Be A Good Follower

Following is just as important as leading. To be a good follower means more than merely doing what your boss tells you but trying to see the bigger picture and understand where the boss is going. I maintain that you’ve got to learn how to follow before you can learn how to lead. So how […]

Eric’s Truck

In keeping with the theme of “service” this Veterans’ Day week, I’d like to share a story about what some Air Force firefighters did for a young boy recently. That’s when firefighters with the 673rd Civil Engineer Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson stepped up and created Engine No. 7, a brother to the department’s six […]

What’s My Purpose?

When reaching the end of their careers, military veterans are often faced with difficult questions.  There are, of course, the practical considerations of finances and family, but the biggest question for the vet is not where he’ll live or how he’ll make his living.  The biggest question for the retiring vet is what’s my purpose? […]

3 Military Books Every Leader Should Read

Actually, I think there’s way more than three, but since everyone is busy, I’ve narrowed it down to a few. 1.  War As I Knew It, Gen George S. Patton, Jr. The famous WWII general’s memoirs has loads of lessons in leadership, showing initiative, and strategic thinking. Very interesting reading that dispels a lot of […]

What Got You Here Won’t Make You Successful Here

When I was going through the executive leadership curriculum at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (now the Eisenhower School), speakers and readings continually repeated the notion that executive leadership was different; that the skills we learned as majors and lieutenant colonels would not make us successful as colonels and generals. At the time, […]