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Leadership is about relationships, not power

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Leadership is about relationships, not power

I really like Stephan Pastis’ comic strip “Pearls Before Swine” because it’s clever and funny when he isn’t making horrible puns. The strip has it’s main characters like Goat, Rat, and Pig but there are some other characters that occasionally make an appearance like The Wise Ass on the Hill. The character is, you guessed it, the proverbial wise person sitting on a hill dispensing wisdom to those willing to make the journey. The insights from the Wise Ass are normally enough to make me smile though I occasionally cringe because he hits too close to home.

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Sharpening Leadership Skills through Volunteering

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Sharpening Leadership Skills through Volunteering

Volunteering—particularly with an industry or professional organization provides an opportunity to develop leadership skills in many ways. Seasoned professionals will often find time to volunteer and contribute in specialized ways, but if you’re looking for…

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Gratitude and Appreciation: Force Multipliers

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Gratitude and Appreciation: Force Multipliers

This article tells no grand story of leadership failure or triumph. It has no references to a Harvard Business School article, the latest leadership book, or other conventional sources. Instead, this writing aims to share…

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Focus and Direction

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Focus and Direction

There is a rule of thumb known as the 1 in 60 rule in aviation. It states that for every 1 degree a plane veers off its intended course, it will miss its target destination by one mile for every sixty miles flown.

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The Delegation Dilemma

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The Delegation Dilemma

What is the Delegation Dilemma? Simply put, you might wonder, should I delegate this task to a subordinate or do it myself? Many executives as well as people placed in leadership roles for the first time have difficulty relinquishing control and delegating tasks.

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Managing Transitions; Private Sector Considerations from a Military Mindset

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Managing Transitions; Private Sector Considerations from a Military Mindset

Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. These words seem to define business and the non-profit operating environment. Changing politics, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply challenges, and changing labor attitudes represent only a few of the many topics that leaders must address. However…

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PICKING YOUR TEAM: Building a high-performing culture

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PICKING YOUR TEAM: Building a high-performing culture

The sounds of simulated gunfire and explosions reverberated thru the compound. Instructors barked orders at our class thru megaphones, hosed us with water, made us crawl thru the mud. For one entire week my class went thru…

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Bad Leaders Part One – Serving & Learning

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Bad Leaders Part One – Serving & Learning

As a Fighter Wing Commander, one of my favorite recurring events was engaging with our Airmen who were about to graduate Airmen Leadership School (ALS) along with my Command Chief. ALS is the first tier of professional military education for our enlisted force. Airmen must attend this course before taking their first level supervisory position as a non-commissioned officer (NCO). Up until this point in their careers, they have

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The Art of Recognition

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The Art of Recognition

Remember the last time you received a real authentic compliment and how you felt? Hopefully it hasn’t been so long that you’ve forgotten! And by this, I mean receiving real praise – thoughtful and heartfelt, delivered in a…

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What lessons can we learn from the Super Bowl matchup between San Francisco and Kansas City?

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What lessons can we learn from the Super Bowl matchup between San Francisco and Kansas City?

Hint – they are using the Good to Great playbook, First Who……. Then What principle of Level 5 Leadership. For those who have not read the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, the first principle or character trait of a Level 5 Leader is this “First get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) before you figure out where to drive it…

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What I learn from working with Navy SEALs everyday...Part 2

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What I learn from working with Navy SEALs everyday...Part 2

I decided to write this knowing that most have never met, worked with or know a Navy SEAL and as a result, do not know all the character traits and mindset they all have.

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70% Comfortable, 100% Committed.

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70% Comfortable, 100% Committed.

In our daily lives, both professionally and personally, how many times do we hear the phrase “I’m all in”?  The inference here is that one is fully committed, in total agreement, has unwavering support.  It that what we really see as a result?

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Be a Utility Player

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Be a Utility Player

When I started my college baseball career, my primary position was as a catcher. However, I quickly learned that I did not have the skill set required to be an everyday catcher in college. To find more playing time, I took advantage of every opportunity to learn and play new positions. My senior year…

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