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Category Archives: Military Managers

Fear and anger

Thursday, July 9, 2009

A military outfit is a great place to study organizational dynamics, and one of the best places among them is a fighting Navy ship. You can come to an appreciation of what truly matters, what really contributes to victory under stressful conditions, and the role that leadership actually plays. . .

Also filed in Organizational Leadership | | Comments (13)

Myth-busting

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Last Thursday, I told a story from my days in the Marines about an organizational success that transformed my unit from the worst to the best literally on the instant. Unfortunately, the event was so dramatic and impressive that I drew precisely the wrong conclusions about what brought it about. . .

Myth-making

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Yesterday we heard the saga of the author of It’s Our Ship, how he skippered the “best ship in the Navy,” and the conclusions he drew from that experience about leadership. Today, I will regale you with the epic tale of 2nd Lt. Jim Stroup, the best platoon in the Marine Corps, and what he thought then about how and why that platoon transformed so dramatically. . .

Also filed in Change, Culture, Individual Leadership | | Comments (5)

Book Review: It’s Our Ship

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The U.S. Navy is perhaps the most technically-oriented service in the American military. Officers work their way up demonstrating comprehensive and immediate skills in the numerous individual systems that make ships responsive in combat. The focus here tends to be on technical competence – not necessarily on the sort of personal leadership ability that is emphasized more during an officer’s development in the other services, especially the Army and the Marines. This is a reflection of the circumstances of the varying units when in combat . . .

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The indicator

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Among the many great hopes pinned on the MBA is that attainment of it suggests meaningful things about one’s knowledge, ability, and character. That is not an overstatement of the regard in which it is held. While it’s fair enough to assume that someone who has completed such a program can be expected to know what was taught in it, his or her ability to apply that knowledge cannot be assumed with equal confidence . . .

Also filed in Human Resources, Management Development, Training and Education | | Comments (5)

The amulet

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Insular thinking is a real danger in all walks of life, and certainly in business. Unfortunately, it is also all-too common. Last year, for example, we noted here an item about some senior managers who had been sent, as part of their annual training, on organized outings with volunteer groups. Some were positively thunderstruck at the teamwork skills they developed while self-organizing the unloading of roofing tiles from a pickup truck. Another praised the experience as an opportunity for senior management to “organize something and work with people.” I wonder what the managers of the volunteer organizations learned in turn from these awe-struck visitors. . .

Also filed in Management Development, Peter Drucker, Training and Education | | Comments (12)

Ready for action

Monday, November 12, 2007

It is important for managers in the civilian world to understand that they have little to learn as “leaders” from examples of the great individual military captains in history. The realms of operation are too different to admit of useful lessons from one world for application in the other. . .

Also filed in Management Skills, Organizational Leadership, Personal Observations, Training and Education | | Comments (8)