Communication:
No team ever failed because of too
much communication.
They just stood there. It was funny. It was sad. It was telling. When the captains left the court, none of the other players stepped forward to lead. Communication broke down and chaos ensued.
I was watching a high school girls sporting event. Unfortunately, I have seen this in the business world too. When the leader is gone and nobody steps forward, a bump in the road can cause a relatively smooth running team to end up in a ditch. Continue Reading…
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point.” –C.S. Lewis
Wow. Opening this post with this quote from C. S. Lewis just heightened my level of attention to a subject that has been watered down through over use and misunderstanding through the years. How do we recover the word Courage from the Buzzword purgatory it’s currently relegated to?
My answer is to define it and to continually discuss it. That is the problem with corporate values statements as well. They are inadequately defined and communicated infrequently.
The topic of courage has generated a lot of interest in recent posts. This is a previously published blog where I define courage and give examples of everyday courageous acts.
What is it about our human nature that causes us to seek excuses for when we fall short? Even some of the best sales people and leaders I have been around, can identify something outside of their control that caused them to miss their goals.
Excuses are easy. Breaking the habit of making excuses is hard. I addressed the way West Point handles habitual excuses in an older blog: West Point: How Leaders Seize Responsibility.
But, what if we turned our thought process around? What if we questioned who was responsible for the wins in our lives? Continue Reading…
Cowardice and courage are obvious before and during battle. In 1991, I witnessed another 1st Lieutenant back out of mission that I later volunteered for as a result of his cowardice.
In another part of the battlefield, I had a friend dismount from his tank and walk his platoon through a minefield while under enemy fire. That act of courage earned him a Silver Star. Those examples of cowardice and courage are easy to identify.
But, cowardice and courage in the business world are not always as obvious. Sometimes they appear in the big moments when others are watching. At other times they occur when no one is around to see them.
I define courage as acting without regard for perceived or actual personal risk. Continue Reading…
Facing us is the River of Fear, made deep and wide by our hesitations, timidity, doubts, and paralysis.
Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities…because it is the quality which guarantees all others. - Winston Churchill
Other than the words in this paragraph, this entire blog is taken directly from the introduction to a fantastic book I am reading by a fellow West Point graduate, Gus Lee. Courage: The Backbone Of Leadership clearly states what I believe about the role of courage in leadership. (Click on the title above to read more on about this book). Continue Reading…
The grizzled veteran manager proudly declared, “My top priority is to take care of my team.” It sounded like I found a kindred spirit. I believe the leader’s job should be centered on his people.
But what I had discovered was a selfish, hard headed and insecure man. Over time, I learned he was not taking care of his people. He was looking out for #1. Continue Reading…
I used to swear a lot, drink too much and eat Buffalo wings for a meal 3-4 times a week. Today I rarely swear, have a beer occasionally with a meal, and eat Buffalo wings once in a blue moon. Continue Reading…
Every time people around me use statements or questions from the list below, I feel an aneurysm coming on. They make my head hurt just reading them.
Ownership or excuses. One is the mark of a leader. The other is a sign that I am bound for mediocrity and failure. In the long run, people who make excuses stall out.
Making excuses is a habit. I wrote about how West Point deals with this habit in West Point: How Leaders Seize Accountability. But what are the results for me if I habitually make excuses? Continue Reading…
Every male freshman (plebe) entering West Point has a mandatory class that few other colleges offer much less require. Boxing.
Each morning that boxing was on my schedule I woke up thinking about it. I would sit in calculus, chemistry or computer programing class thinking about boxing. It didn’t matter that I had tests or other graded exercises in those classes. Boxing dominated my thoughts.
This is a previously posted blog that drew a lot of attention from West Point graduates (emails, comments etc) the first time it was published in May 2012. Continue Reading…
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