Leadership author and speaker
Leadership author and speaker
As a military officer, I’ve served with some of the finest people I’ll ever know. Few of them were exactly like me, but all of us shared a common purpose to serve our country. It’s that shared purpose that unified a diverse group of people around a singular mission to fight for our country, our […]
Onboarding new employees is critical to the success of any organization. Without a deliberate and thoughtful onboarding process, new employees are set adrift in an organizational culture without any guide–and some will lose their way. Done correctly, a good onboarding process will imbue the new recruit with company values and energize them to find where […]
Always do everything you ask of those you command. – General George S. Patton When I was an instructor at the Air Force’s Officer Training School, I noticed the uncanny way the groups of officer trainees we led became mirrors of their Flight Commander. It was a little scary, really. If the Flight Commander was […]
Asking the right questions is usually better than knowing the right answers.There’s an old saying in the Air Force that colonels rarely ask questions to which they don’t already know the answer. I never really understood that saying until I became a colonel, then the light came on. Everyone wants to show the colonel how […]
I believe that being successful means having a balance [in] life. You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles. – Zig Ziglar When my son was very young, he would give me the same advice as I left for work […]
Last week, I reviewed The Lost Mandate of Heaven by Geoffrey D. T. Shaw (Ignatius Press), While Lost Mandate is not a leadership book, senior leaders can mine a number leadership lessons from it. The Most Senior Leader Must Remain Engaged Kennedy was involved in most of the decisions leading up to the coup, but the author […]
Leaders are also readers, and when I travel I use the time to catch up on my reading and writing. Ignatius Press recently sent me The Lost Mandate of Heaven by Geoffery D. T. Shaw to review, and it was time well spent! Shaw tells the story of the rise and betrayal of President Ngo […]
Rule #1. Have a direction and know what it is. Go there. The first rule of leadership is for the leader to know where he or she is going. People look to leaders for inspiration and motivation, but above all, they look to leaders for direction. That’s why it’s so very important for leaders to […]
For years I kept General Colin Powell’s “Rules” on a worn, type-written sheet of paper somewhere on my desk. His Rules had been published in a news magazine article, and I thought they were fabulous, so I typed them up and added a few of my own to the bottom. Over the years, I developed […]
In Part I, I put forth the idea that “freedom” is not simply doing whatever we want, but doing what’s good and in a way that builds ourselves and others up. To illustrate, we will look at traffic controls which are tools such as traffic signals, signage, speed limits, and pavement markings. Traffic controls restrict […]
“Freedom” is a word often misused in our current vocabulary. We view our “freedoms” in such a broad manner that the word sometimes loses its meaning. Particularly in the case of young people, “freedom” is synonymous with “doing whatever I like”, but that’s not authentic freedom. Authentic freedom is being able to choose what’s good […]
Aloha everyone! I am privileged to appear on The Civil Engineering podcast with leader, career coach, and former Air Force engineer Christian Knudson. Episode 19: Riding The Wave of Change As a Civil Engineer Leader – goes live today Wednesday Nov. 25 on iTunes at 6am EST. This weeks Civil Engineer podcast features Mickey Addison, career military officer, civil engineer, author […]
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 […]
Tragedy is a part of the human experience: we can’t escape it and as leaders we get one chance to get that right. Whether that tragedy is the loss of a co-worker to an untimely death, a teammate with a life threatening disease, or the loss of an employee’s family member, leaders have to be […]
I’m excited to be presenting at the Society of American Military Engineers’ JETC 2015 next week in Houston, Texas! As a Life Member, it’s a privilege to serve my Society by leading a Speed Mentoring session, moderating a panel on Theater Security Engagement World-Wide in the Contingency Engineering Track, and presenting “The Five Be’s” […]
I spotted this great article from People Development Mag on leading teams and wanted to share! I like their model: and it closely resembles my own: Says Ms Shafer: When initiative, productivity, creativity and execution are lacking, the costs to the team can be very real. The tangible results can be a lackluster […]
The first chapter of my book, Leading Leaders, is available for download at Slideshare. Check it out here Buy it here on Lulu in print. Here as an eBook. Buy it here on Amazon. Here on Kindle. I donate all royalties for sales of this book to Wounded Warrior Project.
