REFLECT
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...
A Letter to My Younger Self on Graduation Day
by Nikiay Comer Graduation week is here and you’ve felt a wave of emotions in anticipation of its arrival. You’re looking forward to accepting your diploma in front of your family and friends who have traveled far and wide to support you on...
The Impact of Moral Efficacy on Army Readiness
by Marc Meybaum, Cole Cannon, & Brian Martinez You stand in the hot sun of a motor pool staring down at a sea of equipment layouts. You have been desperately trying to manage the ream of property book pages as you conduct your change of command...
You Are Your Best Career Manager
by Brandon Eans As a career manager, I think daily about the advice my former First Sergeant offered me over eight years ago: “You are your best career manager”. I was a First Lieutenant serving as an Executive Officer for a Field Artillery...
Thought Partner: A Primer
by Nicholas A. Rich I recently spent a weekend with a good friend. After the long weekend, I received a message from him thanking me for being both a friend, and a “thought partner.” I met him in the Army in 2015, and we deployed...
Fight The Tank! A Practical Lesson in Army Leadership
by Marc E. “Dewey” Boberg, Ed.D. “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” – John Wooden A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Shortly after commissioning and attending the Armor Officer Basic...
Lessons from Large Scale Combat Operations, Part III
by Larry Kay, Josh Cosmos, Dan DeNeve, Nicole Courtney, Jeremy Mounticure Editor’s Note: In this final article of our three-part series, the authors will describe the staff’s attempt to create “decision space” for the commanding general, while also...
Lessons from Large Scale Combat Operations, Part II
by Larry Kay, Josh Cosmos, Dan DeNeve, Nicole Courtney, Jeremy Mounticure Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part article, stay tuned for the final part tomorrow. In the previous article, the authors discussed the importance of aligning...
Why we all need to pay attention to how we’re spending our time
By Joe Byerly Originally Published on We Are the Mighty Every day we use words and phrases, yet we rarely take the time to think about what they mean. For example, think about the phrase, “Spending time”. Typically we when we talk about...
The Lessons I Learned Commanding with an Injury
By Scott Kelly At 28 years old I took over my first command, and at 30 I woke up with a bad back. In December I got an MRI and found out I have three bulging disks which are causing an “extremely symptomatic” case of sciatica. Since college,...
Busy is a Choice
By Maggie Kurtts About a month before COVID brought our world to a grinding halt, I wrote a book review on Ryan Holiday’s latest book Stillness is the Key. At the time, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed by all the demands I had placed on myself and...
Stop Focusing on ‘If Only’, and Focus on ‘What Is’
By Joe Byerly I recently arrived back to the States from an overseas deployment, and unlike previous homecomings this one was different. There were no welcome home parties; no celebratory dinner at my favorite restaurant; no trips to Disney World...
Feeling Stressed? Make it to Chow
By Maggie Kurtts 455 days deployed in Iraq. Single parenting for months while my spouse was deployed. 8 weeks of Beast Barracks wondering why I signed-up for this while all my friends spent their summers partying. My military experiences were not...
Welcome to Your First Deployment, America!
By Ted Croy Welcome to your first deployment, America! Thank you for your service. Here we are, America. Over the last 10 days, we’ve entered into our own experience with the COVID-19 global pandemic that has catapulted the United States into...
Avoid Becoming Sisyphus: The 7 Rules for an HHC XO
By 1LT Koskinen, John J. A common company-grade belief is that being the Headquarters and Headquarters Company Executive Officer (HHC XO) is a great looking job on paper, which nobody wants. In my first few months as an HHC XO, I found that...
Maybe Dad was Right
by Casey & Courtney Dean Listening to your Dad can be tough. “What does he know?” “Things are different now.” “The Cold War Army had nothing on what we do now.” But over time, as we gain experience, and by experience we mean all the...
Should Officers Try to Map Out Their Careers?
By Joe Byerly Over the course of my career, I’ve seen a number of raters and senior raters ask their subordinates (including me) to bring their five or even ten-year timelines to an initial or performance counseling session. I’ve always shown up...
The Two Questions We Should Ask Ourselves Every Day
By Ryan Hill President Dwight Eisenhower is credited with saying, “The things that are urgent are seldom important, and the things that are important are seldom urgent.”[1] His statement hits on a problem that haunts all leaders; we often spend too...
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Leading from the Bench During COVID-19
By Ryan Kendall For many of us in the military we have experienced countless training events, deployments, and educational courses, for the sole purpose of defending the country and its interests. During one of the most significant crises in our...
4 Observations from a Company Commander, Commanding at home.
By Eric Shockley This past week the reality of the Coronavirus hit those of us in the Army in earnest. Leave plans were cancelled, hospitals and clinics became the front lines, and we jumped headlong into the concept of telework. I spent the week...
Avoid Becoming Sisyphus: The 7 Rules for an HHC XO
By 1LT Koskinen, John J. A common company-grade belief is that being the Headquarters and Headquarters Company Executive Officer (HHC XO) is a great looking job on paper, which nobody wants. In my first few months as an HHC XO, I found that...
Creating a Culture of Honest Feedback: A Strategy to Keeping the Organization Healthy
By Richard L. Farnell II Honest feedback is the breakfast of champions: it allows those who seek and incorporate it to identify their blind spots, increase self-awareness, and become a better version of themselves. Unfortunately, some leaders skip...
The History of a Great Culture
By James “Beau” Wasson “This is the story of three years in the lives of thirty-eight American soldiers. Typically, they are descendants of nine nationalities, from all sections of America, helping to defend their liberty, families, and the rights...
3 Leadership Lessons Observer, Coach, Trainers Understand That You Should, Too
By Joshua Trimble Leadership traits are taught and leaders evolve in some of the most unsuspected places. Consider that U.S. Army training centers are built and designed to put units through rigorous and realistic training to evaluate their...
Want a Strong Culture? Tell a Good Story
By Joe Byerly Our lives revolve around stories. How much so? In his book, The 7 Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, Christopher Booker argues that narratives are primarily how we think, communicate, and receive information. Stories are the most...
How to Succeed in a World of Merciless Taskers
By Colonel Glenn A. Henke The Problem Every Army command team faces the same challenge: how to manage the ceaseless onslaught of tasks that come from higher headquarters while conducting your own training and operations. Battery, company, and...
Becoming Number One – Assuming Battalion Command as the Executive Officer
By Daniel Clark You’ve been at the job for a few months now. You’re just starting to get the hang of this executive officer thing. You know the unit’s mission, you understand most of the personalities in your battalion, and you’re starting...
From the Lost Generation to the iGeneration: An Overview of the Army Officer’s Generational Divides
By Scotty Autin In 2015, a new generation of lieutenants arrived at Army units. They arrived unannounced with no notice to their receiving commands. These officers are technology-based, possess an innate ability to find information, and are closely...
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