Enjoy monthly reads, reflections, and thoughts from our wisdom filled team.
What if one small token could remind a leader of their greatest responsibility? During my tenure as CEO, I challenged our senior leaders to do something simple but profound — to pause, reflect, and intentionally thank those who helped shape them into the leaders they had become. Read on to discover the story behind the Wooden Nickel and ask yourself: Who do you need to thank?
AI is a tool. It enhances human effort and effectiveness – it is not yet a wholesale replacement for human workers, with some exceptions. I have studied AI for at least a half-dozen years, reading something AI-related nearly every single day. Why? Because it is ubiquitous. Every organization and executive leader I engage with is talking about this subject. They are determining or delivering AI-related strategy and from my research and analysis, I know that strategy must include the human‑to‑machine interface – with a human‑first approach.
Drawing on years of research and readings across leading business, technology and organizational frameworks (such as Gartner, McKinsey, Harvard, etc.), I have identified five factors – what I call the five “Ps” – that every organization, public or private, for profit or non-profit, must consider when implementing AI. They are: Purpose, People, Policy, Process, and Platform.
AI is a tool. It enhances human effort and effectiveness – it is not yet a wholesale replacement for human workers, with some exceptions. I have studied AI for at least a half-dozen years, reading something AI-related nearly every single day. Why? Because it is ubiquitous. Every organization and executive leader I engage with is talking about this subject. They are determining or delivering AI-related strategy and from my research and analysis, I know that strategy must include the human‑to‑machine interface – with a human‑first approach.
Drawing on years of research and readings across leading business, technology and organizational frameworks (such as Gartner, McKinsey, Harvard, etc.), I have identified five factors – what I call the five “Ps” – that every organization, public or private, for profit or non-profit, must consider when implementing AI. They are: Purpose, People, Policy, Process, and Platform. In this two-part series, we will explore all five. Today, we begin with Purpose and People.
As a leader, words, actions, and even silence carry weight. Your team will scrutinize everything you say and how you say it. Understanding the root causes of miscommunication and addressing them proactively is a skill separating effective leaders from the rest. The second part of this series will focus on internal communication breakdowns - examining how personal barriers, unchecked assumptions, and unintentional listening habits shape what is heard, interpreted, and acted upon.
As a leader, words, actions, and even silence carry weight. Your team will scrutinize everything you say and how you say it. Understanding the root causes of miscommunication and addressing them proactively is a skill separating effective leaders from the rest. The first part of this series will focus on external communication breakdowns - what is being conveyed and how it is delivered.
Ceaseless meetings, the era of a distributed workforce, and the task saturation of leaders have driven an overreliance on email as the first step in building relationships. While email is a good tool for broadcasting information and quick collaboration, it is not a relationship building tool. In this article, we’ll explore how stepping away from email and instead, implementing and sustaining recurring one-on-one meetings will create the clarity, alignment, and collaboration required to deliver meaningful outcomes.
This time of year, many folks revisit last year’s resolutions and wonder what went wrong. The hopes of a new year, often drowned out by the realities of life. So, why is it so difficult to achieve goals? Often, we attribute failure to a lack of discipline - and there may be some truth to that. But, that explanation leaves individuals with little guidance outside of “try harder next year.” If you truly want to make progress in both your personal and professional life, consider refining your goal setting process.
Successful strategy execution requires a well-defined accountability mechanism composed of three interconnected elements: people, process and leadership oversight. Together, these elements create a disciplined system that drives follow-through, maintains focus, and ensures that strategic objectives are translated into measurable results.
Strategies rarely fail because the vision is flawed; more often, they fail because employees lack the guidance, skill development, and confidence needed to execute effectively. When implementing a strategy, key members of the team must receive dedicated coaching and support from both subject-matter and technical experts.
I have seen many well-intentioned organizations draft catchy vision statements, spend significant energy developing a strategy, and then fall flat in execution after the strategic masterpiece is unveiled. A well-crafted strategy is only as strong as its execution. While organizations invest significant time and resources in designing strategies, many fall short when it comes to implementation. Strategy implementation is the critical bridge between planning and results—it ensures that intentions are translated into measurable performance.
I have commanded high performing organizations both in combat and peacetime and been lucky enough to serve with some of the best Americans and warriors this country has to offer. I was neither the best leader nor the best warrior. I made many mistakes while on my leadership journey and learned from every one of them. I have many regrets and wish I could go back and make different decisions, take different actions, or treat people differently; but I use these as motivation to be a better leader, mentor, and humble servant. I challenge you to do the same. If you “roger up” to the leadership call, then you will certainly experience failure, but you should see these failures as opportunities for growth and reflection. We should never consider ourselves to be experts but students who are on a continuous journey to become better.
It’s time to address one of the many unanswered questions in life: ”do I play it safe or dive!?” The context of this question will be framed around sports and though it was often the result of years of participating, coaching and observing many athletes, it also has a strong parallel to behaviors demonstrated in the professional world.
In 2011, Marvel’s comic series Captain America depicted the modern-day ultimate selfless, sacrificial act of jumping on the grenade when Steve Rogers covered a dummy grenade to save his fellow soldiers. He did not know that the lead trainer and assessor threw a dummy grenade. He possessed the key qualities that the senior leader, Colonel Phillips, desired – courage and self-sacrifice. While this dramatic visual vignette highlights these qualities and key elements that contribute to a leader’s character assessment, thankfully, few teammates or leaders ever must prove these qualities through such a mortal test. And yet, most leaders will face tests of their character and willingness to jump on a grenade throughout their professional lives. Leaders prove their courage, character, and willingness to sacrifice for the team to supervisors, peers, and junior teammates…or do not.
Have you ever been singled out for criticism by your leader in the presence of others? Do you remember how it felt?
Chances are, if you have experienced this, you have never forgotten it. Getting chastised in plain view leaves a lasting and unpleasant impression. Better said, it just plain hurts. As we move forward, every recollection of that moment makes us feel the pain and embarrassment all over again. Ouch.
One of the things I miss most about being in uniform is the camaraderie I felt with my fellow service members almost immediately upon arriving at a new organization. Over a 33-year career, this shared bond made each assignment a little easier, knowing I would quickly find people with common experiences and a shared purpose whenever I joined a team. These connections are a big part of what made military service so meaningful to me and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Yet, over time, I realized that if left unchallenged, my comfort with teammates who shared similar experiences and thought processes could sometimes limit my openness to other perspectives.
I wanted to get a better understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it could potentially improve my leadership, so I decided to engage ChatGPT in a conversation on the topic. I started out with an easy one: “how can I improve my leadership?” As suspected, a laundry list of ideas with well-articulated statements streamed down my screen. However…
