[September 5, 2020] I don’t do movie reviews, but I do comment on them occasionally. My wife told me that doing a “war movie review” might be a good idea, and I should consider starting. Here is my first attempt. The movie I chose today for a review is We Were Soldiers (2002) starring Mel Gibson. The movie… Read More »
[August 30, 2020] At the Battle of Cowpens, January 1781, American Revolutionary General Daniel Morgan fought the British and won. After repeated losses to the British, American forces were demoralized, beaten, and poorly lead. Morgan changed the way Americans fought, and for this, we can learn what traits it takes for a senior commander to win. What were… Read More »
[August 26, 2020] “Mail Call.” The shouted notice by our Administrative Staff Sergeant was time for high spirits. We were getting mail. By the end of 2004, my unit had been in combat for over ten months when a card arrived for me from an Oklahoma Schoolgirl. How she got my name, I’ll never know, but I found… Read More »
[August 24, 2020] Rummaging around with some old books of mine (when I first read about leadership), I kept seeing a common theme. I get time to do that now; more reading, looking out the window at on green trees and blue skies and thinking. What I see is that old leadership principles never seem to die; they… Read More »
[August 22, 2020] The importance of proper paperwork cannot be overlooked. Many years ago, as a staff officer, I wondered why the promotion rates for Administrative Army officers exceeded the rate of Infantry officers. Infantry was the place of leaders, more likely to experience combat and to demonstrate one’s bonafides in the U.S. Army. Why then did Admin… Read More »
By guest blogger Sadako Red [see disclaimer] [August 19, 2020] Anytime we step out boldly to make changes, we take a chance that we might fail. But the only way to get better is to try. I’m no politician; don’t want to be now nor ever. The City of Baltimore – you know the one that I can… Read More »
[August 7, 2020] Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest President in the Nation’s history when he assumed those responsibilities upon the death of William McKinley. Roosevelt took the view that the Presidency was the “steward of the people.” And, we can find a similar leadership philosophy in the company called Trader Joe’s. “It is only through labor and painful… Read More »
[August 5, 2020] Labeled as “one of the most significant occurrences in the history of the Jewish people,” the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in the Spring of 1943 was doomed to failure. This was the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II and is a symbol of freedom that we closely review for the lessons that can… Read More »
[July 31, 2020] Multiple times throughout my blog, I define leadership as the ability to get people to do things they would not ordinarily do and to do those things because they want to do them.1 That, however, is only half of what great leadership is about. Great leadership also means to know evil and face evil; only… Read More »
[July 29, 2020] A good leader can come in many different shapes and forms, depending on who, what, and where they need to lead. But no matter what the situation, there are some qualities that shine through all of the best leaders – as John C. Maxwell famously described a good leader as one who “knows the way,… Read More »