Many people comment on the lack of leadership abilities in most managers, complaining that many managers do not set good examples, do not empower employees to play a role in decision-making, do not listen to those that work for them, and do not give their employees credit when credit is due. I searched for some statistics to determine how typical this experience is. Do most employees think their managers are less than effective? As I [...]

Many may consider this heresy, but there appears to be a slow, but growing, trend towards open sourcing in the U.S. aerospace industry. For those charged with developing new systems for the military, this may appear to be extraordinarily unwise, impractical, and not something the U.S. Department of Defense should do. Similarly, for those developing state-of-the art systems for commercial use, questions immediately arise about the ownership and protection of key intellectual property (IP) rights. [...]

Most people know that, in college, a major refers to an array of courses that have been developed over time to meet the needs of a particular discipline.  But when one considers what it means to be best-in-class in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), the answer is not necessarily so clear. In 1958, the National Defense Education Act authorized the Department of Defense (DOD) to “increase the flow of talent into science and engineering, [...]

Anyone who has read Walter Isaacson‘s biography of Steve Jobs has to be taken aback by his portrayal of the personality of the late Apple founder. Certainly there is much to dislike when it comes to the way Jobs treated his associates and subordinates, not to mention his professional rivals. He was at times domineering, arrogant, crass and demeaning… and yet, after reading the book and monitoring the phenomenal performance of Apple products and the [...]

Goldman Sachs was in the news recently as an employee resigned via the New York Times op-ed page. The resigning employee indicated the trajectory of the corporate culture at Goldman Sachs had resulted in a toxic and destructive environment. According to this employee, the firm is certainly at the forefront of establishing how work will be performed in the organization, what will be valued by the organization and the market values corporate culture as demonstrated [...]

During a recent class I posed the question, ‘Describe a great leader. What makes him or her stand out in the crowd?’ In response, the usual suspects surfaced: charisma, strong understanding of the organization, integrity… A long list was the result. But it was not until the question shifted from great leaders to describing terrible leaders did the conversation get lively. Every student gave detailed examples of people in leadership positions demonstrating outrageous behavior. Lying, [...]

Shared leadership, flow, alignment, synergy, balance, collaboration… we are trying to think of a word that expresses what we think is necessary. But, the word just won’t come. And so, the thought is stifled, stunted. The question at issue is what is wrong with our views of leadership? Even though the formal study of leadership is only about a century old, there have been thousands of theories and models of what makes for effective leadership. [...]

How many of you have played an instrument in a band or an orchestra? Perhaps this was as a child. Do you remember those rare times when everything came together and suddenly your section (in my case it was the trombones) became part of the greater whole, and the music was suddenly coming from the entire orchestra instead of simply a collection of sections defined by the instruments played? How about NASCAR fans who watch [...]

Scheduling discipline. In the words of retired USAF Chief of Staff General John Jumper, ‘Plan to fly; fly the plan’. Not only do his words apply to most all aspects of aviation, but the concepts are applicable to every industry. General Jumper’s commitment to scheduling stability came at a time when the fighter community was in chaos. This chaos rippled into my role as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer. Fighter pilots were not current in required [...]

The New York Times recently published an article entitled “Pearl Harbor Still a Day for the Ages, but a Memory Almost Gone.” The article tells a powerful story of a Pearl Harbor survivor, Mr. Harry R. Kerr, who was talking about his experiences to a group of kids when a young girl raised her hand and asked, “Pearl Harbor? Who is she?” Surrounding the story are links to other stories of the final commemorations of [...]