[July 11, 2014] The reading and study of military history is one of the pillars in a well-rounded education for military professionals. This includes both officers and enlisted personnel. This concept applies to any leader in any organization. While magazines from professional associations are helpful to see the most recent topics at hand, they also allow us a… Read More »
[July 10, 2014] The New York Post headlines read, “Nuke Attack” [in all capital letters].1 They are referring to the terrorist group Hamas firing rockets into the city of Dimona and home of an Israeli nuclear power plant. The implication here is that the terrorists were targeting the “nuke plant.” Senior U.S. leadership did not have much to… Read More »
[July 10, 2014] The most successful senior executive leaders are professionally unemotional, yet caring and respectful. Now, that may seem like an oxymoron, and some people will even disagree with me, but leaders must have a degree of detachment else they will be consumed by the daily affairs of those they lead. Likewise, they must show that they… Read More »
[July 09, 2014] My father told me on many occasions to “stand up for yourself” when in a threatening situation. He also said to “stick up for your friends.” Not standing up for yourself and friends meant that you were a coward and were more likely to be attacked. News reports from yesterday, shows that the escalating violence… Read More »
[July 09, 2014] As a teenager, my friends and I were lukewarm to high school learning … it was something we simply had to do. Yet, I do fondly remember our track coach teaching us about “leadership and propaganda”. His message was prophetic – you will be consumed by propaganda unless you are taught the leadership and knowledge… Read More »
[July 08, 2014] Growing up in the Deep South provided me with opportunities for my friends and I to get into trouble and plenty of fistfights with each other. Preceding any fight however, there was the obligatory taunting: sticking our tongue out, name-calling, daring them in some way. My first grade teacher, upon observing one of these fights,… Read More »
[July 08, 2014] Comedians and politicians appear to be the best at reading their audience. Not to equate them on their level of national importance, of course. They both base their livelihood on their ability to foresee how their audience will react to what they do (telling a joke or debating national security). Predicting the audience reaction is… Read More »
[July 07, 2014] Savage manliness? Running of the bulls in Spain rates with Rugby and Calcio Fiorentino as a sport that requires very special talents. My wife says that those who run with a bunch of bulls chasing them are crazy. I like to think of them as having physical courage mixed with a little insanity. However, it… Read More »
[July 07, 2014] The United States has an immigration problem. There is no denying the fact that the number of people crossing the southern border annually in violation of U.S. law has dramatically increased over the past several years. Likewise, the number of deportations has fallen. The real problem, however, is not the immigration issue itself, but the… Read More »
[July 06, 2014] Military leaders are taught from the beginning to be aware of the dangers of “group think.” There have been a number of colossal military disasters that resulted from group think: Custer’s Last Stand, the Maginot Line, Stalingrad, and the Bay of Pigs. Any good leader would rather learn from group think failures than experience them… Read More »