[April 29, 2014] The U.S. State Department is being ridiculed and mocked for using social media Twitter to draw support for the Ukraine and opposing Russian moves in that country. It’s being called “hashtag diplomacy.” Critics are pointing out it may do nothing other than embarrass the United States. Many are questioning, for example, whether the senior leadership… Read More »
[April 28, 2014] The story about colleges and universities giving their athletes unearned or worthless degrees is back in the news. Historically this has been around as an issue since at least the 1980s (maybe earlier) and re-surfaces now and again. Colleges have the mission of providing the best education possible to all who attend. Leadership demands it,… Read More »
[April 28, 2014] World War II veterans have been called the Greatest Generation; and they rightly deserve our admiration. Yet prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, this might not have been the case. Sadly, these veterans are passing away and few will survive the next decade – shutting the door on what we can learn directly from them.… Read More »
[April 27, 2014] As a young Army officer, I learned quickly that there is a direct relationship between keeping Army standards, success, and discipline. This lesson has carried me throughout my career and has been a simple guidepost to what I do in leading my units to accomplish whatever mission we have. I learned that one criteria of… Read More »
[April 26, 2014] There are early reports of a scandal developing in the Veterans Administration, at one facility, alleging improper maintenance of veteran treatment records. It is suspected that VA managers kept two sets of books to make it appear that vets were being treated in a timely manner on the one hand, while not treating some in… Read More »
[April 26, 2014] The lady behind me threw-up in her hat and another said she was happy that she had taken Dramamine1. Otherwise it was an uneventful, slightly turbulent flight. It’s no secret that I travel frequently and therefore experience the tribulations and rewards of doing so. I recently flew for the first time on a small airline… Read More »
[April 25, 2014] Everyone knows that I live in New York City. Great place to be for many reasons. I am certainly no “city slicker” due to my military career, but with that bias I found the recent visit to NYC by Texas Governor Rick Perry to be an interesting contrast of two different subcultures and senior leadership… Read More »
[April 24, 2014] Racial discrimination is legal and officially sanctioned at the highest levels of leadership in the United States government (discrimination in universities anyway). While this could be a shock to many, it should be surprising that there is also strong resistance to eliminating those legal racial barriers. Does this sound like the 1960s, pre-Civil Rights era?… Read More »
[April 23, 2014] This story of leadership was simply too funny to pass up. Leadership means being able to predict and consider the impacts of your decisions and actions. Recently a Twitter account for the New York Police Department was created – #MyNYPD. The intent in creating the Twitter hashtag1 was to “commensurate our love for New York’s… Read More »
[April 23, 2014] It should be clear by now that great leaders (truly all leaders) provide an extraordinary level of motivation. When we look to history for examples of motivation, one of the most famous is the Islamic Commander Tariq. What he said to his men is something I learned in grade school history class (and probably all… Read More »