leadership blog

I have always known that my success in the military and since was due in large measure to several mentors who provided me critical assistance throughout my life. If you are blessed with a mentor, you know that he or she is only a phone call away despite the fact that you might not see each other for several years. I could always call my mentors day or night to seek their advice and assistance.

But what exactly is “mentoring” and why is it important? Mentoring has been described as a dynamic relationship in which a more experienced person (the mentor) acts as a guide, role model, teacher, and sponsor of a less experienced person (the mentee). It is based on several distinct elements including:

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Standing in front of the fish counter to choose a healthy fish for dinner can feel like a daunting task. You might ask yourself:

• “Should I choose farmed or wild?”

• “Which fish is high in mercury?”

• “Is canned fish a good alternative?”

According to Seafood Health Facts, Americans eat 14.6 pounds of seafood per person each year. For comparison, annually we eat 53.3 pounds of beef, 57.7 pounds of chicken and 600 pounds of dairy products per person.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. About 600,000 deaths in the United States each year are attributed to heart disease, that’s one in every four deaths. Coronary heart disease alone costs the American public almost $109 billion each year. Our rising obesity and diabetes trends also play an important role in our nations continuing epidemic of illness.

Our diets have changed more in the last 100 years than in the last 10,000. If you asked your grandmother what she bought at the grocery store, what would she say? What kinds of things did her mother buy? I know that my grandmother wasn’t buying neon colored cereal or mac and cheese from the box for my mom. I remember standing on a stool in my grandparents’ kitchen at four years of age teaching my grandfather the magic of mixing orange powder with milk to make creamy cheese. This was completely new to him!

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The Alamo fell after a 13-day siege March 6, 1836 — 180 years ago this month. All of the defenders were killed, though many historians believe that a few survived the fighting and were later executed on the order of General Santa Anna. These included Jim Bowie, William Travis, and Davy Crockett. The total number of Mexican casualties is unknown. Santa Anna claimed only 70 of his men were killed, but there are a number of accounts by other soldiers and inhabitants of the city that suggest over 400 were killed in the fighting. Susanna Dickinson (the wife of an Alamo defender), her infant daughter, as well as Colonel Travis’ slave Joe survived and were released by Santa Anna.

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This February is particularly important for Americans and president-want-to-be’s. First, it is the month in which we celebrate President’s Day. Second, 2016 is a presidential election year. Finally, the month begins with the all-important Iowa Caucuses and is followed by the New Hampshire Presidential Primary. So it seems only appropriate that we consider a successful president you may know little about—President James K. Polk.

Successful presidents must create a strategic vision, communicate that vision to the nation, and then pursue its execution. Classic examples are Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, FDR’s speech to Congress on Dec. 8, 1941, or John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address calling for the nation to “place a man on the moon by the end of the decade.” Even the Bible notes, “Without vision, the people perish…”

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Organic isn’t a new idea or concept. Before World War II, all crops were organic because they weren’t sprayed with chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The USDA Organic label was put into circulation in October 2002 and has since been put on everything from bananas and tomatoes, to cereal and frozen dinners.

According to the USDA National Organic Program, “organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.” In short, organic defines how the food or ingredients were created, prepared, or raised.

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Ethics is of utmost importance: ask the CEO’s of leading corporations or America’s military leaders. Yet, at the same time, we might just as well dismally conclude that ethics is of no significance whatsoever! Just witness the private proclamations and even more the behavior of some of those same kinds of leaders when it comes to understanding, believing, and practicing what they preach.

Ethics is a bit like one of its key components: lying and truth-telling. No one publicly celebrates or advocates telling lies. Everyone testifies to the importance of the Truth. Yet everyone lies, and does so often: to spouses, children, friends, business associates, and the IRS – and usually feels that it is necessary or justified – at least in their very own “unique and exceptional” individual case.

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Keeping blood sugar stable is not only important for someone diagnosed with diabetes, it is critical for everyone to maintain stable energy, balanced hormones, healthy weight and metabolism.

