Time Machine | General Leadership

Mar 29 2016

Tuesday Time Machine: Honoring Those Who Have Given Their All

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
27 April 2014

“I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism.”
Bob Riley

[The following is an unedited transcript of the speech I shared this morning commemorating the third anniversary of the loss of nine of our teammates fighting for freedom in Afghanistan…a reminder they are gone but certainly not forgotten].

We have a difficult but important duty today, paying homage to nine American heroes who gave everything in defense of freedom.

Three years ago today, it was a standard Wednesday morning in the Air Command and Control Center, Headquarters Afghan Air Force.… Read the rest

Tags: Afghanistan, Early Files, NATC-A Nine, Throwback, Time Machine, Tuesday

0 comments

Mar 8 2016

Tuesday Time Machine: Lead Like A Rich Person

Posted by Chris R Stricklin

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
4 May 2014

Do you lead like a rich person?

–Or—

Do you lead like a poor person?

An Afghan Air Force General asked recently through his translator…

Do you lead like a rich person or a poor person?

My western mind immediately wandered to visions of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and tried to compare their leadership styles with that of members of lower income brackets. No connection could be made. The leadership of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs alone are polar opposites, much less trying to compare them to other leaders. I was baffled by this query.… Read the rest

Tags: Early Files, Leadership, rich person, stricklin, Throw Back, Time Machine

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Feb 23 2016

Tuesday Time Machine: Supertanker Leadership

Posted by Christopher P Levy

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
30 April 2014

“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.”
Albert Einstein

Picture a giant ocean-going vessel…it can help people accomplish amazing amounts of work in a single voyage. It can seem powerful, unstoppable, never tiring as it moves cargo in dogged pursuit of its goal. In calm water, the ship can be run at high speed, covering hundreds of miles every day. However, when you turn around and look behind the ship…the calm water is turned into a hissing froth of bubbles, waves, ripples and even debris. … Read the rest

Tags: Early Files, Leadership, supertanker, Throwback, Time Machine, Yoda

0 comments

Dec 15 2015

Tuesday Time Machine: Dynamic Leadership – Don’t be a Humvee Leader

Posted by Chris R Stricklin

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
6 April 2014

“Slow Down…
You Will Get There Faster”
Fighter Pilot Saying

Too often, leaders choose to be “Humvee leaders.” They are so worried about quickly making progress that no regard is given to intent, probability of success or the hazards encountered along the way. This style of leader typically has little regard for the destruction they leave in their path or the people they harm along the journey.

Today, I witnessed a convoy traveling down an Afghan road. From the opposite direction, two Humvees from another nation sped by at 5-times the speed limit.… Read the rest

Tags: business, dynamic, Early Files, humvee, Leadership, Risk, stricklin, Throwback, Time Machine

0 comments

Dec 8 2015

Time Machine Tuesday: Be Grace-Full

Posted by General John Michel

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
02 April 2014

I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.
Anne Lamott

A popular Russian tale recounts how when Nicholas II was the Czar of Russia, a father enlisted his son in the military with the hope of instilling discipline and direction in his life. Among other things, the young man had a weakness for gambling, and the conditions of military life seemed to hurt rather than help.

His army job was bookkeeping. As his gambling debts grew, he borrowed money from the outpost treasury to pay his debts.… Read the rest

Tags: ascent, czar, Early Files, focus, forgive, grace, intention, justice, leader, ledger, mcelrath, mcnicol, mercy, michel, nicholas, performance, russia, standard, Throwback, Time Machine, wrong

0 comments

Dec 1 2015

Tuesday Time Machine: Train, Provide, Give and Empower

Posted by Geno Redmon

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
30 March 2014

“We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail!”
President George W. Bush

All of us remember where we were on 9/11. I had one of the greatest jobs in the world of the Vice Commander of the Tanker Airlift Control Center (TACC). For the non Air Force people, the TACC is the air operations center responsible for the planning scheduling and execution of all airlift and tanker operations, 24/7 365. Remembering that Afghanistan is a landlocked country, every bullet fired, bomb dropped, every bean eaten, literally everything needed for the war effort had to be airlifted in.… Read the rest

Tags: 9/11, ability, AMC, bravery, Early Files, empower, expectations, feedback, give, jobs, mobility, provide, redmon, safety, TACC, Throwback, Time Machine, tools, train, trust

0 comments

Nov 24 2015

Tuesday Time Machine: How Are You Choosing to Show Up?

Posted by General John Michel

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
26 March 2014

“The history of free men is never really written by chance, but by choice;
their choice!”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Greece’s history is replete with tales of heroes and the great battles they fought. Platea, Tangra, Coronea, and Chaeronea are but a handful of the battlefields that litter the small island nation. However, on a single spot marked by only a stark, white marble column in the middle of a grain field, you’ll find arguably the most significant battlefield of all. It’s a little-visited place called Leuctra, in the region of Boeotia, where in 371 BC General Epaminondas and his army from Thebes defeated the previously unconquerable army of Sparta.… Read the rest

Tags: accountability, character, choose, Early Files, Gardner, Greece, History, michel, potential, resolve, Responsibility, Spartans, Throwback, Time Machine

1 comment

Nov 17 2015

Tuesday Time Machine: Innovation through Inspiration

Posted by George Fritz

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
23 March 2014

“I am not concerned that you have fallen;
I am concerned that you arise.”
Abraham Lincoln

