The Military LeaderProductivity Archives - The Military Leader

Creating Stability in Your Organization

The Military Leader — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 13:25:19 +0000

Change Management is a role we often place on leaders. We know that too much change impacts performance and saps motivation, so “managing transitions” and “mitigating turbulence” are common phrases relating to this managing change. More often, however, what the organization actually needs is Stability Management. Leaders must make the work environment predictable and routine, with clear […]

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Avoid the Meeting Meltdown

The Military Leader — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 04:11:06 +0000

We have all heard the saying, “I went to a meeting to discuss a meeting.” Meetings can be very useful and a huge waste of time if managed improperly. They are either too long, too short, or do not solve the problem or issue that the meeting was trying to solve in the first place. […]

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The Leader’s Guide to Overcoming Obstacles

The Military Leader — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 22:24:55 +0000

What is this a picture of? “Well that’s easy. It’s a brick wall.” Nope. It’s a paper wall. Brick walls are unmovable obstacles, roadblocks that prevent progress, hindrances to achieving an endstate. They represent phrases like “It’s too hard,” “We can’t do that,” and “That’s never been done before.” Brick walls halt effort. Paper walls, […]

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Permitted but Useless

The Military Leader — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 04:52:21 +0000

In the midst of a pleasant two-week road trip with my family, I observed something of note. Interrupting my view of the rolling grasslands of central Oregon and the twisting turns of California’s Highway 101, were “Adopt-A-Highway” signs. Standard issue: small, square. Oregon’s were green. You’ve seen them. Some person or group pays the state […]

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Picking Which Ball to Drop

The Military Leader — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 01:33:00 +0000

As the saying goes, when everything is a priority, nothing is. In a system that heaps requirements and tasks on subordinate units, leaders routinely struggle to reach 100% compliance. Though some try, leaders cannot do it all themselves. They must prioritize tasks and delegate work to subordinates. But what tasks are appropriate to delegate? Which ball drops when […]

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You Don’t Have Time for Professional Reading…Try This

The Military Leader — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 05:49:28 +0000

I am a firm believer in the value of professional reading as a critical part of professional and personal development. Early in my career, I began maintaining a list of titles that leaders and peers recommended, a list that expanded considerably during my time in CGSC and SAMS. But I was seldom able to whittle it […]

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Stories of Failure – “That time I made my FRG Leader cry.”

The Military Leader — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 06:09:18 +0000

Know this…the demands of being a leader put you on a path to break someone’s heart. Meetings and phone calls, requirements and taskings, emails and paperwork. They serve as culturally-legitimized distractions that can divert leaders from seeing and doing the right thing. And if you don’t sort through the sea of busywork to identify the glass […]

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