During a busy day you might put off eating, thinking, “I just don’t have time to eat right now.” Eventually you become so hungry and desperate the only foods that you can consider eating are simple carbs and sugar. In that situation, your blood sugar has dropped so low that things like cake, cookies, crackers, and sweets are the only bits of sustenance that can get your blood sugar back into a safe zone.

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The National Sleep Foundation recently released new recommendations for how much sleep we need—from infants to the elderly. Some of the ranges for children and teens have changes but the standard seven to nine hours per night for adults stands firm. (To see the breakdown of recommendations by age go to www.sleepfoundation.org)

While some still use the adage “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” the reality is that lack of sleep is linked to health condition that could get you there sooner.

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Earlier this year I had the great pleasure to visit Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). I served as a member of an American delegation, and we met with a group of senior retired Myanmar military officers and government officials. Our discussions focused on Myanmar’s ongoing transition from more than fifty years of military rule to democracy and the implications for U.S.-Myanmar relations.

I came away from this visit with several overarching impressions. First, Myanmar is a beautiful country and its people are some of the most delightful and hospitable that I have met in all my travels. Second, due in part to its isolation from the international community the nation suffers from a host of problems. These include poverty, several distinct ethnic insurgencies in various parts of the country, human trafficking, illegal gun smuggling, counterfeiting, illicit narcotic production, unlawful fishing, and crime syndicates robbing the country of both precious metals and timber. Finally, it became clear that the elections planned for November of this year were critical if Myanmar wanted to continue on its democratic journey or revert back to military rule.

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According to the USDA, the five most popular drinks consumed by Americans in 2010 were soda, coffee and tea, milk, 100 percent fruit juice and alcohol. This data is from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, which are re-evaluated every five years. Will soda budge from its number one spot? Let’s hope so!

The high amount of sugar in many beverages leaves us with off balance blood sugar while the caffeine leaves us wired and tired. Not a great combination for feeling energized, focused and ready to accomplish what’s on our to-do list. And I’m not just talking about soda! Coffee is of course a heavily relied on caffeine source. But, don’t forget that all those mixed and flavored coffee beverages are also loaded with sugar or chemical sweeteners. Fruit juice and alcohol are also very concentrated sources of sugar.

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Some estimates state that Americans get a billion colds each year and there are over 200 viruses that can cause them. Colds can be just the sniffles or morph into pneumonia that results in a visit to the hospital. Many of us have just accepted that we will get sick at some point during the fall and winter months. What if this year you didn’t suffer from a stuffy nose, irritating cough or chills?

It is never too early to start building up your immune system so it is primed and ready to attack an oncoming virus. Interestingly, many foods contain the exact nutrients our bodies need to nourish and strengthen our immune system. Here are my five favorite foods for fighting off colds and flus.

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It is hard to believe that ten years have passed since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. I had the great pleasure to be in Crescent City this past week as the tragedy of Katrina was remembered. As I was thinking about this commemoration it occurred to me that Katrina was clearly not only a natural disaster but also a leadership disaster at almost every level. Consequently, as we reflect on Katrina and mourn the nearly 2,000 people who lost their lives, leaders should think carefully on what can be learned from this crisis or any crisis to make ourselves and our organizations stronger and better.

A crisis is normally defined as a sudden unexpected disaster, but leaders must recognize that they can unfold slowly over time. Sadly, many of the warnings about the impact of Katrina on the city’s troubled levees were ignored as it approached New Orleans. Crises can be analyzed by careful consideration of their three phases: before the crisis, immediate actions during a crisis, and the aftermath. Leaders must keep this in mind as they not only prepare their organizations to meet the challenge of crisis, react initially, but also learn from crises in order to strengthen them and prepare for new challenges in future.

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I definitely believe that leaders can and must be developed. Still there are certain personality characteristics that may help someone become an effective leader. People who are extreme introverts and find it uncomfortable around groups can become leaders, but it takes a greater effort. This is not unlike high performing athletes who may have better eyesight, height, strength, etc. as part of their physical makeup giving them an edge. Still, in both cases the individual has to devote both study and effort to continue to capitalize on those inherent advantages.