“99% of excuses come from people who make excuses”
George Washington

Does anybody send cards to the President on President’s Day? It’s probably not a lucrative business model for Hallmark or American Greetings, as there would only be a handful of recipients available…but it’s worth a thought! Presidential character and growth has been the subject of much discussion over many generations–as the very feat of rising to such a pinnacle of leadership seems so daunting for many of us. … Read the rest

Tags: creativity, Early Files, evolution, fritz, Growth, idea, innovation, invention, lincoln, patent, president, presidential, success, think, Throwback, Time Machine, washington

0 comments

Nov 10 2015

Tuesday Time Machine: Leadership: A Delicate Balance

Posted by Christopher P Levy

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
19 March 2014

There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.
Jack Welch

Balanced leadership requires continuous, delicate adjustments to maintain homeostasis in your organization. Balance is stressed in every aspect of our lives — from learning to ride a bike to eating a balanced diet. It should be no different in leading an organization. We’ve all worked for a person who had no life outside of his job. At the office by 6 am, never home before 10 pm. Working those hours is a personal choice, but a leader must be cognizant that his choices affect the lives of everyone in the organization.… Read the rest

Tags: balance, bonds, break, Challenge, delegation, Early Files, firmness, flexibility, fun, levy, mission, people, performance, technique, Throwback, Time Machine, work

1 comment

Nov 3 2015

Time Machine Tuesday: Choose Your Heroes Wisely

Posted by General John Michel

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
16 March 2014

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

Tags: Afghanistan, Army, battle, becker, choice, Early Files, happiness, Heroes, John Lennon, meaning, michel, petry, Rangers, role models, satisfaction, Throwback, Time Machine

0 comments

Oct 27 2015

Tuesday Time Machine: The Leader’s Harvest

Posted by Matthew T. Fritz

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
12 March 2014

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.”
Robert Louis Stevenson

Seeds are very curious entities—small, innocuous . . . mostly overlooked. Incredibly, they are filled with an amazing power for growth — A growth for greatness. The same can be said for your capability to seeding leadership potential!

A farming friend once told me that a single shaft of wheat — left undamaged and allowed to grow unchecked — could spontaneously multiply into a crop large enough to feed the entire world population for an entire year–within only eight years.… Read the rest

Tags: business, business committment culture growth inspirational leadership potential seeds fritz, committment, culture, Early Files, Growth, inspirational, Leadership, potential, seeds, Throwback, Time Machine

0 comments

Oct 20 2015

Time Machine Tuesday: Leading Yourself Well, First

Posted by General John Michel

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
05 March 2014

“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

Tags: committment, Early Files, feedback, kellogg, Leadership, maxwell, michel, paterno, pennsylvania, practice, self, Throwback, Time Machine, warrell

0 comments

Oct 13 2015

Time Machine Tuesday: Learning Leadership from Losers

Posted by Christopher P Levy

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
02 March 2014

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
John F. Kennedy

You can learn almost as much about leadership from losers as you can from heroes. After 26 years of service with the Air Force, I have seen my share of both. I have had the honor of serving with superior commanders whom I would follow through the gates of Hell and the misfortune to suffer losers who stumbled blindly into a leadership position. Surprisingly, from both I have learned much about leadership.

A true student of leadership is always studying his leaders for good habits to emulate and bad habits to avoid.… Read the rest

Tags: air force, commander, Early Files, idiot, insecure, king, lead, Leadership, learn, levy, losers, self-obsessed, Throwback, Time Machine, truman

0 comments

Oct 6 2015

Tuesday Time Machine: Life & Leadership Lessons from a Lemonade Stand

Posted by Chris R Stricklin

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
26 Feb 2014

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
Mother Teresa

Seven-year-old Lucy Mixson had never seen a homeless person. Until she met Charlie.

Charlie was a little rough around the edges. He wore a tattered sweater, stained jeans, and an oversize baseball cap that was tilted slightly to one side. Yet, despite his well-worn external features, Charlie sported a smile that could melt the hardest of hearts. He radiated a joy that seemed displaced given his current predicament.

The chance encounter between Lucy and Charlie one sunny Saturday morning didn’t last long.… Read the rest

Tags: comfort zone, Early Files, emulate, entrepreneur, initiative, john michel, kindness, opportunity, respect, Throwback, Time Machine

0 comments

Sep 29 2015

Tuesday Time Machine: Emotional Intelligence and A Call-Up to the Big Leagues

Posted by Garth Sanginiti

From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
19 Feb 2014

“It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence, it is not the triumph of heart over head — it is the unique intersection of both.”
David Caruso

I remember the day I received the call. It had been a week or so since the interview. As an aspiring journeyman, I was anxiously awaiting my first official opportunity to move into the ranks of supervisor. Unrealistic expectations? Perhaps. A lofty goal? Maybe. Naive on my part? Arguable. Why so tough an assessment, you ask? Because most of those vying for the position had been superbly prepared by the school of experience; they knew the secret handshakes, had mastered the technical tips of the trade, and understood how to really get things done.… Read the rest

Tags: attitude, coach, Early Files, emotional intelligence, eq, Goleman, positive change, relationships, self awareness, Throwback, Time Machine

1 comment

Leadership Advice from America's Most Trusted Leaders!

From Our Early Files: Originally Published 27 April 2014

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From Our Early Files:
Originally Published
27 April 2014

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