(2004). Be, know, do: Leadership the Army way: adapted from the official Army leadership manual.
I had originally read this book in 2006. It is a direct look into the US Army Issued field manual 22-100 "Army Leadership". Unlike most organizations the military cannot recruit generals, lieutenants, and the like, from the other competing armies of the world. Their leadership quality depends on the soldiers they recruit, the training they give them and the leaders they develop within!
This is a great book for those individuals that want to understand the fundamentals on how to develop leadership from within the ranks. It helps to understand that you need to work with what you have and the importance of having a depth of leadership within the organization. There are several facets of this book that can be applicable in today’s corporate environment. Most notably being the point that success is only achievable through teamwork. All too often, in the corporate world, we find there is a lack of core fundamentals for successful teamwork. According to the manual the US Army lists six core components in order to have a successful team: trust, communication, loyalty, selfless service, respect and discipline. "Teams don't come together by accident..."(p.93).
It doesn't matter your point of view of war, the army or politics in general. The fact remains that in any organization there are core components for a successful team. Since the dawn of time there have been armies and the US Army figured it out on creating successful teams. For centuries the armies of the world require that the soldier/the team respond immediately to given orders and do it without question. A leader, in the military, needs to know that the last thing they need to account for is insubordination. Because the fact is that it may cost someone their life if an order isn't followed. Then again it's the leader’s responsibility to only give orders that will benefit the team, the mission and the nation for which it serves. Being ethical and moral will create undying loyalty from ones followers. The challenge is to create leaders that will be ethical, moral and be able to create teams that will bring about success for the organization. A leader must also create leadership that can take ones place, without hesitation, if one should leave, fall or fail. This book can help one gain insight into the understanding of these concepts. The book is 159 pages and took me 3 hours to read. Good read.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Writing Doctorate level papers
As I approach the upcoming Masters hooding, and commencement, ceremonies I find that I should've paid more attention in English class. The correlation you ask? Here I am about to walk across as a Masters of Science graduate (and currently pursuing my doctorate) and I realize that my writing ability is sub-par for that level of a scholar. Maybe I'm being hard on myself but I find that it takes me way to long to write a 10 page paper! In reflection, I need to become better organized with my thoughts and outline. PRIOR to just jumping in and writing in an ad-hoc fashion!
Sometimes I feel like I'm playing the asteroids video game and ideas are coming at me fast! So I turn, shoot (write it down) and then here comes another completely different idea (all the while trying to stay in the center of the screen). And on occasion an Asteroid (idea) that is too big, too fast, comes barreling towards me which causes me to move from the center! Have you ever tired to re-center yourself after you've moved when you've played Asteroids? Almost impossible in my book. You're better off doing your best and waiting to get killed so you can start from the middle again. If you're still in English class or you're taking a writing class then I encourage you to pay attention. You're going to need those skills whether you like it or not!
Sometimes I feel like I'm playing the asteroids video game and ideas are coming at me fast! So I turn, shoot (write it down) and then here comes another completely different idea (all the while trying to stay in the center of the screen). And on occasion an Asteroid (idea) that is too big, too fast, comes barreling towards me which causes me to move from the center! Have you ever tired to re-center yourself after you've moved when you've played Asteroids? Almost impossible in my book. You're better off doing your best and waiting to get killed so you can start from the middle again. If you're still in English class or you're taking a writing class then I encourage you to pay attention. You're going to need those skills whether you like it or not!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Ready. Set. Re-Set! Then Go!
I find it interesting that we come up with these great ideas and fail to prepare adequately. It's now Cinco de Mayo and I haven't begun my journey. I have so many excuses but none are good enough to repair the assault on my self esteem. On May 1st I wanted to start reading. I really did! But I didn't get to because I spent precious time building a custom made bookshelf. One thing lead to another and it went from 9am to midnight! I was exhausted and asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Sunday came with yet another project of putting together bunk beds and trying to recover from my over used muscles!
I felt like Jack Tripper in "Three Company" after he tried to impress a girl by going to the gym. I think I was trying to impress my wife with building a custom made bookcase. Exhaustion and power tools are a bad idea by the way. Monday I spent another 8 hours on the bookcase and Tuesday I caught some kind of "bug" and slept approx 18 hours. It could’ve been dehydration from being outside on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I feel better today but I can't get enough water!
I suppose I say all that because won't "life" get in the way over the next year? Reading takes time, focus and just doing it! So I am going to allow myself one mulligan and reset my reading starting line to Monday May 17th. I have the Master's Hooding ceremony the weekend of the 14th and I won't have any time to myself. So I am going to forgive my inability to start and plan effectively and allow this one mulligan.
