Mickey Addison

Feb 12 2016

Dynamic Dozen – Keep Your Team Informed

Nothing is as strong as the heart of a volunteer.
-Jimmy Doolittle

doolittle0512784 There may be situations in military leadership where the leader must keep the team in the dark–but in 27 years service and commanding five units I’ve never found one. On the contrary, the question asked most often by military leaders and those they lead is, “Did you coordinate that?” You see, military operations are a team sport and our patience with people who act without considering the team is thin. We have to trust each other, and trust is built on mutual respect and transparency.

Military Teams Work In A Collective Environment

Keeping the team informed removes the leader as a single point of failure and takes advantage of the collective intelligence of the team.… Read the rest

Tags: Communication, Inspiration, Integrity, leader, Leadership, Mickey Addison, military, performance, Planning, success, Team

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Jan 25 2016

Dynamic Dozen: Know Your People and Look Out for Their Welfare

Posted by Mickey Addison

Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.
Harold S. Geneen

During the 1950-1953 Korean War, American fighter pilots dominated the skies, even though the Soviet-made MiG-15 jets were faster and more nimble than the American F-80 and F-86s. The difference wasn’t the technology—it was the battle-tested American veterans flying the aircraft that made the difference. In the military, we often speak of our people as a “human weapon system” as a way to understand the central role of humans in war. Put more simply: military leaders are in the people business. Knowing the people we lead and taking care of their welfare is therefore integral to military leadership.… Read the rest

Tags: dynamic dozen, Growth, Inspiration, leader, Leadership, Mickey Addison, military, performance, success, Team, trust

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Dec 16 2015

Dynamic Dozen: Be Technically and Tactically Proficient

Posted by Mickey Addison

The vast majority of Airmen we train are going to be somewhere in harm’s way within the next year or two. It is up to us to impart to them the talent and skill they need to accomplish their mission in a world-class fashion and at the same time make sure we get them back safely to the families that love them.
General William R. Looney III, USAF

I remember it just like it was yesterday. As a young lieutenant, I was designing an asphalt road for a road my engineer Airmen would construct during a Field Training Exercise (FTX) I was to lead.… Read the rest

Tags: attitude, Communication, Growth, Inspiration, leader, Leadership, Learning, military, Military leadership, performance, tactical proficiency, technical proficiency

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Aug 21 2015

Three Critical Questions for Strategic Planning

Posted by Mickey Addison

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress;
working together is success.
Henry Ford

As a freshman engineering student, I remember vividly the day my professor announced we needed to know the answer before we performed the calculations. What in blazes does he mean? I thought to myself. Then he explained: if we don’t have an idea of what the answer should be when we start calculating, we’ll have no idea if we’ve gotten a reasonable answer at all. You know the adage: garbage in, garbage out. It’s a skill engineers have passed on to one another for centuries–does the answer I calculated make sense?… Read the rest

Tags: executive leadership, Leadership, Leading Leaders, Mickey Addison, performance, Planning, strategic plan, success, Team

3 comments

Aug 12 2015

Leaders Lead – Take Charge and Move Out

Posted by Mickey Addison

“When in command: command.” – Admiral Chester Nimitz

If being a leader means anything, it means taking charge and executing the responsibility others gave you.

For leadership to be authentic, we have to make decisions and take risks. The reason we’re hired into a position of leadership is to do just that; and if we’re too timid to use the authority our boss gives us then we’re not doing our jobs. In the military as in many professions, we strive to solve problems at the lowest level. “Delegating up” to the senior leaders in any organization is a sure-fire way to create organizational paralysis, but the responsibility to ensure decisions get made at the appropriate level fall on senior and junior leaders alike.… Read the rest

Tags: attitude, Challenge, delegate, leader, Leadership, Mickey Addison, military, performance, Planning, success, Team, Vision

1 comment

Jul 22 2015

Checking Your Moral Azimuth

Posted by Mickey Addison

“The character that takes command in moments of crucial choices has already been determined. It has been determined by a thousand other choices made earlier in seemingly unimportant moments. It has been determined by all the day-to-day decisions made when life seemed easy and crises seemed far away…the decisions that, piece by piece, bit by bit, developed habits of discipline or of laziness, habits of self-sacrifice or of self-indulgence, habits of duty and honor and integrity—or dishonor and shame.”
Ronald Reagan

President Ronald Reagan once said that character doesn’t just “happen” at times of crisis, it’s constructed bit by bit by seemingly insignificant decisions.… Read the rest

Tags: Addison, character, Inspiration, Integrity, leader, Leadership, Reagan, Team

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Apr 29 2015

Champions Don’t Take Shortcuts

Posted by Mickey Addison

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.
Vince Lombardi

I’ve been an athlete my entire life. From Little League, soccer, and football growing up in Texas to intramurals of all sorts in college and the military, athletic competition is a big part of my life. Sports are a great metaphor for life and I’ve gleaned countless leadership lessons from it. In fact, it’s one of the reasons the military uses athletic competition as a training opportunity from entry level (Basic Military Training) to senior executive level (e.g.… Read the rest

Tags: attitude, Challenge, character, courage, fields of friendly strife, Inspiration, Leadership, leadership lessons from sports, Lombardi, macarthur, Play Like A Champion Today, success, Team, Texas high school football, work ethic

