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
Leadership is of the spirit, compounded of personality and vision: its practice is an art. Management is of the mind, more a matter of accurate calculation, of statistics, of methods, timetables and routine; its practice is a science. Managers are necessary; leaders are essential. ~ Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim, Governor General of Australia, 1957 Continue reading Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim on Leadership being not management
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
Hi All, Call me crazy, but I have this far-fetched belief that a human being ought to leave this world a better place than when s/he found it. I fully embrace a belief and worldview expressed here by Horace Mann: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” See this very interesting article about race-hate ideology, its many faces in America, … Continue reading Confessions of a Hate Hunter
Kindness is strength. This is so very true! One would find it difficult to source a better summary of strength of character (for anyone and especially leaders) than that of The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I said difficult, but not impossible, as a book fit to sit directly next to The Meditations is It Worked for me: In Life and Leadership, by Colin Powell. One … Continue reading The Dialectic of Creating Healing & Safe Healthcare Environments
Greetings, See this brief article that highlights the challenges in healthcare with incivility, aggression, and violence from patients and visitors. It was shared and highlighted on LinkedIn by some of my Healthcare Security Leadership colleagues. COVID and the associated stress (e.g., surrounding tightened visitor restrictions) have certainly added to incivility, aggression, and violence coming into our hospitals. And yet, incivility, aggression, and violence were indeed … Continue reading Incivility in Healthcare is here to stay: Knowing this, let’s get busy facing it
In this world there are examples of human beings who are inspiring. One such person was Dr. Paul Farmer, Anthropologist, Physician, and Humanitarian. Dr. Farmer has been an inspiration to me for a long time. I work daily as a Healthcare Security Leader. Some might think that this is a profession very distinct from the role of a global health advocate and physician. Perhaps, if … Continue reading A Tribute to Dr. Paul Farmer from a Healthcare Security Leader
Conflict Transformation & Ethical Guardianship 