I felt like Jack Tripper in "Three Company" after he tried to impress a girl by going to the gym. I think I was trying to impress my wife with building a custom made bookcase. Exhaustion and power tools are a bad idea by the way. Monday I spent another 8 hours on the bookcase and Tuesday I caught some kind of "bug" and slept approx 18 hours. It could’ve been dehydration from being outside on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I feel better today but I can't get enough water!
I suppose I say all that because won't "life" get in the way over the next year? Reading takes time, focus and just doing it! So I am going to allow myself one mulligan and reset my reading starting line to Monday May 17th. I have the Master's Hooding ceremony the weekend of the 14th and I won't have any time to myself. So I am going to forgive my inability to start and plan effectively and allow this one mulligan.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
365 Books in 365 days
Self-Actualization, for me, is finding out what am I capable of becoming? Am I living up to my full potential? And just who the hell do I think I am thinking that I can earn my doctorate?! Have you ever felt like that in your life? Perhaps in your profession or your schooling? Often, in my life, I have found out too late that my failure to embrace those days in school or at work have cost me more then I care to dream about. Please know that I do not consider myself a writer in the least. In fact, it is my weakest point from a scholarly and professional perspective. That being said I have been known to produce a decent, legible paper as needed.
As I sit here I reflect on the lost time of life never to be recaptured. So many days playing Atari, Nintendo, Xbox and the like never once feeling satisfied after all those days, weeks, months playing endless games. What about the endless amount of time that I’ve watched television? Where has that gotten me? Just how many times can Jack save the USA? (Although I confess this is still my favorite show)
So here I am typing away in the newly composed Blog wondering if I can reach a new height in my life and attempt to make up for lost time. I have heard of Blogs but I’ve honestly don’t know what I’m doing yet. Thank you Google! I do use something similar in my Doctorate Program. I’m sure there are a 1,000 ways to go about this but I clicked on Blogger and it’s what I will stick with for the next year. It isn’t my intent to actually have people read my blog but rather have a resounding logging of events, thoughts, and statistical data and an over all summary of my progress.
As you may have guessed it’s my intention to read 365 books in 365 days. Some may think, “That’s easy!” or perhaps, “SO?!” But you see, for me, it would be the challenge of a life time. Have you ever tried to stick with anything for a year straight? Besides eating, sleeping, breathing, bathroom breaks and charging your cell phone? By the way Jack Bauer does not do any of the above, at any time, one day out of each year! Another reason is that it’s a chance for me to retrain my mind and be accountable to the blog.
So what are the parameters? I’ve thought about this and didn’t want it to be a scholarly journal, magazine or newspaper. For me, it’s important that it be a book. So what is a book? 20 pages? 50? 100? Fiction or non-fiction? Well I am looking at 15 books, in front of me, and the smallest number of pages is 150. So I think a book, in my quest, should be at least 100 pages and no more than 350 pages (plus or minus 25 pages).
You see one of the things you need to watch out for in setting goals is your own limitations. I am a very slow reader! My brain thinks of a million other things and I often have to go back a re-read a section. Now this is something that I’m looking to improve over the next year but for now it’s my limitation. Another limitation is maintaining focus. Sometimes when I read a book my mind wonders and it might take me an hour to read 10 pages. No joke. So you’re probably thinking, “What how are you in a doctorate program?” Well I find that when I do apply myself it’s as if a light switch turns on and out comes something that frankly has gotten me this far. Call it intelligence, brilliance or ability to focus and multitask but when my back is against the wall I don’t flee… I fight. However, that’s no way to live a scholarly or scholarly-practitioner life.
Depending on page and font size I average 1 page every 1.5 minutes. So reading a 150 page book would equate to 3 hours and 45 minutes of reading. 8 hours and 45 minutes for a 350 page book! One of my goals is to improve my speed, retention and track my progress, via graphs, over the next year. Another thought is that I want at least 6 out of every 7 books adding value towards my doctorate. I think that makes the best sense. This may also mean re-reading prior books which I have currently in my possession. Honestly I haven’t read most of them all the way through just pulled out important pieces of information. However, this isn’t my intention this time around as I look to gain lost knowledge and opportunities. So the 7th book can be a fiction or some kind of “fun” book.
Each night, when finished I will log on the blog APA style, the book, author and direct quotes that impacted me and my brief thoughts on the book. As I progress in this adventure and get more familiar in using this blog format I will post the line up of books in queue.
I am not looking to compete with anyone in this endeavor. Only myself. If you wish to add to the intellectual community then feel free to read along with me and comment at will. Although you might have trouble locating a book or two at your local library since they are fairly new books. When to start? I think a great date would be 5/1/2010. It’s a Saturday and it will give me time to catch up on a 15 page paper due this week and another 10 page paper due next week.