1 comment

Mar 18 2015

So Say We All: Finding Earth

Posted by Mickey Addison

“It won’t be an easy journey. It’ll be long, and arduous. But I promise you one thing: on the memory of those lying here before you, we shall find it, and Earth shall become our new home.
So say we all!”
Commander Bill Adama
Battlestar Galactica

Studying fictional leaders is sometimes as profitable as studying actual ones. For example, Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos) in the SyFy TV series Battlestar Galactica is a great character study in leadership during crisis. I’m a big BSG fan, and consider it one of the best sci-fi TV series ever made. The quote above is from the end of the pilot, after the Cylons have destroyed the entire human race except for 50,000 survivors.… Read the rest

Tags: action, Battlestar Galactica, BSG, Challenge, Commander Adama, Communication, courage, Leadership, leading change, Leading Leaders, military, Planning, success, Team, Vision

1 comment

Feb 27 2015

Creating a Culture of Respect

Posted by Mickey Addison

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.
Malcolm Forbes

In my last article, I wrote about how integrity is the very foundation of leadership. Extending that analogy, if Integrity is the “foundation” then Respect is the “walls” of a well-led organization.

So, what does “Respect” mean for a leader and how does a leader create a culture of respect in the organization?

In my mind, the four walls of “Respect” are: (1) the inherent dignity each human person has simply by virtue of being a human being, (2) the respect each leader must earn through their actions, (3) the respect for each others’ views and values leaders must require, and (4) the respect for the organization leaders must create.… Read the rest

Tags: character, Declaration of Independence, human dignity, Leadership, military, respect, set the example, trust, walk the talk

1 comment

Jan 30 2015

Integrity is the Cornerstone of Leadership

Posted by Mickey Addison

“Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities.”
Matthew 25:21

Integrity must be at the core of who we are as leaders if we’re to successfully inspire confidence in our teams. Because leadership is fundamentally about human relationships, integrity must be the very cornerstone of any leader’s foundation. In every aspect of our lives we depend on the integrity of others, and others do the same for us. We count on stores to give us fair prices, on students to do their own work, and athletes to play by the rules. That’s why it’s such a big deal when there is a breach of integrity like a public lie or the discovery someone we trust isn’t playing by the rules.… Read the rest

Tags: character, character matters, core values, Hippocratic Oath, honor code, Integrity, Leading Leaders, leading with integrity, NSPE, professional ethics, Ronald Reagan, Texas A&M

1 comment

Dec 12 2014

Leading with the Five Be’s

Posted by Mickey Addison

“Learn from others’ mistakes, you don’t have time to make the all yourself”
GK Chesterton

From the time we’re very young we’re presented with a list of “don’ts” to set boundaries. To be sure young people get the lion’s’ share of the boundary setting, but every society and organization has its list of what you can’t do. Boundaries are necessary, but a leader’s job is to inspire people to group and individual achievement so the job can’t end at “don’t.” We have to be able to articulate a positive view of where we want our teammates and followers to be. If we don’t then we’re not leading anyone anywhere in particular we’re just screaming out “row!”… Read the rest

Tags: air force, Airmen, cardinal virtues, Five Be's, humility, Leading Leaders, life balance, Mickey Addison, moral courage, pride, virtue

3 comments

Nov 7 2014

5 Leadership Lessons from Surfing

Posted by Mickey Addison

“The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun”
Phil Edwards
legendary surfer

When we returned to Hawaii after 13 years away, one of the first things I wanted to do was get back on my surfboard. After a little shopping around I found the perfect board: a basic, reasonably priced board, and then set off to re-conquer the Hawaiian surf. It would take several months of trying before my body remembered the lessons I’d learned a decade ago, but now I’m confidently riding the waves again. I learned and re-learned a few things while I was recovering my surfing legs, and those lessons are just as applicable to leadership as they are to surfing.… Read the rest

Tags: chose the right person, conserve energy, engagement, have fun, Leadership Lessons, Mickey Addison, stay alert, surfing

1 comment

Sep 24 2014

Leaders Supply the Perspective

Posted by Mickey Addison

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
Abraham Lincoln

Hiking in Hawaii is one of the joys of living here. There are hundreds of miles of trails leading to natural beauty unique to the Islands of Aloha, but despite the fact we’re on an island, it’s surprisingly easy to get lost. Whoever is leading the hike has to know where they’re going, and maintain perspective during the journey. It’s an excellent metaphor for leadership because leadership, especially at senior levels, is all about maintaining perspective.

We started out on a short hike to find Maunawili Falls.… Read the rest

Tags: Leadership, leadership analysis, maunawili falls, perspective, strategic plan, success, Team, Vision

3 comments

Sep 10 2014

Finding the Sweet Spot and Leading Teams to Achievement

Posted by Mickey Addison

“Folks, everyone in this room has a story. If you don’t know the story, you can’t lead the Airman.”
Gen Mark Welsh, USAF

In military parlance, a Common Operating Picture (or “COP”) is a single presentation of the battlespace to a wide and distributed audience. The purpose is to provide common understanding and situational awareness for all involved. I’ve adapted this idea to graphically display the “battlespace” a leader has to understand so the team can achieve success. Leaders must harmonize the needs of their organization, their task, and individual team members to prevail. It’s a complex and people-focused job. If a leader can find the sweet spot in the “Leadership COP”, then they’re truly leading teams to high performance.… Read the rest

Tags: Know Your People, Leadership Lessons, Mark Welsh, military, mission statement, Motivation, performance, personal needs, Planning, success, sweet spot, Team, Vision

1 comment

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