess the ability to set such conditions with a minimum of disruption are rare, highly skilled, and deeply understand the human psych. The best way of getting new ideas and concepts accepted is through socializing them through… Read More »
[May 28, 2016] Leaders often invoke the image of the great leaders of moral courage; Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Pope John Paul II, General George S. Patton, and the like. It is assumed that those traits that make up moral courage are understood and agreed upon. And while there is much to agree upon, it is better to… Read More »
[May 27, 2016] Two days ago, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton rebuked the Democratic House Minority leader Harry Reid on the senate floor.1,2 Cotton summed up his comments by calling Reid’s leadership “cancerous.” Many will dismiss Cotton’s comments as politics as usual but those who have seen Harry Reid speak publically will agree with the “cancerous” observation. The real… Read More »
[May 26, 2016] I’ve burnt many bridges in my time as an army engineer; blown them up, disassembled them, and crushed them with heavy equipment. But that’s not my topic today. Leadership means, among other things, to possess the capacity to work with people of all types. To balance mission and people is difficult and yet that is… Read More »