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I lost two people who were very, very important to me last fall. They had both been my mentors. The first was my mom who has been my personal mentor throughout my life. She guided me from birth and sacrificed enormously on my behalf. There is absolutely no doubt I would have never accomplished the things I have done without her wise counsel and assistance.

The second was a senior officer who took me “under his wing” when I was a young cadet at West Point. Don was a professional mentor I could always turn to for guidance and counsel specifically about my military career. He also provided critical advice and analysis for many of the national security issues that I became involved in while working in the Pentagon, National Security Council Staff in the White House, and other efforts that I have been involved in since retiring from the military. I always knew that he was only a phone call away despite the fact that we were not frequently assigned to the same location and might not see each other for several years. I could always call him day-or-night to seek his advice and assistance.

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Many of you are very familiar with the Diamond6 approach in which we use historical events as case studies to learn lessons from history. All the events we consider were “crises” for the leaders involved whether they are battles, emergencies in outer space, or political catastrophes. Each of them demonstrates that during a crisis the pressure of rapidly unfolding events compresses time. Consequently, the importance of the decisions made by leaders (both good or bad) during these trying times are much more stark and can be examined to enhance the learning experience. In each case study we carefully consider the evolution of the events of the “crisis” guided by a historical expert. As we move through the historical discussion we pause to examine what leadership principles and concepts are illustrated. Over time we have developed experiential learning seminars that use the battles of Gettysburg, Antietam, and Bull Run from the American Civil War and walk the actual fields for the maximum educational experience.

Diamond6 has also created seminars using more recent events such as the Apollo 13 crisis and the so-called Saturday Night Massacre from the Watergate crisis. These seminars can be offered anywhere. Still in order to maximize the learning experience we facilitated the Apollo 13 case study aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. It was a recovery ship for the Apollo program and is now a floating museum in San Francisco harbor. We recently conducted the Saturday Night Massacre seminar for the third time at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California.

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Are people “born leaders” or can it be developed?

I definitely think leaders can be developed. I also believe that certain personality types, backgrounds and experiences impact the nature of the leader development experiences that are effective for individuals.

What are the most important leadership lessons you’ve learned?

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I am a sports fan, and so I was excited to watch the recent Super Bowl. The game could not have been more dramatic and will likely go down in the annals of sports history as one of the most thrilling. Whenever the Super Bowl comes around, you can be sure that you will see articles in newspapers or magazines as well as television programs that examine great games or moments in Super Bowl history.  The game is a showcase of the abilities of superb athletes. Frequently, the quarterback or the coach for each team is a focal point for their competence and confidence. This is crucial to success in the big game because the members of football teams, like any organization, will be no more confident than those leading them.

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Strategic Vision: By definition it could be a statement articulating an approach to an organization’s future direction and basic philosophical makeup. It is an aspirational, forward-looking statement of what an organization will look like at a point in time in the future.

Half a century ago this nation was experiencing a movement that began like a ripple in a pond. That ripple began to grow and swell into something many people could never have imagined. Soon it became a tsunami that overwhelmed and blanketed the country in change. At the forefront of that change were many Americans who envisioned a new national reality. One where ALL Americans would feel and BELIEVE that they were living in an indivisible union known as The United States of America. Of all the voices heard, there evolved one whose words and actions rang true to the basic tenets of our Constitution and our Declaration of Independence—The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.

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There are approximately 31.5 billion quarters circulating throughout our nation’s economy at last count, give or take several million. That is a lot of exposure for the person whose face appears on the “heads side.” Wouldn’t it be nice, even gratifying if our picture was on a quarter: A personal 25-cent bastion of immortality?

George Washington has held the place of honor since 1932. Today, among Americans, that name is almost cliché. Nationally, we are so accustomed to his generic description, “Father of Our Country” that we eclipse what the man, the icon, did to get on the quarter. Here’s a hint: You must be good before you become an icon. You must be extremely good, perhaps even sublime, to get on a quarter.

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