Recently I did something I’ve never done before – I flew across country to attend a memorial service. In this case, it was for a close friend – Tim Holden – who at the peak of health, energy and vitality (age 64) was suddenly and tragically killed in a bicycle accident. His death was a…
I just returned from my annual Executive Leadership Expedition with the National Outdoor Leadership School. As usual, I am filled with inspiration and humility before the mountains, the people I was with, and the totality of the experience. And I feel inspired to share a bit of that with those who honor me by reading…
I was recently asked to sit on a panel discussing the Future of the American Idea, hosted by the Jack Kemp Foundation. I shared the panel with three very distinguished speakers in American political discourse: Peggy Noonan, Bill Kristol, and Gary Kasparov. Thanks to my good friend Michelle Van Cleave for nominating me to be part…
I was recently invited to provide a Navy SEAL’s perspective to a conference on risk management. As I was preparing my remarks, I realized that throughout my career in the Navy, “risk management” had been inherent in my duties as an officer and leader of audacious men in high risk operations, but I had never…
Ok, what’s the “Fifth Factor?” That is the question I frequently get when I tell people I named my company “Fifth Factor Leadership.” This simple question seems to deserve a simple answer, but I don’t have a simple answer, except my standard wise-guy response: It comes right after the fourth factor. Which of course leads…
What is a personal ethos? It’s not a term or expression most of us are familiar with. What is it and should it play any role in our lives? Do we need a personal ethos? Good question. All of us actually do have a personal ethos – we just may not be able to clearly articulate it. But we…
I posted an essay in this space a couple of years ago entitled Resilience (click for hotlink) , and in it I wrote about some of the standard methods by which people deal with adversity, one of those being ‘self-talk.’ I had an experience this weekend which gave me some insight, not only into self-talk, but also into resilience.…
I just returned from a 6 day ‘Executive Leadership Expedition,’ sponsored by the National Outdoor Leadership School into the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. I was one of fourteen middle aged adults, making a significant commitment to ‘unplug’ from friends, families and communities, and leave civilization for a short while to join others on an…
This essay is a follow-up to my last post “What’s it REALLY all about?” in which I briefly looked at the quest for a simple, life-defining principle. As I worked through that essay, my two favorite quotes on simplicity came to mind: “Seek simplicity, and distrust it.” (Alfred North Whitehead) and “I don’t give a fig for…
I prepared this essay for Naval Special Warfare’s Ethos Magazine. Though it didn’t make it into their published magazine, I thought I would share it, for those interested in the challenges Navy SEALs face in managing their ‘brand.’ ——————- A couple of years ago, I picked up the book Cowboy Ethics – What Wall Street…
