Elsewhere on my website, in The Commonplace Book to be exact, you'll see that I've written a short piece on the 6 truly important presidential elections in the American experience. I wonder if I will add the 2012 to the list? Right now, a couple of days later, I'll share my inclination--though with the caveat that I may change my mind. I'm not inclined to list 2012 as Number 7. I don't think I … [Read more...]
November 6, 2012 by
· Below are my choices for Truly Important Elections—the TIEs. They are 1800, 1864, 1896, 1940, and 1980. Feel free to suggest others. Be sure to include a short explanation of why you think so. · 1800. Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in what was the world’s first example of a peaceful transition of power from one perceived organized group to another. In other governmental systems the … [Read more...]
November 6, 2012 by
Next time you're on a river or standing on a river bank, take a close look at the water. You'll see there what you see in the river of your own life. Yes, I'd like you to take a moment and think about a part of my River construct. There is more than one current in the water of a river. There is the current on the surface. This current moves faster than the current at the bottom of the river. … [Read more...]
October 2, 2012 by
I’m looking out the window of my home office. A light rain falls. The ground is soaked. The temperature is 58 degrees. Gray skies.Let’s use this particular day to learn something about time and history.Go back over the brief description that I gave you of the day. Now, what does that day suggest to you if I said it’s early fall? What about early spring? For that matter, what about either summer or … [Read more...]
October 2, 2012 by
Bob Woodward said that Graham seemed nervous when she asked him if everything about the Watergate Hotel break-in story would come out, would they get the full story and be able to run it in the newspaper. Everything was riding on it--the Post's stock price, reputation, and viability as an organization. The question hung in the air as the eggs benedict began to chill. Woodward answered, "It … [Read more...]
October 2, 2012 by
On December 11, 1941 Germany’s chancellor, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, declared war on the United States. His declaration of war against the U.S. came four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That’s what really happened. Here’s my what-if—what if Hitler hadn’t declared war on America? What if, say, he had waited a year, in late 1942, before formally declaring war on the U.S.? What … [Read more...]
October 2, 2012 by
I’m looking out the window of my home office. A light rain falls. The ground is soaked. The temperature is 58 degrees. Gray skies.Let’s use this particular day to learn something about time and history.Go back over the brief description that I gave you of the day. Now, what does that day suggest to you if I said it’s early fall? What about early spring? For that matter, what about either summer or … [Read more...]
September 24, 2012 by
Loneliness is a condition from which all of us flees. We don't want it. Yet, the hard truth of leadership is that loneliness is a too-frequent companion of every leader. We know that to be a leader is, at times, to accept the need for unpopularity. You as the leader make decisions, take actions, and choose options that are not popular. You do it for the overall good of your team or cause or … [Read more...]
September 20, 2012 by
I chuckle at some of these leadership sayings. Here's a hoot: "leaders don't complain about what's not working. Leaders celebrate what is working and work to amplify it." I wonder how much celebrating George Washington was doing when he faced the ruin of the American cause in late 1776. I wonder how much amplifying of the good Abraham Lincoln did when one of his sons died from illness during the … [Read more...]
September 20, 2012 by
Long-time UCLA basketball coach John Wooden is one of my leadership development modules. He, along with Peyton Manning, comprise the only sports-related modules I offer among my nearly 60 seminars, workshops, and case studies of leadership in history. You gain more from Wooden when you have a wiser, or wisened, view of him. This is what happened--Wooden tolerated the behavior of a UCLA alumnus, … [Read more...]
