The change of command was over and as the new commander I would soon be meeting my new staff. Truth was, I had been the operations officer, the second-in-command, and knew the staff fairly well. I also knew that I was inheriting what I was certain was the worst secretary… Read More »What does a leader do when stuck with a poor performer?
How to Avoid Those Pesky Resolutions Every year I advise against New Year’s resolutions. They usually don’t work and just cause stress. You know the cycle: make a resolution, diligently strive to achieve the resolution, start to stress because you’re not achieving the resolution, forget about the resolution and return… Read More »How to Avoid Those Pesky Resolutions
In this holiday season, our thoughts turn gratefully to those who have made our progress possible. May songs of joy fill your home with warmth and your heart with happiness. Thank you, and best wishes for the holidays and a happy and prosperous New Year.
See you in 2017! Be great.Read More »Season’s Greetings from your friends at The Daedalus Group
In a recent interview on CNBC, Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo talked about a meeting with Steve Jobs where Jobs told her “If you really feel strongly about something — if you don’t like something people are doing — throw a temper tantrum. Throw things around, because people have got… Read More »How to be an Assertive Leader
A sign in the office of a general I worked for in the Pentagon read “Feed Your Troops First.†The sign wasn’t behind the General’s desk or on a side wall where everyone could see it. Instead, he had placed it on a support pillar facing his desk where he… Read More »Feed Your Troops First – Leadership 101
One of the most common sources of information on how to be a leader comes from observation of previous leaders. For many this is often the only source and it is very natural to emulate what we see. An exercise we use in our leadership development workshops is creating a… Read More »Are You Doing to Your Team What Drives You Crazy?
Bob and I talk a lot about leadership and what it takes to be a great leader in these pages. While that’s not a surprise for a leadership development group, a note I received from a former leadership student this morning really hit home. That individual sent a thank you… Read More »Great Leaders are Never “Too Cool for Schoolâ€
Over the last few weeks you have probably become tired of watching politicians stumping for a job. Well, it’s over now and we’ll have a short, merciful reprieve before it all starts again. Even though the incessant political posturing wears us out, there is something to learn from it. Whether… Read More »Five Ways to Project Confidence When You Speak
You’ve probably heard the question before; is the glass half empty or half full? It’s the wrong question. It’s better to ask, what the glass is full of. Unless it’s in a vacuum, the glass, or any container, is always full of something. Even the glass that is filled halfway with liquid is still full. The rest of the volume is taken up with air, dust, and other things you can’t see and probably don’t want to think about. People are like that too.Read More »The Glass is Always Full
Early in my military career I was taught that a unit will take on the characteristics of its leader. A sloppy unit will likely have an unkempt leader at its helm. A unit known for “bending the rules†will most likely be led by a person of questionable ethics. Why… Read More »The Unintentional Leader