REFLECT
It’s Not About the Money: Retaining Through Inspiring
Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash by Terron Wharton It is no secret the Army is having recruiting and retention challenges. The Army’s primary response has been a tried and true one: money. Big bonuses to sign up and re-up are proven methods that have...
Quit Turning the Bubbles Green
Photo: Army Times, “Report: Army officers admit to (and defend) their lying” by Jim Jimenez and Chris Slininger Every leadership book we’ve ever read would agree: lying is not a hallmark of a good leader. Yet in the Army we lie...
Negative Capability: The One Skill Military Leaders Need
Photo Courtesy of Lucasfilm By Joe Byerly In the early 1970s, a young George Lucas had an idea to create a movie the likes of which no one had seen (or experienced) before. It would be a mix of science fiction and mythology. But there were...
Rise to the Level of Creativity: Assessments from Large-Scale Combat Operations
by Daniel R. DeNeve, Kevin J. Quigley, & Larry Kay Army units at every echelon struggle to meet mission and training requirements due to lack of creativity, critical thought, and disciplined initiative. While repetition and trauma facilitate...
The Man in the Stands
By Joe Byerly It’s the critic who counts; the man who points out when we stumble, or where we could have done better. It’s the one in the stands, who’s well above the dusty floor with a beer in one hand and a warm hot dog in the other, not having...
AI for the Win: Four Game-Changing Resources for Your Organization
by Joshua Caballero The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. -Alvin Toffler Innovation is no longer a choice but a necessity in today’s constantly...
The Importance of Property Accountability and Readiness
by Jakob Hutter From helmets to Humvees, property accountability is a critical aspect of sustaining operational readiness. Property accountability refers to an organization’s ability to effectively track, manage, and report on equipment and assets....
Understanding Sun Tzu through the Mongols
by Chris Horvilleur Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, written in 400 BC, has shaped strategic thinking for nearly two and a half millennia, foremost amongst military minds but also recently amongst western business leaders. The breadth of the book’s impact...
Building Cohesive and Effective Teams
by Mitch Butterworth “It is not what [leaders] know or how bright they are that leads to success or failure; [rather] how well they work with others, and how well they understand themselves.” – R.J....
4 Types of Officers; and How to Develop Yourself and Others
By Joel Smith The Four Types of Officers As a young officer I read German General Kurt Von Hammerstein-Equord’s four officer categories; they are 1) the clever, 2) the industrious, 3) the lazy, and 4) the stupid. “I divide my officers into four...
Junior Officer Success in a Joint Command: Insights from a Joint Leader
By Brandon Temple My career has been uniquely joint. I enlisted in the Air Force as a member of Tactical Air Control Party (TACP), an inherently joint career field. I spent the last five years of my enlistment in the joint special operations...
A Note to the Slick Sleeves
By Micah Ables During my time in command, I had numerous conversations with disappointed young soldiers who regretted that they hadn’t had a chance to go to war and get a deployment patch. I signed reenlistment contracts for several outstanding...
Speaking Up: What Matters to You?
By: Jia Wu Often, employees will disagree with a supervisor’s directives yet execute blindly with little apprehension. In organizations that clearly delineate authorities, it may not be considered appropriate for subordinates to violate orders –...
We All Need to Have a Little More Briefing Empathy
By Joe Byerly Have you ever been in a meeting and felt like a prisoner? It’s Friday afternoon, you are sitting in the last meeting of the week. The final briefer begins to speak. They see the clock. They know there are only five minutes left but...
Harnessing Your Discontent in the Military
By Mark Jacobsen When I arrived at my first C-17A unit, I was chomping at the bit. Finally, after years of education and training, I was ready to join the fight. The September 11th attacks had occurred during my senior year at USAFA, and I had felt...
Getting the Most Out of Your Green Notebook
I started this blog in 2013 as a captain in the US Army. It was a hobby and a way for me to think through topics that interested me. I never imagined that I would still get the opportunity to share ideas here as a lieutenant colonel seven...
Is Your Counseling A Deep Dive or Drive-By?
By: Jacy Park “No one told me that I would be a promotion risk, I was always told I was doing fine,” said a Chief Warrant Officer 2 with tears in his eyes as I advised him to get his family ready for a career outside the military. Countless...
Recognizing Great Leaders in Our Lives
By Steven Arango Leaders are abundant; good leaders are scarce; great leaders are even rarer. There are countless works dedicated to the study of leadership, providing examples of some of the greatest leaders in history, contrasted with some of...
Why Military Leaders Need to Think Like a Roman Emperor
By Joe Byerly One of my favorite books from the past couple of years is How to Think Like a Roman Emperor. My copy is marked up, tabbed out, and I’ve referenced it a lot. It helped me through my reintegration after my recent deployment to...
More Leaders Need to Get Punched in the Face
By Michael S. Burke “Kick his ass!” was one of the multiple jeers I heard through the litany of booing as I stepped on the mat at Dragoon Fight Night, the 2d Cavalry Regiment’s combative showcase. A few weeks prior, I had posted a video on...
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Why Every Field Exercise Needs Salad
By Colonel Michael D. Schoenfeldt and CW2 Edmund M. Perez Jr. Salad is not only an important staple of a well-rounded diet, it can serve as a mechanism in field training exercises to stress a multifaceted supply chain. Every time salad is added to...
Our Clear and Present Need: An Emotionally Intelligent Military
By: Jay Long Amid the many crucible moments confronting America’s military leaders in 2020 were moments of brilliance, perhaps best personified by Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright’s response to the George Floyd protests. While...
Tactical Decision Games in a Virtual Setting
By Cadet John B. Douglas During the spring 2020 semester, Army ROTC Cadets at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Naval ROTC Midshipmen at the University of Illinois adapted to the challenges posed by COVID-19 by organizing online Tactical...
The Leader’s Guide to Creating a Daily Maintenance Battle Rhythm
By MG Jeffery Broadwater, COL Patrick Disney, and MAJ Allen Trujillo Have you ever walked into a situation in which you had no clue what was going on? Have you ever been in charge of a process that used a language to communicate that you did not...
Hate Meetings? Maybe Its Your Fault
By Joe Byerly Most people hate meetings –especially with large groups. Sure, meetings are a great opportunity to get business done in the military, but many of the meetings I have attended and personally ran were squandered opportunities. I hate...
Lessons Learned on Maintenance and Supply from Pegasus 6
By MG Jeffery Broadwater, COL Kevin Capra, and MAJ Allen Trujillo Managing property and maintaining equipment is challenging, especially when you’re in an Armored Division with a high operations tempo (OPTEMPO). The impacts of COVID-19 on 1st...
What is a Tiger Team and Why is the Opportunity Valuable?
By Brian Thorson and Zachary Rozar When first approached about participating on a tiger team, we were unsure if our boss was trying to be funny and make a Tiger King joke at our expense or if we were being given another task. With the benefit of...
Committing to Gender Integration: Get Rid of the Female Tent
By Captain Ashley Barber Over the past decade, the U.S. Army has taken steps to fully integrate women into all positions in its formations. Last month, the Army announced female infantry and armor Soldiers will integrate into the last nine...
How to Quit Fighting with Your Higher HQ
By: Michael S. Burke “What is headquarters thinking? Don’t they know we have training calendars and are short personnel? When I’m at that level I will make sure this doesn’t happen!” At some point in your Army career, the headquarters blame game...
How to Build an SFAB: Lessons Learned from the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade
By Gerard Spinney Maneuver Advisor Teams (MATs) from the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) are creating their own legacy. As one of the first U.S. Army units purposefully built for advising, our MAT helped prove the advisor force...
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