Articles
Timeliness Over Perfection: The Critical Balance in Fast-Moving Operational Environments
By Caleb D. King III Have you ever found yourself delaying reporting something up the chain of command because the information was not perfect or pretty? How much time did you spend perfecting the information before other decision-makers could...
The Value of Introspection: Letting Yourself Teach Yourself
by Michael Moffeit We have all been there, hastily scribbling notes into our notebooks (mostly green and mostly government-issued), trying to capture some notes or to-do lists. We attempt to record pearls of wisdom from our raters, senior raters,...
Ep 156- Who Are You Without the Rank? A Conversation on Leader Identity with LTC (P)Laura Weimer
Army officer and Harvard-trained scholar Laura Weimer joins Joe to unpack leader identity—how it’s formed, why it matters, and what happens when we never stop to question it. From leading Soldiers in the field to earning a PhD in organizational...
Should You Go to SAMS? Yes.
by Garrett Chandler Most of the stories they tell you about being a School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) planner are true. You will likely be thrown right into being the lead planner for something immediately, or, as in my case, on the third...
The Day Lightning Chose Me
By Kyle McCarter Not everyone gets the chance to grow their lore, legend, or earn a cool scar. But I was blessed with such a day in the summer of 2005. It was a regular, hot, humid, and rainy day in Florida. I was stationed at Camp James E. Rudder,...
Friction’s Impact on Warfighting: Time is Readiness
By: James Boyd, Adyton CEO and Co-founder Time is readiness. I’ve seen firsthand how we tend to operate as if time is a free and limitless resource. It is neither. Whether it’s making soldiers stand around waiting to be released or...
Beware of Time Pollution!
By Joe Byerly As a younger Army officer, I used to see a week or two of empty space on the calendar before a major exercise and think: “Perfect! I’ll schedule some training or professional development for the team.” But as...
Army Junior Officer Counsel – Enabling Junior Officers to Drive Change
by Major Chris Slininger The Problem The Army has been facing recruiting and retention challenges, particularly within the junior officer population: Lieutenants, Captains, Warrant Officers One, and Chief Warrant Officers Two. While recruitment and...
Why Senior Leaders Should Compete for an Expert Badge
Photo By Edward Muniz | Col. Michael Stewart reading Coordinates. by Joseph F. Adams I am an expert and I am a professional. – The Soldier’s Creed Cold mud and rain dripped down my forearms as I lay in the prone position and aimed my M80 Claymore....
What is Your Relationship with Time?
By Joe Byerly “I’ll try to find some time.” “I need more time.” “There’s not enough time in the day.” These phrases used to roll off my tongue without a second thought. My relationship with time was…contentious. My calendar dictated my life. ...
Getting the Most Out of Professional Reading
This post originally appeared at Small Wars Journal on May 26, 2014 “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” -E.M. Forster By Joe Byerly From the time I commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army I’ve been told...
How to Lead with the Strength of Nelson
This post is also available at the U.S. Naval Institute Blog and at Small Wars Journal Typically the Services study historic leaders from their own particular domain of expertise (air, sea, land), and rarely do they venture beyond this. The Navy...
2013: A Good Year for Reading
This past year was filled with several work related trips, and because of the airports, airplanes, and hotel rooms, I was able to focus my efforts on professional study. This blog is an outgrowth of those efforts. Even though I’ve...
Leaders are Readers
From Washington to Mattis, our most successful leaders were life-long students of war. In the July-September issue of Armor Magazine, I wrote a piece called Maneuver Leaders, Self-Study and War, where I discuss the importance of life-long learning...
The Best Job I Never Thought I Wanted
by Ned Marsh From 2022 through 2024, I served as one-third of the command team for the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Detrick, Maryland. Garrison command became the highlight of my career—the best job I never thought I wanted. First, it was a job that was...
“They Don’t Get It” is a Leadership Red Flag
By Sara Roger “Soldiers these days just don’t get it.” I’ve heard that sentence at least ten—maybe even twenty—times since arriving in Germany. And when it came up again this past Thursday, I felt a sudden urge to respond: “Maybe you don’t get...
Power, Character, and the Gates We Open
By Joe Byerly Throughout ancient history, cities didn’t always fall on the fields of battle or by infantry scaling the walls. More often than we realize, they were undone from within—by opportunists who, under the cover of darkness, opened secret...
Life Lessons from Jimmy Kimmel’s Head Writer (That Apply to the Rest of Us Too)
By Joe Byerly Danny Ricker writes jokes for a living. As one of Jimmy Kimmel’s head writers, he leads a team that churns out pages of material every day—most of which never makes it on air. But behind the punchlines is a mindset that applies far...
Power, Hubris, and the Role of Fortune
By Joe Byerly When we attain power, we often see it through the protagonist’s lens: “This is my story. I climbed the ranks. I earned this.” And while that may be partially true, it’s rarely the whole story. What’s often missing is the hand of...
Power and the Most Dangerous Myth of All
By Joe Byerly At 24 years old, Robert McNamara became Harvard Business School’s youngest assistant professor. Six years later, he joined an elite team at Ford Motor Company known as the “Whiz Kids” and helped turn the company around. Within a...
Saying Goodbye to the “Sunday Scaries”
By Joe Byerly If you had told me years ago that the “Sunday Scaries” would one day disappear from my vocabulary—or that the phrase “Thank God it’s Friday” would lose its meaning—I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Military service gave me...
The Climb to Power Conceals
By Joe Byerly We often hear that power reveals. That once someone has it, their true character is finally exposed. But what’s less often acknowledged, and arguably more important for you and I, is that the climb to power conceals. The...
More Than a War Story: The Power of Reflection
By Joe Byerly Better than Reality TV One of the greatest benefits of military service is the number of life experiences we pack into a year; sometimes even into a single week or day. We bring together people from different backgrounds, cultures,...
What Fairy Tales Teach Us About Power
By Joe Byerly Have you ever actually read the original Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen? It’s pretty dark. There are no singing crabs, cute blowfish, or happy endings. It’s a story about a girl who gives up something of great...
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