Leadership author and speaker
Leadership author and speaker
A change in leadership is not a change in mission. -Military maxim The focus of January is the transition of leadership in the White House, so it’s a good time to talk about how successful leaders transition. I believe we do leadership transition well in the military, so there’s some lessons there for others. Every […]
Planning is very important, but just like the surfer sitting in the lineup at some point you have to actually drop in and ride the waves. For leaders, this idea means we have to carry out the plans we make. Perfect plans don’t accomplish anything–implementing them does! That surfing maxim came home to me in […]
“A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.” General George S. Patton After all the instruction and practice on the beach, it was time to actually put my board into the ocean and paddle out to the break. I knew how to surf—well, I knew what my instructors taught […]
“I don’t know whether this is the best of times or the worst of times, but I assure you it’s the only time you’ve got.” – Art Buchwald Standing in front of the assembled group of more than 150 staff to tell them they were being reorganized–again–was a little daunting to say the least. Everyone was clearly […]
“A man has integrity if his interest in the good of the service is at all times greater than his personal pride, and when he holds himself to the same line of duty when unobserved as he would follow if his superiors were present” – General S.L.A. Marshall It was very dark and cold on […]
Looking for leadership opportunities–and accepting responsibility–is a crucial ingredient to any leader’s character. The colonel looked at four squadron commanders and said, “The general will be inspecting the facility tomorrow, everything needs to be perfect.” Three of the assembled commanders looked at their feet, while the fourth simply smiled and said, “Sir, I got this. […]
“When things go wrong in your command, start wading for the reason in increasing larger concentric circles around your own desk.” – General Bruce D. Clark Leading your team to reach their potential requires you to balance the tension between leading your team to stretch to achieve at their capability, and overextending your team past […]
Dear General McClellan, if you’re not going to use the army, may I borrow it for a while? ~ Abraham Lincoln The squadron was broken and the commander was the reason. He empowered no one, made all the decisions himself, and insisted on controlling even the most minute details in everything we did. By any […]
No! Do or do not. There is no try. -Yoda I had to decide and there really weren’t any good choices. Balancing security with the “need for speed” completing construction in preparation for the invasion of Iraq. The security officer at our air base in the Kuwaiti desert would not budge on his requirements, and […]
The ballplayer who loses his head, who can’t keep his cool, is worse than no ballplayer at all. – Lou Gehrig It’s baseball season again, and so we begin the annual Rite of the Green Grass and White Lines. Each year, baseball coaches struggle to give clear direction to help their teams make good decisions […]
Always do everything you ask of those you command. – General George S. Patton When I was an instructor at the Air Force’s Officer Training School, I noticed the uncanny way the groups of officer trainees we led became mirrors of their Flight Commander. It was a little scary, really. If the Flight Commander was […]
Nothing is as strong as the heart of a volunteer. -Jimmy Doolittle There may be situations in military leadership where the leader must keep the team in the dark–but in 27 years service and commanding five units I’ve never found one. On the contrary, the question asked most often by military leaders and those they […]
Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions. Harold S. Geneen During the 1950-1953 Korean War, American fighter pilots dominated the skies, even though the Soviet-made MiG-15 jets were faster and more nimble than the American F-80 and F-86s. The difference wasn’t the technology—it was the battle-tested American veterans flying […]
Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back. ― Heraclitus One of the most valuable lessons […]
The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. Vince Lombardi I’ve been an athlete my entire life. From Little League, soccer, and football growing up in Texas to intramurals […]
The vast majority of Airmen we train are going to be somewhere in harm’s way within the next year or two. It is up to us to impart to them the talent and skill they need to accomplish their mission in a world-class fashion and at the same time make sure we get them back […]
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. Henry Ford As a freshman engineering student, I remember vividly the day my professor announced we needed to know the answer before we performed the calculations.What in blazes does he mean? I thought to myself. Then he explained: if we don’t have […]
Please join me tomorrow night on SiriusXMPatriot Ch125 at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific for the GeneralLeadership Hour. I’ll be appearing with other GeneralLeadership.com authors for a 2-Hour Author Special!
Integrity must be at the core of who we are as leaders if we’re to successfully inspire confidence in our teams.
President Ronald Reagan once said that character doesn’t just “happen” at times of crisis, it’s constructed bit by bit by seemingly insignificant decisions. Our character is the compass on which we guide our decisions and our lives. When we have to make decisions, particularly those that involve morals, money, or the mission, we consult our […]