First book? That’s a tough one. Let go with the following for the first 5:
1. (2004). Be, know, do: Leadership the Army way: adapted from the official Army leadership manual.
2. Buckingham, M. & Coffman C. (1999). First, Break All the Rules
3. Lawler, E. (2003). Treat People Right!
4. Sample, S. (2002). The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership
5. Machiavelli, N. (Reissue). (2003). The Prince. New York, New York: Bantam Dell
Now that’s a good easy start. Starting on 5/1 will also give others a chance to get prepped! I will revisit the blog between now and then too add additional ideas that might come to mind.
As I sit here I reflect on the lost time of life never to be recaptured. So many days playing Atari, Nintendo, Xbox and the like never once feeling satisfied after all those days, weeks, months playing endless games. What about the endless amount of time that I’ve watched television? Where has that gotten me? Just how many times can Jack save the USA? (Although I confess this is still my favorite show)
So here I am typing away in the newly composed Blog wondering if I can reach a new height in my life and attempt to make up for lost time. I have heard of Blogs but I’ve honestly don’t know what I’m doing yet. Thank you Google! I do use something similar in my Doctorate Program. I’m sure there are a 1,000 ways to go about this but I clicked on Blogger and it’s what I will stick with for the next year. It isn’t my intent to actually have people read my blog but rather have a resounding logging of events, thoughts, and statistical data and an over all summary of my progress.
As you may have guessed it’s my intention to read 365 books in 365 days. Some may think, “That’s easy!” or perhaps, “SO?!” But you see, for me, it would be the challenge of a life time. Have you ever tried to stick with anything for a year straight? Besides eating, sleeping, breathing, bathroom breaks and charging your cell phone? By the way Jack Bauer does not do any of the above, at any time, one day out of each year! Another reason is that it’s a chance for me to retrain my mind and be accountable to the blog.
So what are the parameters? I’ve thought about this and didn’t want it to be a scholarly journal, magazine or newspaper. For me, it’s important that it be a book. So what is a book? 20 pages? 50? 100? Fiction or non-fiction? Well I am looking at 15 books, in front of me, and the smallest number of pages is 150. So I think a book, in my quest, should be at least 100 pages and no more than 350 pages (plus or minus 25 pages).
You see one of the things you need to watch out for in setting goals is your own limitations. I am a very slow reader! My brain thinks of a million other things and I often have to go back a re-read a section. Now this is something that I’m looking to improve over the next year but for now it’s my limitation. Another limitation is maintaining focus. Sometimes when I read a book my mind wonders and it might take me an hour to read 10 pages. No joke. So you’re probably thinking, “What how are you in a doctorate program?” Well I find that when I do apply myself it’s as if a light switch turns on and out comes something that frankly has gotten me this far. Call it intelligence, brilliance or ability to focus and multitask but when my back is against the wall I don’t flee… I fight. However, that’s no way to live a scholarly or scholarly-practitioner life.
Depending on page and font size I average 1 page every 1.5 minutes. So reading a 150 page book would equate to 3 hours and 45 minutes of reading. 8 hours and 45 minutes for a 350 page book! One of my goals is to improve my speed, retention and track my progress, via graphs, over the next year. Another thought is that I want at least 6 out of every 7 books adding value towards my doctorate. I think that makes the best sense. This may also mean re-reading prior books which I have currently in my possession. Honestly I haven’t read most of them all the way through just pulled out important pieces of information. However, this isn’t my intention this time around as I look to gain lost knowledge and opportunities. So the 7th book can be a fiction or some kind of “fun” book.
Each night, when finished I will log on the blog APA style, the book, author and direct quotes that impacted me and my brief thoughts on the book. As I progress in this adventure and get more familiar in using this blog format I will post the line up of books in queue.
I am not looking to compete with anyone in this endeavor. Only myself. If you wish to add to the intellectual community then feel free to read along with me and comment at will. Although you might have trouble locating a book or two at your local library since they are fairly new books. When to start? I think a great date would be 5/1/2010. It’s a Saturday and it will give me time to catch up on a 15 page paper due this week and another 10 page paper due next week.
First book? That’s a tough one. Let go with the following for the first 5:
1. (2004). Be, know, do: Leadership the Army way: adapted from the official Army leadership manual.
2. Buckingham, M. & Coffman C. (1999). First, Break All the Rules
3. Lawler, E. (2003). Treat People Right!
4. Sample, S. (2002). The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership
5. Machiavelli, N. (Reissue). (2003). The Prince. New York, New York: Bantam Dell
Now that’s a good easy start. Starting on 5/1 will also give others a chance to get prepped! I will revisit the blog between now and then too add additional ideas that might come to mind.
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