[November 23, 2016] In the meeting halls of various veteran organizations there are old men telling war stories to other men; sometimes boorish, always boring, often brash. That’s the stereotype anyway and yet my take is that there are actually good tales being told … if we only are willing to listen with an open mind. It’s difficult… Read More »
[November 22, 2016] Occasionally I stumble across a person of great courage and use my forum at theLeaderMaker.com to share that person’s story (or at least point out where it can be found). U.S. Army Private First Class (PFC) Tony Vaccaro, veteran of World War II, is that person. There are so many of these stories that it… Read More »
[November 21, 2016] I remember the military order clearly like it was yesterday. As one of the senior U.S. Army engineers in Iraq, I was used to getting unusual requests but this one was different because it came directly from General Petraeus, Commander of the entire combat force. The order? Build enough barracks, headquarters structures, dining facilities, utilities,… Read More »
[November 20, 2016] There are many reasons that the Democrats lost in the 2016 elections that saw U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans elected. I don’t plan to discuss them here but it is worth mentioning that it has been long said that the Democrats had few real choices to put up for the presidential race. In… Read More »
[November 19, 2016] Most of us have been watching of late about college and university students across the United States protesting, conducting “cry-ins,” group-therapy sessions, and similar acts as a response to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s election victory; the epitome of privilege. Students have been, if we look to the past, often on the forefront of positive change… Read More »
[November 18, 2016] When soldiers complain, we are told, that means they trust you as a leader to help them. This was not to be the case when our commander one day told us to keep quiet about the poor quality of services provided by an army contractor. We were told that it was none of our business… Read More »
[November 17, 2016] Leaders are trained to be and experienced in being proactive; aggressively pursuing missions, tasks, and goals is expected and good. Inaction is shunned like Joan of Arc who was burned at the stake in 1431. Great leadership means patience and knowing when to employ the precise timing of rare, aggressive action. “Patience is not an… Read More »
[November 16, 2016] Most people that I know from Europe or the Americas care nothing about the city of Mosul, the on-going war in Iraq, or the war’s effect on global terror. A few of them have never even heard of the city and their ignorance was a surprise to me after it being in the news. The… Read More »
[November 15, 2016] If there’s ever been a group of leaders stereotyped as falling into the trap of groupthink, it’s the military. Groupthink, however, is real and is a leader’s curse to be avoided like a pestilence of locusts. The recent U.S. election is a classic case of the media, pollsters, and political experts who fell for groupthink… Read More »
[November 14, 2016] While waiting to vote this past week, Election Day Tuesday, I struck up a conversation with an older gentleman and his wife. He was a Korean War veteran, she a retired state judge, both were vivid reminders of how much our older generation still has to contribute. While none of us volunteered who we would… Read More »