Month: February 2018

Servant Leadership Servant Leadership is roughly defined as taking care of your employees first with the expectation that they will follow your lead and take care of the customers and citizens your organization serves.   This isn't a new concept.  I remember reading a best-selling leadership and organization book entitled The Customer Comes Second, which was published soon after 9/11.  Rosenbluth Travel was headquartered in one of the Twin Towers, and Hal Rosenbluth wrote about how they were able to re-build the company by focusing on the employees. Actually, Servant Leadership has been around since the New Testament and teachings of Islam. In layman's terms, it's pretty simple, and, what should be, obvious:  listening to employees, and treating them as equals and with respect. [caption id="attachment_680" align="alignnone" width="188"] A Servant Leader[/caption] Cowardly leadership Cowardly…

Courageous Leaders are Confident "Courage is the first virtue that makes all other virtues possible."            -Aristotle There are some common themes I have discovered as I've researched and written these Cowardly Leadership blogs.  One theme that reoccurs often is:  Fear vs. Confidence.  The more confident a leader is, the more likely and comfortable he/she is in asking questions, asking for help, realizing there is a lot of knowledge out there he needs to know.  A common management truism taught in Business School 101 is to surround yourself with the best, smartest, most capable people possible.  It's common sense for any good, solid, capable leader operating from a standpoint of confidence.  This is true because: They make you look good They make your job easier, and the more…

  Real Leaders Wish Everyone Happy Valentines Day! Simon Sinek, author of Leaders Eat Last, stated this in a recent post: "Success always takes help.  Failure stands alone."  Let that sink in. Success. ALWAYS. Takes. Help. In one of John F. Kennedy's campaign speeches in 1960, he says, "Give me your help, and your hand, and your voice..."  President Kennedy explicitly asked for help.  Cowardly leaders, on the other hand, are all knowing - that is why they were elected, or appointed to their position.  They become omniscient by virtue of being where they are, as if that position brings instant expertise. Success always takes help There are some common themes I have discovered as I've researched and written these Cowardly Leadership blogs.  One recurring theme is:  Fear vs. confidence.  The more confident a leader is,…

Most of the Cowardly Leadership posts discuss various traits and commonalities that cowards who are in positions of authority possess.  We have talked about abdication of their duties, being right simply because they are in power, inability to tell the truth, refusal to speak truth to power, and many others. Managing Through Power [caption id="attachment_667" align="alignnone" width="300"] Leading through humiliation[/caption] Many of you know I am a retired Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve.  I was fortunate enough to read an article recently by Commander Kevin Duffy, USCG, in the United States Naval Institutes Proceedings, entitled Character Has Real Consequence Commander  Duffy relates a time when he was an Ensign (the Coast Guard and Navy's initial officer rank, in other words, he was really new at being an officer and really new at about any…