[May 10, 2015] Just last night I completed reading E.B. Sledge’s book With the Old Breed about his service as a United States Marine Corps private during World War II. In his personal memoir, Private Sledge writes about the devastation of war on his Marine comrades and on the local civilian population. He notes in particular how important… Read More »
[May 09, 2015] Many years ago I learned a valuable lesson on improving clarity. As a graduate student I was responsible for teaching several classes. One day I asked my class a question, and wanting to encourage anonymity I directed them to write their answer on a scrap of paper and on the folded outside to write “male… Read More »
[May 06, 2015] Our Drill Sergeants in Basic Combat Training took sadistic pleasure in screaming at us raw recruits … at least it seemed that way. After a long march or any similar difficult task they would say to us, “time for a gut check.” In other words, they wanted to know if we had the intestinal fortitude… Read More »
By guest blogger Sadako Red [see disclaimer] [April 30, 2015] Fundamentally, leadership means being able to help take care of those who follow you. That is why leadership is so important for the advancement of human beings and why choosing the right leader is imperative. The elected mayor of the City of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, is also aware… Read More »
[April 24, 2015] One of the greater insights into management concepts over the past century was that rules cannot be created to cover everything in the workplace. The study of human psychology says that we all live and act according to values we hold most cherished. It follows logically that if we can clearly identify those the most… Read More »
[April 23, 2014] As leaders we often find it difficult to clearly communicate what tasks need to get done and with as few mistakes as possible. Surprised? Of course not. Leaders normally give good orders but fail to communicate plainly their intent and also fail to put it into the proper context so that an employee can carry… Read More »
[April 15, 2015] One of the many struggles of a leader is the challenge to overcome problems created by emotion. By that I mean that people have motivations that can create trouble and disruption. Specifically addressed here is the emotion of hate; the power of hate of other people and hate of different ideas. We don’t see this… Read More »
[April 04 2015] There is evidence, mostly circumstantial, that leaders today are less adaptable to change than ever before. Furthermore, leaders are likely to be also less resilient, lacking in courage, and less truthful. No surprise then that most Americans have less confidence in leadership than ever before. The world is changing at a pace that seems to… Read More »
[April 02, 2015] Between 1970 and 1999 South Korean airlines had a number of accidents that put them at the bottom in aviation safety. The reason was traced to a cultural issue whereby junior pilots would not correct senior pilots or give them satisfactory feedback on piloting skills. A good friend of mine was a senior officer in… Read More »
[April 01, 2015]. The Germanwings airline co-pilot deliberately steered his commercial jet into the French Alps killing all 150 aboard. It was discovered he had hidden his mental health problems from the airline. People often obscure mental issues from their employers, friends, and family. Leaders are particularly prone to hide them because of adverse impacts on their employment… Read More »