Category Archives: Leadership

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Seasons of Development

In Seasons in Leadership, I wrote about the leader’s role in sensing the environment and guiding teams through change:

Regardless of the situation, the best leaders know that by their role and responsibility positions them to intuit transition and see opportunity. These leaders intentionally develop vision to sense impending seasons. Then they fulfill their responsibility to define reality for the team and empathetically guide their followers through the change. In doing so, they model how to lead through change with foresight and intention.

We often forget that the precursor to navigating change is the leader’s own development, the arc of personal growth that prepares them for the road ahead.

Development

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The 16 Laws of Communication

As a young leader, I was fortunate to discover two authors who set a lifelong foundation of influence for me as a leader: General Colin Powell and John C. Maxwell. I read My American Journey in high school, five years after General Powell led a 35-country coalition to victory in the Gulf War and mere months before my own leadership journey began as a cadet. Inspired by his real-world leadership lessons in and out of combat, I typed up four pages of quotes and carried them with me for years. I called My American Journey my leadership bible.

John C. Maxwell, who I came across a few years later, perfectly complemented Powell’s influence in my life. In case you haven’t read his books yet, John Maxwell is the #1 bestselling leadership author of all time. His most popular work is The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. He writes in stories and simple principles and his books perfectly weave together insight, inspiration, humor, and conviction.

Simply put, John Maxwell is the Michael Jordan of leadership coaching. And his new book, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication, dives into the most important skill a leader can have.

Development

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Why I Removed My Confederate Flag

I grew up in the South. A little bit in Tennessee and Florida, but mostly in Georgia. Though I spent that childhood in the neighborhoods of suburban Atlanta and not in the country farm fields, I still received the imprint of geographical culture:  Southern politeness, Waffle House, sweet tea, country music, NASCAR and The Dukes of Hazard were all accepted – and expected – norms. As was pride in the Confederacy.

confederate flag

The flag of the Confederacy on the ground during a protest against white nationalists in Washington, D.C. Photo credit.
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Time to Change Perspective

“I should have seen that coming…”

“If I hadn’t had been so focused on this, I could’ve anticipated that…”

“Where did THIS come from???”

We’ve all uttered these words at one point or another, searching for an explanation as to how our circumstances managed to outpace our intellect, premonition capacity, focused research, and detailed planning effort.

perspective

Army Staff Sgt. Ariel Hughes pulls a simulated wounded soldier through an obstacle during the Drill Sergeant of the Year Competition at Camp Bullis, Texas, Aug. 19, 2019. Twelve soldiers from around the U.S. took part in the four-day competition. Link to DoD photo.
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Seasons in Leadership

Seasons. Change. Transition. Growth.

The notion of seasons has come to me from multiple sources recently. One obvious change has been my professional transition…closing the season of battalion command and embarking on a new duty with a new scope of responsibilities. (This season even ended with a ceremony…most don’t!) The people, the conversations, battle rhythms, challenges, opportunities, office spaces, run routes…it’s all different now. It’s entirely new terrain and it demands adaptation.

The other experience that inspired reflection on change was at Yosemite National Park last week, immersed in an ecosystem that is in a perpetual state of natural change. Seasons incrementally and seamlessly slip into one another, presenting subtly-forming but radical new landscapes of sun and ice, rock and water, cloud, air, plant, animal, and fire.

seasons

Half Dome, Glacier Point, and Yosemite Valley, as seen from the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail in Yosemite National Park, CA.
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Sharing the spotlight

Every leadership position comes with its own spotlight. As a leader, you’re the one on stage, you make the decisions, you take responsibility for consequences, everyone is watching and waiting for you to take action. The default expectation is that you will do it on your own and everyone else will follow.

But what happens if you decide not to “do leadership” on your own? What if, instead of spinning inside your own head about what to do next then issuing a decree, you instead brought your team in and asked for their input? What if you said, “Hey guys, here is the situation I’m seeing. This is why it’s important. These are the factors I think are relevant. What am I not seeing? What do you think we should do?”

Would involving them undermine your authority? No.

Would it reveal weakness? No.

Would it take too much time? Not for most of the decisions you face.

On the contrary, when you involve subordinate leaders in the decisions you make, you…

…make them feel valuable and regarded.
…get their buy-in and gain a glimpse of how your impending decision might affect the team.
…reveal their strengths and gaps, which you can note for later development.
…infuse their input, making your decision stronger.
…show them how to lead at the next level.

The notion of the solitary, all-knowing leader is outdated at best. At worst, it is a weak response to the opportunity leaders have to improve the quality of their decisions and develop the team. If leaders can move past the notion that they are the only ones on the stage, the performance will be much better.

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Partial Thanks

When work, life, and social media collide to create the conditions we typically describe as “busy,” one result is that we fail to fully appreciate. We have only enough margin to partially engage in the process of being thankful, which limits our impact.

Looking more closely at being thankful, we might describe it in three steps.

First, there is the moment of simply recognizing that something good has happened. At work, this “good” might be someone’s effort that landed the big win or another’s unselfish moment to teach coworkers how to be more effective. At home, this is our partner’s daily effort to maintain order, the kids helping around the house, and the neighbor walking our trash can up the driveway for us.

For some of us, even the act of identifying the good around us is a cognitive challenge. It’s not that we’re insensitive jerks, it’s just that too often we’re simply looking the other way. (Incidentally, that “other way” is often forward. We sacrifice the moment for the sake of progress.)

Next in the process of being thankful is reflecting on the impact of the good we recognize. Ok, for some things, noticing is good enough. But for the things that matter, there is no way to properly appreciate the good (i.e. be thankful) unless we literally stop what we’re doing, stop talking, stop scrolling, stop competing…and dedicate a moment to exploring the positive effect that is happening as a result.

Reflecting is the hardest step because engineering a pause anywhere in our hectic day is a monumental achievement. Nonetheless, the people doing good for us really do deserve a moment to appreciate their significance. How are they saving us time, energy, and effort? In what ways are they making the team better? What are they doing that we didn’t ask them to do? Discovering the answers is an intentional process.

Finally, it’s time to do something with that awareness by expressing thanks in a sincere, deliberate way. People want to know they matter, that their efforts make an impact. Many will do their work selflessly, but almost all will do it better with praise. Plus, appreciation is free, arguably the most cost-effective activity we can engage in. It is fuel for growing our teams, strengthening our families, and building our communities.

So, being thankful is recognizing the good, reflecting on its impact, and expressing gratitude to those who matter. Most days, we barely get to the first step. Partial thanks. Today, let’s try to go all the way.

P.S. Upon reflecting, I fully recognize that you have many other places you could spend your time. Yet, you choose to make The Military Leader part of your day and part of your leadership journey. I greatly appreciate that you do. I’m thankful for the engagement you create, the impact you have, and for sharing this resource with your people. Without you, this doesn’t exist. Thank you!

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