[January 9, 2016] Ever hear of the fable about how a group of frogs taught humans a good lesson about what we say? It’s a good one and a story my mom used to tell me whenever I got into trouble with my big mouth. In retrospect my mother was giving me advice on how to be a… Read More »
[January 8, 2016] A few years ago I had the privilege to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta where we had an open-ended discussion about major events in the world. In the opinion of many, Panetta was one of the great defense secretaries of our time and his opinions on leadership are grounded in authenticity. While… Read More »
[January 7, 2014] One of the most disheartening trends today in leaders is their propensity to lie; to lie about things great and small. There is an apparent innate tendency to lie – this includes embellishment of the truth – to others and to ourselves about a variety of issues from the time we are children onward. To… Read More »
[January 6, 2016] Like all my peers, during our time as commanders of military units, we were relentlessly required to provide detailed data on many things and told how to conduct our units in detail. Rarely were we asked how effective our unit might be if we were to deploy into combat. While this has been true for… Read More »
[January 4, 2016] Yesterday my wife asked me why I’d not made any New Year’s resolutions like I always do. Note that she usually gets a good laugh out of some of them like the year I resolved to spend less than $1,000 on Starbucks coffee. This year I’ll be a little different and offer a list of… Read More »
[January 3, 2016] As luck would have it, I was reviewing some reading material and notes taken from my Infantry Officer Basic Course the other evening. In it I stumbled upon my study of the Mi Lai Massacre in Vietnam. I remember clearly how the course instructor had told us the shame it had brought upon the U.S.… Read More »
[January 2, 2016] Now is the time of year for new resolutions that we create to hopefully make us better as a person and as a leader … but more on those resolutions later. Today, I’d like to add that to be a leader means doing the job, not just observing leadership. While we can learn from observing… Read More »
[December 31, 2015] I thought it most appropriate to end the year with a special shout-out to all the heroes who have made the United States such a great nation. Serving in the Vietnam War, Roy P. Benavidez was not just any hero; he was a tough and courageous soldier. Although he didn’t like to be called a… Read More »
[December 30, 2015] Shopping this past month for Christmas and birthday gifts provided amble time for me to observe both good and bad small business practices in action. It also gave me a snapshot of their core values and whether their employees understood and practiced those values in serving customers. Any business that survives for more than a… Read More »
[December 29, 2015] From Mahatma Gandhi to Winston Churchill to Theodore Roosevelt, all had something in common with the great leaders across history. Each had extreme self-discipline in their lives. Self-discipline helps people connect today’s behavior with tomorrow’s results; allowing a leader to know which is the right thing to do. Good leaders live by their ability to… Read More »