Hi All, We watch cameras in a Security Operations Center (SOC) to capture footage, hopefully, left of bang, of bad guys planning to do bad things. And it’s good. We should keep it up and indeed we should grow our SOCs into ever more sophisticated centers. Yet, we still, collectively, as a society, are not going far enough upstream to sustainably stop the next active … Continue reading Active Shooters: Upstream work to be done
According to me, no leadership library is complete unless crowned with the classic book by General Colin Powell, It Worked for Me (Enhanced Edition): In Life and Leadership. I will go so far as to say that your library is deficient unless this book is present (and, of course, read and absorbed). I was originally gifted this book by a former leader who exemplified the … Continue reading General Powell’s Perennial Rules
Hi All, See this quote by Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim. In the British Army there are no good units and no bad units – only good and bad officers and NCOs. They make or break the unit. ~ Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim, 1949 (in the foreword to the first edition of the British Army Review, then called the British Army Journal) I would … Continue reading There are no good or bad organizations
We never lost sight of the reality that people, particularly gifted commanders, are what make units succeed. The way I like to put it, leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible. General Colin Powell, 1995 Continue reading Leadership is something more than management
Let us look briefly at what makes a good leader. One can see many lists of qualities and traits of leaders on sites such as LinkedIn. Go there and explore. These lists are all potentially useful, as long as we all remember that what may be good for one person may not be that useful for another. And that’s perfectly fine, as we are all … Continue reading What Makes a Good Leader
When dealing with others (loved ones, co-workers, customers, C Suite executives, absolutely anyone), it’s very useful, indeed vital, to see as they see. It doesn’t matter if you agree with them. It matters, however, that you strive to see matters as they see them. This is empathy. Don’t confuse empathy with sympathy (many people do); the two are different. When dealing with someone who is … Continue reading Look Behind the Anger (and other emotions)
See this excellent post from Shane Parrish. His thoughts and observations are highly recommended for all who wish to explore things off the beaten path. When we communicate with another person, and we disagree with them, particularly about some sensitive and/or emotion-provoking subject, we may be inclined to then label the person as “stupid,” “ignorant,” “backward,” etc. We then mentally exile them and view them … Continue reading For the Love of Humanity, Communicate Well
I ask that you reflect upon how many (some might say most) modern human beings are far worse at reading the body language of their fellow human beings than our ancient ancestors. Why? Because we are distracted by words. We place such a high importance on what others verbally say, while we overlook what their bodies are non-verbally saying. We are distracting ourselves (by an … Continue reading Distraction is Dangerous
See this valuable article over at Police1. The points therein are all fundamental to all high-quality Conflict Communication training. So often overlooked in Conflict Communication training is the fact that the most important person to keep non-escalated, and to de-escalate as necessary, is oneself. All success sits on this fact. Leaders, pay attention to this. If you have on your force an Officer Schitzstorm (thank … Continue reading De-Escalate This Person First
Hi All, I am regular reader of the articles on Dr. Travis Bradberry. He is a prolific writer on the subject of Emotional Intelligence. Most of his articles come out regularly through LinkedIn. Look him up! Here is one of his articles entitled Body Language Blunders That Can Make You Look Bad. It’s worth reading. Let’s examine each of the points he addresses in this … Continue reading Body Language Blunders that may Worsen Conflict
Conflict Transformation & Ethical Guardianship 