Image via Wikipedia I am naturally skeptical about charismatic leaders, but I have seen its power in action. Just before GEN Petraeus left our college to take command in Iraq he gathered faculty and students in our large auditorium, which seats 2500. He spoke in a very relaxed manner, hardly the tone you might expect […]
Tag: paradigms
Reflecting on self-directed leadership in a military college environment (an action research approach)
Image via Wikipedia The purpose of this assignment is reflect upon my learning through this course and to describe what I am doing to provide for the development of leadership capabilities in those who look to me for direction and guidance. My professional work centers on preparing Army organizational leaders for a world of complexity […]
A reflection on Hunt’s “Leadership: A new synthesis” (1996)
Image via Wikipedia remember that Hunt is writing his synthesis in 1996, and he comes from the leadership discipline, not education or cognitive neuroscience. He is good when it comes to synthesizing existing literature, but his excursions into the future of “what-if” are not very convincing. There has been a lot of important work done […]
A reflection on leading and managing a complex Participatory Action Research curriculum project
Image via Wikipedia 1. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to examine my current leadership skills. I will describe and reflect upon a recent curriculum project that I was in charge of at the US Army command and Gen. staff College. I will use a lens of the Bolman and Deal four Frameworks to evaluate […]
making your own way, following your dream
Image by Getty Images via Daylife http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/jobs/13boss.html?fta=y another story of brave women in business, making their own way, on their own terms. very cool, and…math! inspiring advice i’ve shared with my daughters Related articles by Zemanta Is the iPAD the future of magazine publishing? (matei.org) Flash Slideshow (socialactions.net) NYTimes.com: Polk award for anonymous video of […]
“I am the President: you MUST trust me” Newspeak anyone?
Image via Wikipedia RealClear Politics highlights an obvious issue; obvious unless you are a journalist or a true believer in government in general or Obama specifically: Would President Obama and the Democrats‘ legislation allow government to come between citizens and their choice of doctors and insurers? Obama promised it wouldn’t. Republicans said it would, and […]
Haiti and the little red hen
Image by Getty Images via Daylife there are some countries that are complaining about the motives that the impute to the US with respect to the military forces engaged in relief operations in Haiti. Most of those countries are not in a position to provide significant humanitarian relief to the area in that they are […]
Reflecting on Erich Fromm’s “To Have or To Be”
Erich Fromm is an influential social philosopher and prolific writer, whose life work offers a provocative synthesis of Western capitalism, Marxist humanism and socialist rational planning. He defines two modes of being: “to have” and ” to be”, and examines the characteristics and values of lives led in each mode with respect to materialism, politics, […]
Reflecting on the ancient philosophers and their practice
Hadot’s thesis is that the ancient Greek philosophers understood philosophy to be a love of wisdom, He placed philosophers in a state of conscious striving, between the already realized perfect wisdom of the gods and the masses of unconscious humankind, unaware or unconcerned with arête (excellence). He examined how four schools and two refinements answered […]
Ask a Pakistani why Afghanistan matters
If you want to know, ask somebody: (ht: smallwarsjournal) Afghanistan: Seven Fundamental Questions by Major Mehar Omar Khan I know we live in a world that is real and is moved by minds – thinking, manipulating, conniving, conspiring, calculating and masquerading minds. Our world therefore seldom has a place for ‘sentiments’ – pure, sincere, honest […]