Have you ever had one of those sleep-deprived nights where you hear Drip…Drip…….Drip? I have. You would think this would have been annoying enough to get me to prioritize fixing that leaky faucet the next day. You would be wrong. It seems that during the day when I’m not reminded by… Read More »Leaky Faucets and Leadership
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?
Have you noticed a member of your team who everyone seems to gravitate to. This is the man or woman who seems to be able to get others to do things and when there’s a big success, they are probably involved. This is your group’s informal leader. They don’t have… Read More »Your Ace in the Hole
The air around us was orange. That was pretty common after a dust storm as a fine powder of sand hung in the air. Through the orange haze, I could see the mechanics going through their morning inspections of the rescue helicopters that sat on alert, ready to rapidly respond… Read More »The Mission: That Others May Live
A very good friend of mine was recently promoted to lead the division in which she has been working for a number of years. She confided in me that in addition to the usual worries about taking a new position was the worry that the person who assumes her old… Read More »Moving up? Let go of the past!
What energizes you? When you’re having one of those days when things aren’t going right and the boss isn’t happy, what do you do? Hopefully, your answer is not to find someone to yell at. Leaders seldom make everyone happy and can count on having bad days. How you handle… Read More »Stress Relief for Leaders
I have a new lady in my life, and my wife approves! My new “lady†is an 8-year old golden retriever we’ve named Katy. She came to us as Savana, but we thought Katy was a better fit. Not that it mattered that we changed this old dog’s name; Savana… Read More »Leadership, Motivation, and a Dog
We were on final for a practice bombing run 300 feet above the Arizona desert going about 540 knots (620 mph). The plane was an F-16D which is a two-seat trainer version of the F-16C Falcon. My back-seater was a flight surgeon logging mandatory air time and who was blissfully… Read More »Four Steps to Leader Awareness – Hard lessons learned from flight operations
In workshop discussions concerning conflict management, inevitably the subject of dealing with “toxic” individuals comes up. I maintain that if you have toxic individuals on your team, you normally don’t have a conflict problem, you have a values problem. We’ve talked about workplace culture before but, in my experience, few… Read More »Dealing with Toxic Team Members
In my free time I enjoy powered paragliding. I have a unique perspective while moving slowly across the landscape from a couple hundred feet up that is quite illuminating. I’ve seen coyotes lying in long grasses waiting for prey, jackrabbits actually forming small “herds†for mutual protection, how antelope seem… Read More »Do They See What You See? Great Leaders Share the Vision