Why waiting for certainty is its own kind of failure, and what taking charge actually requires. In 1991, I commanded an Armored Cavalry Squadron of roughly 800 Soldiers and 50 armored vehicles. We were training at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, deep in the Mojave Desert, preparing for a major battle against … Read more
How a leader’s reaction to bad news determines whether they ever hear it again. “Progress occurs when courageous and skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.” President Harry S. Truman said that, and it has stayed with me because that opportunity almost always begins at an uncomfortable moment. It begins with … Read more
The five stages of culture every organization passes through, and how to tell which one you’re really in. A car dealership executive told me about one of his service technicians not long ago. The man was finishing up a vehicle at the end of a long shift, and the executive stopped by and asked what … Read more
Setting the Azimuth takes a fair degree of hard work, and keeping it alive is a discipline that goes on every quarter after. Speaking of hard work, here’s an example of true dedication in leadership: Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition ship Endurance became trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea in January 1915, and despite … Read more
A coral reef is one of the most beautiful and complex structures in the natural world. It is an entire ecosystem, alive and self-sustaining, every part depending on every other. And here is the amazing characteristic about a coral reef. No one built it. It occurred. You cannot commission a coral reef or draw up … Read more
Integrity is not what you say in the boardroom. It is what you do when no one is watching. When I was a young lieutenant in Germany, I had a platoon of about 41 Soldiers. We patrolled the East and West German border, and when we weren’t out at the border outposts, we worked on … Read more
