Category Archives: Leadership

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Why Curiosity Matters

I don’t know about you, but I have noticed that the best leaders are always moving forward. They don’t stagnate, are curious about themselves and their environment, and continually break new ground. They advance their talents intellectually, physically, emotionally, professionally, and so on.

When you think about it, curiosity is required before one can improve at all…it is a prerequisite for growth.

The Harvard Business Review article “Curiosity Is as Important as Intelligence” highlights the idea of a Curiosity Quotient, much like the commonly known psychological capabilities of Intellectual Quotient (IQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ). The Curiosity Quotient (CQ) is one’s affinity to be “inquisitive and open to new experiences” and, similar to IQ and EQ, improves one’s ability to navigate complex environments.

curiosity

Soldiers at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, trying to get books from the Service Club Library. Miss Maurine Doores is the librarian.  January 22, 1942. Signal Corps Photo #162-42-79 by Weber, 162nd Signal Photographic Company.

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Article: “9 Things Successful People Won’t Do”

This short article on LinkedIn, by the coauthor of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, provides a list of 9 Things Successful People Won’t Do that challenges leaders to examine their professional practices and interactions.

Dr. Travis Bradberry elaborates on this universal set of behaviors to avoid, recommending them as a way to improve the emotional aspect of one’s leadership. “The trick is that managing your emotions is as much about what you won’t do as it is about what you will do.”

Here are a couple highlights, but the author expands on each one:

  • They Won’t Prioritize Perfection. “Emotionally intelligent people won’t set perfection as their target because they know it doesn’t exist.”
  • They Won’t Dwell on Problems. “Emotionally intelligent people won’t dwell on problems because they know they’re most effective when they focus on solutions.”
  • They Won’t Say Yes Unless They Really Want To. “The more difficulty that you have saying no, the more likely you are to experience stress, burnout, and even depression.”

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The Post-Active Duty Leadership Environment – Part 1 (Service/Excellence)

The Military Leader is pleased to offer this guest post by an Air Force Major with more than 14 years flying experience. It is a thought-provoking look at how the leadership environment changes after leaving active duty and challenges our basic beliefs about why we serve.

This is the first in a series of articles that seek to answer the question, “How does organizational leadership differ between my experience on active duty in the U.S. Air Force and my new career(s) as an airline pilot and citizen airman in the Air National Guard?” I will answer the question by focusing on three areas:  1) the concepts of service and excellence, 2) the leadership environment, and 3) leader development.

My comments will be relevant both for those considering transitioning from active duty, as well as leaders/mentors of subordinates who face that decision. My opinions are my own and do not represent the official positions of my Air National Guard unit or civilian employer.

Leadership

An Afghan air force pilot and Air Force Maj. Chris Garcia fly an advisory mission March 10, 2014, near Kabul, Afghanistan. Airmen of the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing/NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan play a vital role in Operation Enduring Freedom as advisers tasked with aiding the Afghan government in establishing an operational and sustainable Afghan air force. Garcia is a 438th Air Expeditionary Wing/NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan C-130 Hercules advisor. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson)
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3 Leadership Lessons from Ferguson, MO

I have intentionally structured this blog to focus on leadership principles and to prevent it from becoming an opinion board for political hot button issues. I think the media already has enough stone-throwers and I have no desire to join the fray.

Nonetheless, there are apolitical lessons we should draw from the events of our time, and the recent sad events in Ferguson, Missouri provide a few. (See “Tragedy and Readiness – Fort Hood’s Lesson” for more lessons from current events.)

What you won’t read here is my judgment of who is right or wrong in the death of Michael Brown. Why?…because I am neither the investigator nor the judge, which brings me to the first lesson.

People stand in prayer after marching about a mile to the police station to protest the shooting of Michael Brown, Aug. 20, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. Photo by: Charlie Riedel, AP Photo

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12 Things Good Bosses Believe (#11)

Simplicity resonates from #11 of Robert Sutton’s “12 Things Good Bosses Believe.” This belief is so basic that it is often overlooked and rarely discussed, but might very well be the belief that distinguishes great leaders from the rest.

Sutton’s #11 belief of good bosses is:

How I do things is as important as what I do.

bosses

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, center left, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks with Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, at Besmaya Range Complex in Iraq, April 21, 2016. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro.
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5 Steps to Effectively Communicating Your Message

Military leaders know that information operations can be decisive in influencing populations, particularly in counterinsurgency operations. Commanders create entire staff sections devoted to analyzing populations and crafting targeted messages that will influence people groups to support coalition efforts.

Information is clearly an important part of combat operations, but what about back at home station? How can leaders communicate their message to the organization to do things like meet unit goals, achieve a shared vision, or simply influence subordinate behavior?

message

Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Capel, International Security Assistance Force senior enlisted adviser, speaks to Soldiers in 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, after awarding combat infantry badges, combat action badges and combat medical badges at Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan, May 28, 2013.
Photo Credit: Sgt. Julieanne Morse, 129th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
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General Mark Welsh Gives “Intensely Personal” View of Combat

I was fortunate enough to be a cadet in the audience at the US Air Force Academy when (then) Brigadier General Mark Welsh, the Commandant of Cadets, gave a sobering and deeply personal account of his combat experience in the Gulf War.

He was the commander of an F-16 Fighter Squadron at the time and, being a full two years before 9/11, few service members (and none of us cadets) had any insight into real combat. General Welsh brought it into focus with this speech.

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Leadership Lessons from an Airborne Commander

Revisiting the book Military Leadership:  In Pursuit of Excellence led me to an article by General Matthew Ridgway that appeared in the October 1966 edition of Military Review. Entitled “Leadership,” it is a strikingly poignant and upfront summation of basic elements of good leadership, in and out of combat. I recommend that everyone read the entire article, but here are some points to consider.

Leadership

Generals and Grenades: Said General Ridgway, “some people thought I wore the grenades as a gesture of showmanship. This was not correct. They were purely utilitarian. Many a time, in Europe and in Korea, men in tight spots blasted their way out with grenades”.
(Ridgway Photograph Collection) Photo Credit: USAMHI