“A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible.“
Polybius
… Read the rest
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First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do.
Epictetus
Picture the scene: In a remote part of Afghanistan, near the mountainous border with Pakistan, helicopters carrying dozens of elite Army Rangers race over the rugged landscape. Their target on this high-risk mission is an insurgent compound. It is broad daylight and the Rangers know the insurgents are heavily armed. But it’s considered a risk worth taking as reliable intelligence sources indicate a top al Qaeda commander is in that compound.
Within a matter of minutes, the helicopters touch-down and the Rangers immediately come under fire.… Read the rest
“It is the management of self that should occupy 50% of our time and the best of our ability.”
Dee Hock
In 2011, our nation was shocked when prominent Pennsylvania State University leaders, including the late legendary football coach Joe Paterno, were accused of ignoring allegations of child sex abuse by the school’s former defensive coordinator almost a decade earlier. In addition to tarnishing a university’s once-sterling reputation, shattering the trust of an entire sport, and prematurely ending the career of a coach with the most victories in collegiate history leaves all of us wondering, “How can something like this happen?”
The sad truth is that their failure didn’t happen overnight.… Read the rest
The greatest weariness comes from work not done.
Eric Hoffer
Are you tired?
Are you frustrated?
Are you weary?
Weary of feeling as though your dreams are impossible to reach.
Weary of being told you don’t fit in, won’t make the cut or don’t have what it takes to play on the team.
Weary of feeling as though no one appreciates the unique gifts, talents and skills you so desperately want to share with the world around you.
Any of this sound familiar?
These are the types of thoughts that mark seasons of weariness in our lives.… Read the rest
“A hero is a man who does what he can.”
Romain Rolland
Picture the scene: In a remote part of Afghanistan, near the mountainous border with Pakistan, helicopters carrying dozens of elite Army Rangers race over the rugged landscape. Their target on this high risk mission is an insurgent compound. It’s broad daylight and the Rangers know the insurgents are heavily armed. But it’s considered a risk worth taking as reliable intelligence sources indicate a top al Qaeda commander is in that compound.
Within a matter of minutes, the helicopters touch down and the Rangers immediately come under fire. One of the American soldiers who emerged from the helicopter that day was Staff Sergeant Leroy Petry.… Read the rest
“Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.”
Mary Kay Ash
General John Handy, a 37-year Air Force veteran, shared the following story at a graduation of the Air Command and Staff College (an Air Force graduate school program) several years ago.
It was Friday afternoon and two college students from the University of Alabama were coming close to finishing finals week. Being good students who had already prepared for their final chemistry examination on Monday, they decided they wanted to celebrate a little early.… Read the rest
Tune into the link below to hear Co-Founder and CEO, Brigadier General John E. Michel’s podcast on Bob Chapman’s “Truly Human Leadership“
From the original post, located on “Truly Human Leadership” at http://www.trulyhumanleadership.com/?p=2429 :
One of my favorite Simon Sinek quotes says:
In the military, they give medals to people who sacrifice themselves so that others may gain. In business, they give bonuses to people who sacrifice others so that they may gain.
Someone who understands that quote very well is John Michel, this week’s guest on the Everybody Matters podcast. A former Air Force General, John has not only used his leadership experience in service of his country, but also to help transform businesses into places that think more about people than profit.… Read the rest
From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
15 February 2013
Everywhere you look today it seems as though many leaders are more intent abdicating responsibility than embracing it.
The recent political wrangling’s over our countries numerous fiscal challenges certainly seems to bear this out. Instead of rolling up their sleeves to fight the right fight, it seems scores of those we elect to represent our best interests prefer to protect their own ideologies or promote their own agendas. Perhaps this sad truth is why so many of us find ourselves hungry for a different kind of leadership. Specifically, leadership willing to risk doing the right thing, no matter the potential cost to self, in order to promote positive change in their surroundings.… Read the rest
This article was originally published on Huffington Post by Vala Afshar in prep for an interview with our Co-Founder and Senior Curator, Brigadier General John Michel. You can join Vala and Michael Krigsman every Friday at 3PM EST as they host CXOTalk
Brigadier General John E. Michel [was] the Commanding General, NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan; NATO Training Mission/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan; and Commander, 438th Air Expeditionary Wing, Kabul, Afghanistan [2013-2014]. In addition to serving our nation as an active duty General Officer in the United States Air Force for 26 years and counting, General Michel enjoys helping people learn to walk differently in the world so they can become the best version of themselves possible, something he addresses in his book, Mediocre Me.… Read the rest
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.
Nothing can be done without hope and confidence!”
Helen Keller
A famous 50-year-long study of nuns produced a remarkable finding. Namely, the nuns who possessed a more hopeful, optimistic outlook on life lived on average, 10 years longer than those who had more pessimistic or negative outlook.
Several years later, Dr. Charles R. Snyder of the University of Kansas sought to examine the significance of hope in young people. Assessing 3,920 college students, he found that a freshman’s level of hope was a more accurate predictor of their college grades than either their SAT scores or their high school grade-point average.… Read the rest
After seven years of active duty military service as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer, Dan recently made the very difficult decision to separate from the military to pursue a new mission: to end extreme poverty in war-torn eastern Congo.
While serving on assignment in Korea, Dan met a Congolese man named David Masomo. Both David and Dan were participating in an international student program at a local Korean university (Hankyong University) – 20 students from 20 developing nations were being sponsored by the Korean government to get a Master’s degree in Agriculture and Rural Development.… Read the rest
Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.
Patti Wilson
Not long ago I had the opportunity to don a penguin costume and jump into a pool of icy-cold water, all in the name of supporting a good cause. I, and about three dozen others, braved near-zero temperatures to take turns diving into a frosty pool (really an extra-large refuse dumpster) to help raise money for the Special Olympics.
Although it seemed like a fun idea when I first volunteered, I have to admit I was a little fearful the actual day of the event.… Read the rest
“The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitudes.”
Victor Frankl
Viktor Frankl was an incredible person by many measures. He was a brilliant academic, a survivor of three years in four different concentration camps during the Holocaust, a pioneering neurologist/psychiatrist in Vienna following World War II, and an inspirational author. Most notable, however, is that his finest moments came when leadership was thrust upon him in the bleakest of times.
Despite enduring the atrocities of four Nazi concentration camps, the most infamous being Auschwitz, and losing his wife and parents to them, Frankl managed to find what few others could during such a dark period in our world’s history: a meaningful purpose for living.… Read the rest
“Why hurry over beautiful things? Why not linger and enjoy them?”
Clara Schumann
A father and his son farmed a small piece of land. Every so often, they would pile the ox-cart up with vegetables they had grown in their own garden and trundle off in the direction of the nearest city to sell them. Outside of their name and small family farm, father and son seemed to have little else in common. The old man believed in pausing to enjoy life’s beauty while the son was the go-getter type. One morning in the summer of 1945, they loaded the cart with produce, hitched their only ox and set out.… Read the rest
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