Monday Motivation: Live Deliberately

Mickey believes everyone can reach high levels of performance if inspired and led. During his 28 year US Air Force career Mickey commanded thousands of Airmen, managed portfolios worth billions of dollars, and worked with military, civil, and industry officials around the world. He is a Distinguished Graduate from the Eisenhower School at National Defense […]

Capt Rickenbacher had courage. Read more about courage in The 5 Be's for Starting Out

Be Courageous

“Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage without fear.”– Eddie Richenbacker, World War I flying ace There are as many definitions of the word “courage” as there are people. Courage can take many forms, but we generally think of courage in two main categories: physical courage and moral courage. When […]

Book Review: Lost Mandate of Heaven

Leaders are also readers, and when I travel I use the time to catch up on my reading and writing. Ignatius Press recently sent me The Lost Mandate of Heaven by Geoffery D. T. Shaw to review, and it was time well spent! Shaw tells the story of the rise and betrayal of President Ngo […]

Justice as a Virtue?

According to Aristotle, Justice is the proper moderation between self-interest, the rights and needs of others, and rendering to each person what is deserved. We most often think of “Justice” in the legal sense: the system of enforcement of laws, including punishment for committing crimes. But the virtue of Justice is much more than merely […]

Be Free – Part I

“Freedom” is a word often misused in our current vocabulary. We view our “freedoms” in such a broad manner that the word sometimes loses its meaning. Particularly in the case of young people, “freedom” is synonymous with “doing whatever I like”, but that’s not authentic freedom. Authentic freedom is being able to choose what’s good […]

Of Surfing, Leading, and Be’s

Aloha everyone! I am privileged to appear on The Civil Engineering podcast with leader, career coach, and former Air Force engineer Christian Knudson.  Episode 19: Riding The Wave of Change As a Civil Engineer Leader – goes live today Wednesday Nov. 25 on iTunes at 6am EST. This weeks Civil Engineer podcast features Mickey Addison, career military officer, civil engineer, author […]

Leaders Pay Attention to the Little Things

“Don’t sweat the small stuff.” That’s what leaders hear constantly as we’re challenged to keep a strategic focus. It’s generally good advice, particularly for senior or executive leaders, but the maxim to keep your eyes on the horizon is not carte blanche to ignore relevant details. The real trick is to figure out which details […]

For the New Graduates

It’s the graduation season, and young people across the country are throwing their square caps into the air in celebration of their accomplishment. My daughter was honored to present the Valedictorian speech at her school (which I’ll post tomorrow), and as a Dad I’ve got some advice I’d like to offer as well. In honor of […]

From the Blogs: What the Team Needs

I spotted this great article from People Development Mag on leading teams and wanted to share!  I like their model:   and it closely resembles my own:     Says Ms Shafer: When initiative, productivity, creativity and execution are lacking, the costs to the team can be very real. The tangible results can be a lackluster […]

Finding Value, Part 2: Professional Responsibilities

In the first part, I discussed the necessity for leaders to help their teams find value in participation in professional and social organizations related to the business. For Air Force officers, that used to be the Officers Club, but I discovered my younger officers didn’t necessarily sign up to that particular tradition. Like the office coffee […]

Finding Value, Part 1

It was axiomatic as a brand new lieutenant I was expected to join the Officer’s Club. I read about the expectation in my Air Force Officer’s Guide, and senior officers repeatedly reinforced  that expectation. It was part of my professional obligation to support the Club, and I accepted this at face value. In fact, other a couple of […]