Every couple of years the Navy provides us with the opportunity to move to another part of our great nation or even beyond its borders. Though the purpose is to facilitate individual professional development, optimize the contributions of the service member, and ensuring each and every team has optimal experiential […]
Category: Inspiration
Command Leadership School Takeaways
Over the last two weeks, I had the pleasure of attending the Command Leadership School in Newport, RI. The purpose of the two weeks was to help those of us fortunate enough to be selected to be Commanding Officers think about and prepare for the responsibility that comes with the […]
Closing Another Chapter
It’s time to move yet again and like every other time, we leave thankful for the experience and equally excited about the next adventure. Personally, my family and I learned the Memphis area has much to offer in the way of recreation and even culture (took us a while to […]
Letter to Me
It’s spring and with it comes nice weather, baseball and much happiness for those of us not fond of winter. Those of us in the Navy also recognize it as the season of promotion board results. Last week, many good friends received news, both positive and other, about their promotion […]
Life: A Succession of Plan Bs
In my readings of late, I have seen time and time again that the most successful business plans are executed as they were originally intended. In each instance, there was a Plan A, but the business that actually made it to market was a Plan B. I have been giving […]
Courage to Question Your Convictions
We all know that to have the courage of your convictions means to hold strong to your personal beliefs despite what others are thinking, saying, or doing. There are countless examples of heroism displayed by people having the courage of their convictions, but what about a person who doesn’t display […]
Employee or Crusader?
It is unfortunate that today’s economy is preventing so many good people from enjoying employment in a traditional sense (i.e. they have a job for which they are compensated monetarily). Even more unfortunate are the individuals who are compensated for their time, yet feel no passion for what it is […]
Curling: Sweepers, Sweepers Man Your Brooms
A few nights after the Olympics commenced, I stumbled across a broadcast of the curling competition and decided to put the metaphor to the test. My first thought was to not only see how curling might relate to parenting but also assess potential crossover into other disciplines near and dear […]
“Wasting Time” for the Good of the Team
I became a reluctant member of the FaceBook revolution in the early summer of 2008 with the sole intent of using it as a tool to plan our 20th High School Reunion. I had every intention of deleting my account as soon as the reunion was over and needless to […]
Big Team, Little Me
“We can accomplish anything provided no one cares who gets the credit.” – (then) CDR Joseph Rochefort In my current job as Information Dominance Corps and Information Warfare Officer Community Manager (OCM), I serve on a team of four uniformed peers and one civilian assistant. Our charter is to collectively […]
Uniforms…Earned not Purchased
Throughout my youth athletic career and up through college, I thoroughly enjoyed wearing the uniform of the sports team to which I was a member. In fact, uniform issue day was one of my favorite days of the season, as it marked an accomplishment. It meant I made the team. […]
WHO Begets WHAT
Over the last month, I have spent much time evaluating where I am and where I would like to ultimately go in my professional life. Though the self-evaluation initially focused on the WHAT I want to do with the remainder of my career, something interesting happened. As I discussed my […]
There is no Status Quo!
It’s the New Year and for many with it comes the annual tradition of establishing New Year’s Resolutions. Being that I am a chronic list maker and goal setter, one might think that I am a fan of resolutions. The truth is, I am not. The reason? Our (society’s) collective […]
Why? I Say Why Not?
As more people stumble across this forum, I am increasingly asked “Why are you doing this?” I am not one to self-promote and though I do not lobby for the spotlight, I am not necessarily one to hide from it. Additionally, I give consideration to how my actions are perceived, […]
Salaries, Value and Welfare
There are many types of employees, but for the sake of argument let’s bin all of us into three categories…hourly, salaried and commission. Without question, those of us who fall into the hourly employee category recognize that in the most simplistic of terms, we are compensated for our time. Clearly, […]
Walking the Walk…
As a college football fan and a Notre Dame supporter (I remain a sucker for tradition), today is a sad day. It is a sad day because a college football program that once stood for so much has become just like the rest of them. Until today, Notre Dame had […]
Trail of Gratitude
There are many things in life for which I am extremely grateful. When I consider each and every blessing, I see a trail of gratitude lined by others who continue to contribute to my good fortune whether they know it or not. Because my wife and I celebrate our wedding […]
Choosing Happiness
Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to participate in the retirement ceremony of a friend, mentor, and shipmate by the name of Commander Scott Fields. Scott is a wonderful man who is generous, sincere and caring among many other positive attributes. Yesterday, he demonstrated his eloquence, humility, and love for those of us […]
Making the Time or Taking the Time…It’s Our Call
After a recent meeting, I was thanked for TAKING the time to participate. This was not the first time I have heard someone use that phrase to express such gratitude, though each time I hear it, I leave the conversation a bit confused. The verb TAKE is defined as “To […]
All Stop or Full Speed Ahead?
As an avid reader of blogs (so much to learn from so many), there are a dozen that I monitor regularly. Chris Brogan’s is one of them and he recently described a decision point in life as an intersection on the road. It’s not a unique analogy and it wasn’t […]