Author Archives: Jeffrey Thomason

April 26

Chasing The Gauges – When Not To Over-Correct

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There is a phenomenon known to flying instructors that is a focus of advancing students through the beginning phases of learning to fly. (Author’s note – The author has never flown a real plane or helicopter, but did participate in model rocketry as a youth and once briefly owned a gas-powered P51 model airplane). The […]

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April 01

When It Comes To Inspiration, “Cui Bono?”

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In the midst of a recent conversation with a mentor, the leadership style of a famous leader was discussed. In the process of considering a historical anecdote involving this leader, it became apparent that something I may have taken for granted to date was in fact a very clear metaphysical process that I had been […]

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March 29

No Crying in Baseball (But what about the office?) – Part II

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As leaders, being confronted by emotion is part of the job.  Often, the actions we take as leaders can contribute to or generate that emotion. Emotional displays can be genuine or they can be manufactured as a defense against whatever it is you are bringing.  Performance management is a particular venue in which a blowup […]

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March 21

No Crying in Baseball (But what about the office?) – Part I

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As leaders, there is no situation more commonplace than dealing with the range of emotions exhibited by your team. All leaders train and educate themselves to produce, through their actions, those emotions that are “desired” (excitement, happiness, pride, joy, gratitude, interest, hope, inspiration). However, all leaders are confronted on a consistent basis with the negative results of […]

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March 11

Loyalty is a Two-Way Street

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The alchemy of good leadership leads to many products. Among them is loyalty, which is a topic we have mentioned before in terms of its relationship to high performing teams. The crux of that discussion was the hopeful intent of fostering that quality in the teams you lead and ones of which you are a […]

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March 06

The Art of Getting Stuff Done – 4 Things Leaders Should Know

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A review of contemporary literature on business success (or success in any endeavor involving the joint efforts of two or more people) often breaks down success into a couple of principles.  Leadership and management are often discussed in the same conversation as if they are two separate end states which will sometimes run at cross-purposes […]

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February 27

Happy Birthday to The Front of The Jersey

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Greetings all!  The Jersey has been out-of-pocket for a few weeks while on TDY but we can’t let this date pass without comment. Today, The Jersey turns 2, which seems like a long time since Post #1 went live in 2013.  Now, 130 posts later, it will take the newcomer some time to sift through […]

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February 09

Defining The….Shadow Government

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Amongst the world’s great conspiracy theories, the argument that the lives of ordinary citizens is quietly stage-managed by an invisible Illuminati of sorts is one that is seemingly unique to America. From the CIA-MI6 combo, the Bilderberg Group, and Eisenhower’s deal with aliens, to the Mason’s, Skull and Bones, Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations, […]

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January 30

Can You Email Inspiration?

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The Jersey is already on the record as sort of a hater.  The irony of hating on email through the medium of a social media invention is assuredly amusing to you loyal fans and fellow leadership junkies, so let’s get to it, shall we? Way back in 2013, there was a discussion here about the negatives […]

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January 27

People You Should Know – Admiral Robert Papp

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After nearly 40 years of public service, the average person would be ready for a well-deserved rest. However, our latest person you should know wasn’t satisfied with a 40-year career culminating in his service as United States Coast Guard Commandant from 2010 to 2014. Upon retirement in 2014, he transitioned directly into his appointment as United States Special Envoy […]

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January 24

Out of the Mouths of Babes – A Critique of Praise

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The effect of parenting decisions on future leadership development is a vein of thinking that has been mined previously at The Jersey. Child development researchers at Penn have long hypothesized that imbuing children with resilience is something that can either be achieved or counteracted via the parental process. In the process of looking at “grit”, […]

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January 19

Category….”I told You So”

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According to the Interbuzzblognetfeed, apparently, there is some controversy over the proper definition of whether “a moment” was reached and that Should Have Known Better definitely Should Have Been There. This led to further discussion about They Did It Too and whether we should get off Should Have Been There’s back since They Did It […]

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January 16

You Can Take It With You – Reflections On Retiring From Public Service

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Retirement from a career of public service carries with it a few implications. The first one is a certain longevity of performance that at a minimum, qualifies one for a lifetime stipend, relative to the usual parameters of high salary, years of service and any other appropriate math equations.  This longevity is usually at least the […]

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January 05

Ends and Means and Other Theories

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In personal conversations with followers of The Jersey, the subject of how a post is created is a frequent topic. Most often, the general question is about source material and inspiration. If it is not readily apparent, inspiration is the common denominator for just about every human action that can be documented.  This is where […]

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January 01

Welcome to the new Millenial(s) – 4 Ways The Generation Gap Can Be Leaped

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Millenials have been taking a beating lately in what passes for our wellsprings of social commentary.  It may be a legit opinion in countries that continue to abide a caste system or accept clan and tribal conflict as just. However, in the West, especially in a nation that continues to have example after example in which […]

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December 26

Season’s Greetings from The Jersey!

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Hope the holiday season is finding all of you healthy and hopeful for the New Year.  If you haven’t had time yet, please take a moment to complete the Leadership Resolutions Survey and let’s set the agenda for next year! Leadership Resolutions Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J5Z8HP7

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December 21

Who’s Review Is It? 4 Realities of a Conversation Between Two People

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    Performance reviews are an interesting topic for first-line supervisors.  Nothing evokes more outrage from someone more than a poorly handled review. And nowhere is the scene set for a potentially career-altering conversation than when boss and employee sit down for this process. From The Jersey’s perspective, reducing this to a clash of cultural […]

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December 19

Zen and the Art of Furniture Arrangement

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Ever find yourself thinking about the manner in which the boss chooses to communicate with you?  Is it not the words as much as the terrain that typifies the encounter? Have you ever been summoned to the Boss’s office, while you were swimming by in a school of co-workers? Does the Boss use their office as […]

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December 12

What’s Your Resolution?

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 The origin of making new plans for the coming New Year revolve around the human  desire to make changes to their life and the lives of others.  A key component of this is possessing the self-awareness trait that we have discussed here many times.  At The Jersey, this seems like an opportunity to  start the discussion  about […]

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December 06

4 Things To Say To Sabotage Your Newest Teammate

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The stress of starting a new job in a career field can often be a critical factor in making a decision to stay, either in the field, or with the chosen employer. There are many components to this stress, of which some are obvious (like doing the work itself) and some are less so (like […]

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