Category Archives: Leading Self

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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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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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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November 27

The Zen of Not Being Perfect – Happy Thanksgiving Day!

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The Jersey is a fan of making the best of bad situations.  From blooming where you are planted to embracing the “suck”, each of these paradigms are opportunities for the learning leader to figure out how they can or will respond when you missed the Rainbow and Unicorn Train. Whenever possible, putting a real-world face to […]

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November 27

I’m Waiting For The Man

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Ok, I’ll admit that being a Velvet Underground fan (look that up, hip-hop fans) means I have been waiting for an opportunity to use that song title in a blog post (and never mind that Lou and the boys weren’t singing about something we would generally cover here at The Jersey). They were however, singing […]

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October 19

If I Only Had Some Courage

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Many leadership bloggers and “opiners” (like me) will often reference Aristotle’s description of courage as “the first virtue”.  This statement is part of the debate about what critical human characteristics of our society (possible a Bill of Rights amendment, for example) are the “most” important.  From my perspective, having one, and none other, seems a little light in […]

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August 15

Embrace The Suck

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There are many opportunities in life for the every-day person to say to themself, “This sucks”. The military seems to have cornered the market on “Things That Can Really Suck” from roadside bombs, to standing post in 10 below zero, or 130 degrees above, to having the thankless job of emptying latrines.  While that is not an exhaustive list, it […]

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May 26

What’s In A Day?

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The origins of Memorial Day as a federal holiday date back to the end of the Civil War and the spontaneous events and memorials that sprang up  in the aftermath of such a cataclysmic event that cost the young nation almost a million souls. Over the next century, the occasion of marking remembrance to the […]

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April 17

Practice

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The full-on effective use of leadership skills on a regular, consistent, and conscious basis, is a state of mind that is rarely viewed in the same light as the higher level display of skills for things that are physical in nature.  Playing the piano, operating on a human brain, or throwing a baseball 60 feet […]

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April 10

Attitude is Every Day

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For those of you who just took a chewing from the boss, or experienced a spectacular fail, or got crushed under a huge Rock Of Unrealistically High Expectations, coming in to work the next day (or the next minute, depending on the circumstances) can be an ordeal.  Sometimes, it’s even worse if you have had […]

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March 28

The Difference Between Training and Development

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The Center for Creative Leadership has been studying the development of leaders for over 30 years, which qualifies them to say a thing or two about how to get from A to Z in the pursuit of your own leadership zenith. One consistent topic is the identification of the various types of learning experiences and […]

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March 16

The Power of Perception

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The late Steven Covey has long been considered one of the more important voices in the self-help genre over the past few decades.  His signature work, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, was first published in 1989 and has sold over 15 million copies in 38 languages.  These numbers suggest that Dr. Covey’s observations […]

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March 03

The Hard Truth About Interviews

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One of the frequent actions a leader must undertake is the autopsy of a failed promotional interview.  Leaders strive to achieve and upgrade their seat from  coach to business class when opportunities present.  As the saying goes, “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. However, taking a positive step of trying to make a vertical move in your organization brings with […]

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February 14

Captain Miller’s Rule – Gripes Go Up

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War movies are sort of a cliche for finding leadership material.  For one, they are not everyone’s favorite genre’, so a respectable portion of aspirant leaders may not read any farther when someone starts quoting their favorite scenes. On the other hand, the topic of leadership is something endemic to the military, especially due to the […]

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February 01

The Natural Order of Things

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It would not be a stretch to say that if you asked many people what the “natural career progression” would be at work, you would get many answers.  This is a topic that is different with every team and is a product of  organizational economic stability, culture, experience, and potentially even the dominating personality of the […]

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January 13

What Kind Of Follower Are You?

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This blog is about the art of leadership, and as I have said on several  occasions, is aimed at the leader, the aspiring leader, and those who are led.  Many of the topics I have covered thus far focus in on the perspective of those  first two groups. The last group, the led, are known by another […]

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December 31

Of Resolutions and Such, Part 2 – How Not To Suck At Email

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According to a 2010 study, a little short of 300 billion emails are sent daily. After deducting 90% of that figure as spam, this results in about 15 emails per day sent/received by about two billion actual users (and not computer generated ED pill salesman). With the assumption that this is not the first post of […]

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November 24

Do You Have What it Takes to Admit Mistakes?

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In a previous post, I talked about the confluence of leadership and truth, especially when the truth may hurt. The goal was hopefully to establish that this practice was not a “one-off” topic in your leadership library but a valid, accepted behavior that all good leaders understand, and great ones model. The purpose of today’s […]

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November 09

What’s Your Story?

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It is a human experience to tell stories to communicate between each other.  Psychologists and neurologists see this as the quintessential human behavior.  From Homer’s Iliad to the most recent popular fiction, humans using the power of story is a staple of nearly every culture and community that has graced the earth since recorded time.  […]

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November 08

Leadership Lesson on Veterans Day

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Veterans Day is an excellent opportunity to reflect on what the profession of arms in a democracy has given us over the past 200 years.  The United States, for most of its history has been a country where the military has represented an opportunity to improve one’s life potential, whether through experiences, skills, or education. Among […]

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