Situational Awareness
Do you have good SA? On my first day at my second command, I knew I had a problem: I couldn’t personally see everything happening across the command. I asked my administrative assistant, Bonnie, “Are you the one who has your finger on the pulse of this organization?” “No,” she replied. “People often go around […]
The Advantage
THE same colleague who asked me, “How do you navigate without visibility?”—a question I tackled in a previous post—came back with nine more. And get this: he wrote them all down for me. Now that’s what I call thoughtful feedback! The next question on his list was this: “What is a woman’s advantage in leadership?” It’s […]
INSTRUMENT FLYING
We are certainly living in a time of unknowns — many unknowns. Recently, a colleague asked me, “How do you navigate without visibility?” My mind immediately went to aviation. In aviation, pilots learn to fly by their instruments. When we begin our journey as aviators (and as leaders), we start with the basics: pre-flight, takeoff, […]
Prepare Before You Lead
Monday mornings my class starts at 7:45 a.m. (0745 for you military types). That’s early for college students. But my students are unique. To wake everyone up, I ask a simple question: “How was your weekend?” One student replied, “It was good.” “What made it good?” I asked. “I volunteered at the Shock Trauma Center […]
Where I Come From
Where I Come From In a week, my husband and I will be heading “Up North” in Michigan—where I’m from. Think small town, rural roads, beautiful lakes, and winters that last a loooooong time. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows everyone, and if they don’t, they know someone who does. Last summer, we bought a […]
Integral Anyone?
I love math. Integers, integrals, integration—I always have, and I probably always will. Calculus and differential equations were my favorites because they involved lots of integration. One day I was telling my friend Molly how, when I’m driving, my brain is constantly calculating time to destination, speed, distance, and all the rest. She laughed and […]
Culture in Action
Culture in Action In an earlier post, I shared the idea that culture is strategy. Now I’d like to show what that looks like in practice. Building a positive culture takes intention, ownership, and high ethical standards. And as a leader, you own it. Let me take you back to my second command. My official title […]
Culture is Strategy
Culture is Strategy Many of us have heard the quote attributed to Peter Drucker: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” I first heard it while working in an organization and thought, “That’s a catchy phrase—but how does it apply here?” As it turned out, not very well. The organization highly valued strategy as they had made a significant investment in a […]
The Harder Right
With all that is going on in this country and the world, I find myself grappling with internal struggle. How about you? Protests. Parades. The shootings of lawmakers. What is the right thing to do –and who are we called to be? These are tough questions, and there are no easy answers. As leaders, we […]
Anchored in Purpose
This month my husband and I were honored to share our story with the local Annapolis community through Annapolis Living Magazine. Publisher Faith Burns #gottahavefaith (don’t you love that hashtag!) approached us several months ago asking if we would be willing to share our story. “Of course,” we responded. Faith began publishing Annapolis Living in […]