The Golden Rule:
And as you wish that others would do to you,
do so to them.
– Jesus Christ
“Anderson! You have to be like Gumby! Come up with a new plan and do it quick or your men will die!” These words echoed through the woods as I stood confused during my first attempt leading an infantry squad during Cadet Basic Training at West Point.
The staff sergeant wasn’t going to allow me to implement my plan when the circumstances had changed. It was a lesson I would be taught often as a cadet and as a young officer.
I couldn’t wait to be promoted. I knew all the things I wanted to accomplish. I was also looking forward to the perks of leadership. In the Army we used to say, “Rank Has It’s Privileges (RHIP).”
But, years later, I realized that these sentiments were naive. They seem real to someone who has not held a position of leadership. But, once I earned that promotion, I learned that my assumptions were far from reality.
With every new class I teach, comes new leaders with the same assumptions.
This is a repost from April 2012.
I powered through my agenda for the meeting. The meeting addressed everything I felt was important to cover from my vantage point. I walked out satisfied and fulfilled.
The problem was I was the only one feeling that way. From the team’s perspective, the meeting left too many issues unaddressed. They left more frustrated than when the meeting started. I had failed my team. Continue Reading…
I blame the movie Patton. In today’s business world, people assume autocratic, top down leadership prevails in our military and that military leaders are not prepared for the less rigid world of business leadership. This is a myth!
Just like all civilian business leaders are not like Michael Douglas in Wall Street, all military officers are not like George C. Scott in Patton. Many business leaders without a military background have bought into the way Hollywood portrays military officers. Continue Reading…
He sat across from me for 90 minutes. He demonstrated drive, humility, sales skills, and the character I love to hire. The problem was his background. I was hiring for a high-end medical sales position. But, he was selling dumpster pick-up service to restaurants. I really liked Jeff. But I hired someone else because Jeff didn’t fit the mold. I made the wrong decision.
This blog is reposted from March 2012. It received a lot of attention when I first posted it.
Two companies competing in the same market can have wildly different results. One company will thrive and the other will flounder. Why? Does one company have smarter people? Or better information?
That is unlikely. There is not a shortage of smart people in business today. The people available for businesses to hire have never had access to more education and more information.
Brains and skills abound in most companies. Brains and skills are hired and reinforced through training. Yet some companies lag behind the leaders. Why? The answer is dysfunction not incompetence. Continue Reading…
There is a lot of discussion of the word integrity in business books, in politics, in universities…in every walk of life. I read about it all the time. But, my father, General Jim Anderson, the former Master of the Sword at West Point, taught me more about integrity than any other source. He says:
INTEGRITY requires three steps:
Understanding integrity is foundational to our character development. The more I speak on the importance of character, the more I see that integrity needs defined.
This is reposted from March 2012.
Continue Reading…
They just stood there. It was funny. It was sad. It was telling. When the captains left the court, none of the other players stepped forward to lead. Communication broke down and chaos ensued.
I was watching a high school girls sporting event. Unfortunately, I have seen this in the business world too. When the leader is gone and nobody steps forward, a bump in the road can cause a relatively smooth running team to end up in a ditch. Continue Reading…
I’m an idea guy. I love to brainstorm and come up with ideas on how to make things better. I am also someone who can ignore the details or forget about them quickly.
The more I work with leaders the more I realize I am not alone. All of us have strengths that can also be our weaknesses. They are two sides of the same coin. Our strengths often turn into weaknesses when they are misapplied or taken to an extreme. Continue Reading…
“What do you think of your team’s execution?” Coach John McKay was asked. “I’m for it!” McKay replied. The expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished that season winless and McKay captured the hearts of coaches everywhere with that comment.
Whether it is in sports or in business, leaders often spend endless hours preparing strategies to insure success, only to see those plans fail due to poor execution. Whose fault is it? Is it the players’ fault? Is it the leaders’ fault? Continue Reading…
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