Focused Listening

Focused listening is a key component to being a Level Five leader. At today’s modern pace, often with the intention of multitasking, information can be lost. Conversations end up needing to be repeated. Meetings are held, but is everyone truly “present?” In a hybrid, remote/in-person world that many are now in, these issues can be … Read more

Team Anywhere

I was pleased to be a guest on “Team Anywhere,” a podcast that discusses team building, remote/hybrid leadership, and strategies for strengthening team relationships. The podcast is produced by the Simon Leadership Alliance, a leadership consultancy that focuses on digital and remote work. Here are some leadership concepts we discussed: Coping Vs Adapting Coping is … Read more

The Power of the First Impression

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of talking with Bill Higgs as part of his ‘Culture Code Champions‘ podcast. We talked about several things — my history at West Point, what Level Five leadership and culture mean, and how to better manage teams. One subject that stood out was a story from Bill … Read more

Excellent Executive Coaching

A few weeks ago, I was a guest on ‘Excellent Executive Coaching,’ a podcast hosted by Dr. Katrina Burrus. Dr. Burrus is a leadership coach and has spent years analyzing the essentials: what makes leaders succeed — or fail. Let’s dive in a bit to some of what we discussed: Differences between military values and … Read more

Steering The Battleship: A Presentation with the Duke Sanford Veterans Association

Back in April, I had the privilege to make a presentation to the Duke Sanford Veterans Association, co-hosted by my son, Rob, who is a Special Operations Officer with the U.S. Army as well as a Policy Student at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy. The presentation was titled “Steering The Battleship.” Why that name? … Read more

EQ Component 1: Building Self-Awareness

“Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one’s awareness of one’s ignorance.” — Anthony de Mello As I mentioned in my previous blog (the first in this series), Emotional Intelligence, or EQ, has several key characteristics, the first of which is Self–awareness. Self-awareness is defined by Daniel Goleman as “the ability to recognize and understand your … Read more