Command and control (the beast) is not a popular form of leadership these days. Most of the time the method is unnecessary and a sign of a weak and insecure leader who knows no other way to be effective. The most effective leaders find some version of servant leadership (beauty)… Read More »Beauty and the Beast: Servant Leadership vs. Command and Control
This week the United States Air Force celebrated its 70th birthday. I first joined the Air Force in 1978 so I’ve been associated with the service for almost half its life. Here are a few things I learned from the experience. Take leadership development seriously. The success of our Air… Read More »What Thirty Years Taught Me About Leadership
The Daedalus Group has partnered with the University of New Mexico Continuing Education to provide the Leader’s Confidence Course, an intense 2-day experience that gives new supervisors and managers basic skills to effectively lead their teams. Leading other people can be a daunting and even frightening experience. Faced with strong-willed… Read More »The Leader’s Confidence Course Offered Through University of New Mexico Continuing Education
We called him Sergeant Joe. He was from Thailand and we could not pronounce his real name. It barely fit on his name tag so he took pity on us and let us call him Sergeant Joe. Three of us brand new aircraft mechanics were assigned as his trainees, which… Read More »A Leadership Story About Sergeant Joe
Are your team members engaged? Unfortunately, many business leaders complain that some of their team members are not reliable and will shirk their responsibilities whenever they can? Since much of my leadership experience comes from a long career in the military, I’m often asked why the military seems to have… Read More »The Three-Step Foundation for Employee Engagement any Leader Can Use
As we went around the table, each staff member introduced themselves with their name and a brief job description. When it was the custodian’s turn, instead of telling us she was the custodian, she proudly announced that she was the “Manager of First Impressions.” It was obvious that the rest… Read More »The First 4 Essential Steps to Achieve Team Engagement
Many years ago, as an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force, I was selected for a small, four-person team challenged to reassemble two F-111 aircraft which had not flown for some time; one for over two and a half years. It was a daunting challenge, made even more so by… Read More »The Power of Risk: A Team Challenge Story
“Sam is a great leader.†“Why do you say that?†“Well, because…†What follows is usually a rather subjective description of certain characteristics that generally follow a pattern of traits we’ve found common to good leaders. As many times as I’ve done the good boss/bad boss exercise with leadership students… Read More »Are you an effective leader? Five ways to know.
“I have an interview for a new position. I know they are going to ask me how I would view my role as a supervisor but I’ve never been a supervisor before. I don’t know what to tell them?” It’s all too common to move people into supervisory positions without… Read More »Wow Them With Your Leadership Philosophy
Having recently been promoted, one person told me about over-hearing someone mention getting an email from “the bossâ€, only to come to the frightening realization that she was the one being referred to! Taking charge of a team of individuals is no trivial task. After all, not only are you… Read More »You’re the new leader, now what?