[January 17, 2017] This is not a history lesson. Neither is this a lesson in botany. What many of us were taught about the Irish Potato Famine was that the Irish were ignorant (drunk and lazy) and that led to the potato (and the crops demise) being used for most of the population’s nutrition needs. The famine, however,… Read More »
[January 9, 2017] Turner Classic Movies is running a number of classics this week and one of my favorite films is the 1967 movie classic In the Heat of the Night. The movie is about a black police detective (Virgil Tibbs, played by Sidney Poitier) involved in a murder investigation in a small racist town in Mississippi. The… Read More »
[January 8, 2017] In 1980, I began my graduate work thinking how lucky I was that I could expand my thinking on the “philosophies of life” while pursuing an advanced academic degree. It certainly didn’t work out that way. But I’m thankful for the time I had with the father of one of my associates. Talks with her… Read More »
[January 3, 2017] This post is my third in a short series on my personal view of the War in Iraq after a one-year combat tour of duty. While I served three years total, that first year shaped much of my understanding of Iraqis, terrorists, combat troops, contractors, home town folks, reporters, and politicians. As leaders it is… Read More »
[December 28, 2016] There will be times and places where the most effective leader will do the greatest good by personally being present at a significant time or place and paying one’s respect. Yesterday, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where his nation conducted a surprise attack on December 7, 1941 bringing America into… Read More »
[December 27, 2016] It was a hot summer day at Fort Benning, Georgia when my class was to take an exam on how to survive a chemical attack by a determined enemy. It was rumored to be our school’s most difficult test and that could explain why two Second Lieutenants were cheating on the exam; both were caught… Read More »
[December 26, 2016] A few days ago I wrote about my view of the Iraqis during the early part of the War in Iraq. From my one-year tour of combat duty in Iraq with a U.S. Army Engineer unit, I came into contact with Iraqis, terrorists, combat troops, contractors, home town folks, reporters, and politicians. It is instructive… Read More »
[December 22, 2016] Yes, even teenagers can be good leaders and many are very good without formal training or mentoring of any kind. It appears as if they’re born that way but we know that not to be true. Such was the case when a young teenager taught me a lesson in leadership and a gaggle of other… Read More »
[December 21, 2016] One thing I like most about great leaders is that they don’t mince their words. My grandmother reminded me often to “speak plainly and loudly” if I wanted to be heard above others. She was one to never filter what she thought and taught all us grandchildren to never disguise our thinking in “double talk… Read More »
[December 19, 2016] Yesterday was World War One’s 100th anniversary of the last day of the Battle of Verdun; December 18, 1916. Most folks will have little interest about this particular battle but at the time it was the longest, largest, and most destructive battle in human history and also part of the first global war. We should… Read More »