Posts with the ‘Character’ tag
I agreed to talk to the boss. Three of my peers approached me about a sales campaign that they thought missed the mark. It was our boss’s idea, but it wasn’t a good one. Over time, I became the person my peers came to when someone needed to confront our boss. I accepted that role […]
Merriam Webster took me on an odyssey to get to a definition of leadership. I seem to remember being taught in school to not use the root of a word to define that word. Someone should have told Merriam that! Merriam Webster Says: Definition of LEADERSHIP 1: the office or position of a leader 2: […]
Leadership is a blend of competence and character. BG (Retired) Jim Anderson, my father, taught me that. In 41 years in the Army, including two tours in Vietnam, he saw a lot of great leaders and a lot of leadership failures that formed his philosophy. I started this website with this post. I have learned […]
“What leadership book have you ever read that states, ‘A leader does what is right unless it will cost him personally.’” There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. It was not the empathetic answer Stan was looking for. The question: “What can I do? She’s my boss.”
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
All leaders would love to have a low maintenance team (LMT). A LMT allows a leader to focus on the big things and avoid the day to day hassles that could and should be handled at lower levels. When a leader does that, the leader and the team are more engaged and burnout and turnover […]
I am one of those guys who does not always get to control the TV remote in my house. Because of this dynamic, my desire to watch Deadliest Catch or SportsCenter is put on hold so my wife can watch one of her cooking shows. One thing I often hear on these shows is to […]
