[February 14, 2019] Criticizing military leaders for their failures is not something I write about lightly. But, as all who have “been there and done that,” know that criticizing can have a meaningful and positive impact. The reason that thoughtful criticism is necessary is that people die when military leadership fails. One good thing about U.S. military leaders… Read More »
[February 7, 2019] I had only been command of my new Infantry Company for a little over a month but my boss (the Battalion Commander) already didn’t like me. He said I was “too bold.” One day we were to convoy back to Fort Hood, Texas from a local training area. My company was last (eat me dust)… Read More »
[February 5, 2019] It’s been said that leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. While life and sports are about doing exactly this, only those who are best organized can actually succeed. Sunday evening, the New England Patriots won Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams in a tough game: scoring 13 – 3. Sports… Read More »
[January 31, 2019] After watching a video of an army armored Task Force get “destroyed” during wargames at Fort Irwin National Training Center (NTC), I promised my soldiers that would not happen to them. It became evident during the briefing that a previous unit’s Commander had failed to connect the dots from the bits of Intelligence on the… Read More »
[January 26, 2019] In 2007, on my first trip to Brooklyn, New York, I saw a huge traffic sign that read, “Fuhgeddaboudit.” I thought to myself that it was strange to have an unintelligible word so prominently displayed in this famous city. Fuhgeddaboudit (i.e., forget about it) is a quote from television character Ralph Kramden of 1955-56 The… Read More »
[January 24, 2019] As a very young boy I marveled at the Sparrows that nested in a giant oak tree located in our backyard. At only two weeks old these fledglings would have their first try at flight. Upon leaving my first company command, as a U.S. Army Captain, I remembered that time as a young boy, the… Read More »
[January 23, 2019] This past weekend I was at a Boy Scout “Klondike” event. The idea of Klondike is to demonstrate teamwork and test scouting skills. While sitting around the campfire with other adult scout leaders, we discussed the upcoming year and what we could do differently or do better as leaders. My leader resolutions for 2019 are… Read More »
[January 14, 2019] About two decades ago, psychologists hit upon a discovery that stopped them in their tracks. They had proposed that the more responsibility people possess, the more stress they have and thus less satisfaction in their life. It turns out, counterintuitive to their way of thinking, that the tough job of shouldering responsibility is directly related… Read More »
[January 8, 2019] Why concern ourselves with real rules for leaders? First, these are not suggestions but are things that leaders must do to be successful. Certainly, you can be a leader and disobey any number of rules, but you cannot be effective in the long term if you do. Today, my goal is to provide some additional… Read More »
[January 7, 2019] A few weeks ago I was challenged by a number of my friends to compose a list a set of rules for leaders (my Type A personality smiled upon their request). And by this they were clear in what they were saying; not suggestions, recommendations, or tips but real rules. I’ve laid out here a… Read More »