[November 21, 2017] As an army Platoon Leader, I had a lazy commander who did almost nothing to train or motivate his unit’s soldiers (mentioned many times here). But the untold story was when his replacement came in to “take names, clean house, and kick people to the curb.” Or so he said. This new commander was overreacting… Read More »
[December 30, 2016] Once upon a time I had a commanding officer that was unreliable; lazy, indecisive, uncommitted, and on top of that a notorious braggart. He made my life, and those around him, miserable and frustrating. In retrospect, alcohol played a big role but like many other leaders he was not reliable as elemental leadership requires of… 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 »
[May 4, 2016] When my friend Wilson and I joined the Little League baseball team as six-year olds, we were fortunate to meet one of the best coaches of all time. Dr. Hagood was a physician but also a part-time coach in our small town. His greatest contribution to children on his team was to instill in us… Read More »
[April 12, 2016] Yes we do accumulate bad habits and it’s not unusual for senior leaders to be hindered seriously in their job performance directly for this very reason. I’ve seen it happen many times. Leaders are particularly susceptible to picking up bad habits because they’ve reached their position through successes that have given them a bit of… Read More »
[February 28, 2016] For a leader to recognize their own weaknesses and to take action to overcome their own human frailties is the ultimate in responsibility. At least that is what the Roman Stoics would have us believe in – personal responsibility. Yet, there are those that argue modern leaders intentionally encourage irresponsibility by their own acts and… Read More »
[January 21, 2016] In Greek mythology, a young and handsome Narcissus sees his reflection in a pool of water on day while walking near a lake. He became entranced by the reflection of himself but since he could not obtain the object of his desire (his own reflection); he died at the banks of the water pool. And… 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 »
[November 20, 2014] When three of my friends and I joined the U.S. Army, we were happy to be away from home and thrilled to finally reach the pinnacle of real men by being real soldiers. After two days of intense basic combat training (emphasis on “combat”) we had second thoughts. My best friend asked us on the… Read More »
[October 15, 2015] One of the aspects of Western nations – for some time now – has been for leaders to discourage formal education. In contrast, Asian nations are actually encouraging it aggressively. But in both cases their attitude toward education is very selective, culturally influenced, and resourced based on their social biases. The impact on the success… Read More »