“The single most important element of success in war is leadership.”
Gen David Goldfein, USAF
As a young officer our formal leadership training consisted largely of learning our military specialty and a few vague lessons about balancing “mission and people.” They were lessons born of, simultaneously, thousands of years of military tradition and 20th century industrial mass production. In fact, our leadership classes were called “management” classes–which brings me to my point. Twentieth Century management theory and practice has it’s place, but management is no substitute for leadership. We manage things and processes, but we lead people. In the modern military as in modern business, we require agility–and we achieve agility only through good leadership.… Read the rest
Your Team can either make you or break you.
Standing on the platform in front of troops and family for the fourth time to take command, this time of a Mission Support Group, I was following a popular and successful commander. I’d be leading a very talented unit of 2,600 Airmen, civil service personnel, and contractors. They had a tremendous reputation for excellence.
“If you don’t act,
My first month as Mission Support Group Commander at the Air Force Academy was wonderful. Sure, there was work to do, but I spent the first few weeks touring the campus and meeting many of the 2,600 people who I led. There were plenty of awards to hand out, challenge coins to deliver, and interesting people to meet. When I was on horseback with the Academy Stablemaster touring the South Training Area, I thought to myself, this is the best command I’ve ever had!… 
es, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships
“The key to leading today is influence, not authority.”
A change in leadership is not a change in mission. -Military maxim
“…truly successful decision making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking”
“Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.” -Gen George Patton
Standing in front of the assembled group of more than 150 staff to tell them they were being reorganized–again–was a little daunting to say the least. Everyone was clearly nervous about the change, but the leadership team assured them we would seize this latest change as an opportunity. However, embracing the change and looking for opportunities to make that change work for us was key to turning a potential disaster into success. Using a three step process we turned the reorg into an opportunity to chart our own future.… 
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