REFLECT
Power is the Great Auditor
By Joe Byerly Do you believe you have a strong character? Do you think you’re a highly competent leader? Do you think you understand the full extent of your faults? Do you think you can do a better job than the guy or gal currently in the role you...
Learning to Live a Halfway Interesting Life
By Joe Byerly It’s been three years since I deployed to Europe on short notice with the 82nd Airborne Division in preparation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nine months since I gave up command of a cavalry squadron in Europe. And six months...
Chasing the Inner Circle
By Joe Byerly Most of us, whether we admit it or not, feel the pull toward the ‘inner circle’ in our professional lives. For some, it’s a passing thought. For others, it’s an obsession that can cost friendships, even family, in the pursuit of being...
Power and the Inner Circle
By Joe Byerly We often think of power as something that belongs to the person in charge. The corporate executive, political leader, or military commander is the one with all the power, right? However, power rarely exists in isolation, it...
Rev Up Readiness: How Auto Skills Centers Drive Military Excellence
by Mike Murray Being a service member in the United States military comes with a lot of little-known benefits. Most people are familiar with the big benefits, like healthcare, dental, access to commissaries and exchanges, and legal or financial...
The Thing That Will Destroy Us
By Joe Byerly Some of the best things in life start small and grow over time—relationships, financial investments, fitness levels. But the same pattern can apply to something far more dangerous: power. Power isn’t inherently bad; we need it to make...
The Most Important Notebook the Chief of Staff of the Army Carries
By Joe Byerly A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with the Chief of Staff of the Army General Randy A. George when he showed me a small 5×7 notebook he always carries. Inside are nearly two decades of insights and lessons, ideas that...
Gains Disguised as Losses
By Joe Byerly Have you ever been knocked off your feet? I’m not talking about getting sucker-punched in a 1 a.m. bar fight or settling an old high school grudge by the flagpole. I mean those moments when life takes a swing and sends you sprawling....
Does Power Corrupt?
By Joe Byerly Thousands of years ago, as Emperor Marcus Aurelius sat in his tent on the front lines of war, he faced a far more dangerous enemy: himself. He had heard stories of what power could do to men. Rome’s history was littered with rulers...
Leading, Following, and Influencing in a NATO Headquarters
by Jared Nichols “Leading and following in NATO is an art, and it is as much political negotiation as it is military leadership.” – Unnamed NATO Officer In 2021, on very short notice, I began a three-year NATO assignment at Multinational Corps...
A Brittle Force: Grappling with Surging Military Suicides
by Greg Wall and Jacob Mays As we near the end of the calendar year, it seems that 2023 is likely to go down as the deadliest year in history for self-directed violence in the US military. In 2022 the DoD reported the highest Q1 suicide rate since...
Social Media is an Essential Tool For Modern Army Leaders
By Michael Everett Leaders in the 2023 military need to interact on social media. Period. Whether you like it or not, modern leadership has spilled over into the digital domain. If you fight the social media current, you will almost certainly meet...
Improve Your Reporting in Five Simple Steps
by Jacob Loftice Reporting drives military operations. It consists of developing and providing various information that guide leaders’ understanding of their formations’ capabilities, priorities, and assessed risk. Despite how common and important...
Rowing Well, and Living Better: Leader Influence on Officer Retention
by M. Caleb Bloom The first time I heard the phrase, “Row well, and live,” I did not know what it meant. I was a First Lieutenant on a Battalion-level staff after finishing my time as a Platoon Leader. The Battalion was only a few months into a...
Good Leaders Ask Better Questions
by Ryan Cornell-d’Echert “Once you have learned how to ask questions – relevant and appropriate and substantial questions – you have learned how to learn, and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want or need to know.” -Neil Postman and...
Mission and Motherhood: Tools for Leading Pregnant and Postpartum Soldiers
By Katie Walter I was terrified when I discovered I was pregnant as a young Second Lieutenant in the Armor branch. Among the other stressors of pregnancy and raising a child, I was nervous my Squadron’s leaders might view me negatively for being...
4 Reading Recs For Holistic Self-Development
by Jack Hadley Military professionals’ reading for self-development tends to fall into two general categories. First, well, military professional reading. This genre is flexible, but generally includes things like A Message to Garcia (and other...
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: One Foot In Front Of The Other
by James Duncan July 1st, 2013. I only remember bits and pieces of it, but make no mistake about it – I was there. You have only to look at the picture of an incredibly nervous, skinny kid sitting in a bus, waiting. For all I knew, I was about to...
How to Lead Where Excellence is Already the Norm
By Terry Lee and Chevy Cook It’s no surprise that elite performers and high achievers tend to produce at a higher level, have outsized impact on their organizations, and are rewarded with selection, promotion, and more leadership...
240 Seconds to Save Your Own Life
by Dustin Diefenderfer It was the day after Christmas in 2004 when a 9.1 magnitude earthquake hit the Indian Ocean, triggering massive 100 foot tall waves that would later became known as “The Boxing Day Tsunamis.” The tsunamis took the lives of...
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Searching for a Purpose in Professional Military Education
by David Kahan My time at the Captain’s Career Course (CCC) was a disappointment. Arriving at Fort Huachuca, Arizona in April 2022, I hoped that Military Intelligence CCC (MICCC) might help either to prepare me for my next position or teach...
Counterproductive Leadership: Impact to People and the Organization
by Jakob Hutter Effective leaders who demonstrate confidence, courage, compassion, and character enable an organization’s success. Stay in any organization long enough, and you will understand that counterproductive leaders can leave serious harm...
Sixteen Things I Wish I Could Tell My Senior Rater
Authors’ Note: The authors of this post, @notyourtacofficer and @therecoveringcommander, are mid-career, post company-command officers wallowing in their KD-complete broadening assignment lives and contemplating what’s next. Referred to as the,...
Thinking Like a Fox: The Military’s New High Ground
by Nate Bump In our modern world, complexities abound. As a result, many assume more specialists focusing on challenges like ‘strategic competition’ is the answer. However, evidence supports officers specializing as generalists via a...
Our Sloppy Over-Reliance on Texting
by Jack Hadley Farewelled by my unit and signed out on PCS leave, I stood at a German train station headed to the airport. Then my phone went ding! I reflexively glanced at it, feeling a small but noticeable tinge of stress. I was no longer a...
Don’t Look the Part, Be the Part
by Oren Abusch In the early spring of 2020, my Battalion ran a two-week marksmanship course. Each day, NCOs would go to the range to hone their shooting skills and, on one particular range day, I noticed an NCO kitted in the most expensive...
Information Quality’s Outsized Effect on Decision-Making
by Jack Hadley and Addison McLamb We all know bad decisions when we see them. For example, the commander who can’t ‘decide’ to stop talking at Friday formation, the NCO so entrenched in his ways he can’t accept the simple solution in front of his...
Opportunities and Applications for Executive Coaching in the Army
by BG Brett Funck It’s likely “coach, teach, and mentor” is a familiar phrase for those in the Army. However, understanding and differentiating the three items is less familiar. The Army is growing its exposure to executive coaching and...
Making the Case for an Army Peer-to-Peer Rewards Program
by Aaron “Butch” Pucetas The Army’s current rewards system is mostly top-down, leader-driven, and formal in nature. If a Soldier excels in an event or area, their supervisor recommends them for a reward and it is processed through the chain of...
Blind Intent and Vision-Impaired Guidance
By Joel P. Gleason Road Trips & Staff Meetings My wife and I have spent 20 years having the same discussion on road trips. As dinner approaches and the kids get hungry, we agree that we should stop at a restaurant but, as we drive past...
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