Today is the day! I’m so excited that the 2nd edition of Leadership: The Warrior’s Art gets released today.

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Today is the day! I’m so excited that the 2nd edition of Leadership: The Warrior’s Art gets released today.

The legendary Lt. Gen Hal Moore (We Were Soldiers Once … and Young) called the first edition “the absolute best book on military leadership.” The second edition is even better.

I’ve added three new chapters and a Foreword by former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. I’ve also updated the existing chapters, included top takeaways and action steps, and made other enhancements.

Here’s what people are saying:

“This powerful new edition provides practical tools for military leaders who want to prepare themselves and their troops for combat, build trust and respect in their teams, and adapt to a very different and complex post-9/11 world. As a combat-tested leader, military historian, and now CEO coach, Kolenda offers an unmatched set of insights on how to be a more effective leader. Truly invaluable.”

MICHÈLE A. FLOURNOY, West Exec CEO, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

“In battle and business, most battles are not won through brute force but leadership brilliance. Chris Kolenda combines military discipline and strategy with leadership ‘smarts’ in a pragmatic, fascinating book that should be a must-read for any present or aspiring leader.”

Alan Weiss, Ph.D., author of Fearless Leadership and over sixty other books in fifteen languages

An invaluable, exceptional source of illuminating insights on military leadership. The first edition was widely used and highly regarded by combat leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan; the second edition will be an equally valuable resource for leaders seeking to meet the challenges of the post-9/11 world.

General David Petraeus, former Commander of US Central Command and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, and former Director of the CIA

As an OIF female combat veteran, I wish the last three chapters existed and were mandatory reading before my 2003 deployment . . . these leadership lessons not only apply to the military but any leadership position.

Laura Colbert, leadership adviser, author of Sirens: How to Pee Standing Up

Comprehensive, readable, and insightful—a must-read for military leaders navigating the challenges of the post-9/11 era!

Gen. Joseph R. Dunford (USMC, Ret.)

Get your copy here.

IS YOUR CULTURE ALL IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE?

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Culture is a vital facet in a successful business and a successful community

 
IS YOUR CULTURE ALL IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE?


Back in 2003, I was stationed in Baghdad, Iraq as a military police officer. We were three months into the war and my squad was working in an Iraqi Police station on the northeast side of Baghdad. Our police station was decrepit with broken panes of glass in the windowsills, cigarette butts piled in the corner on the blackened floor, and no flushing toilets. On this particular day, I was sitting in the front of the station taking complaints from Iraqi citizens. During one of the quieter moments the female interpreter, Nada, said, “The reason why the Iraqis are not behaving is that they don’t know how to respond to freedom. Under Saddam’s dictatorship, they would lose their life or limb for infractions. Now they can loot, drive down the wrong side of the street, slight their neighbor, and barely anything happens.”  I had an epic epiphany at that moment. We, as Americans, couldn’t possibly comprehend the Iraqi’s emotions, thoughts, and the fallout that occurred after liberating Iraq. The saying that “culture eats strategy for breakfast” not only existed in Iraq but the native culture killed our foreign policy—both in Iraq and Afghanistan. One could say that the same thing happened in Vietnam. Our inability to empathize and develop policies that directly correlate with the centuries-old culture left us unable to make the impact we hoped for. Our democratic values and ethos aren’t a match for the complexities of the middle east.

As a new leader, do you fully understand the culture in your workplace? What about a seasoned leader, is your workplace culture the same as you envision it to be?

This week, new research revealed that Instagram is toxic for teen girls and their mental health. Additionally, Facebook tried to make its platform a healthier place but it got angrier instead. Both are negatively impacting the social media culture. What are they going to do about it? There could be societal and workplace nuances pulling your operating culture away from your envisioned culture. When was the last time you checked your organization’s cultural pulse?

Misunderstanding culture can ruin progress. Inability to empathize with your employees and understand their intricacies can diminish trust.
Culture is a fragile entity within a working environment. A change in procedures, employees, leadership, or the environment around us can cause the culture to fluctuate. As a principal, I saw how the pandemic drastically affected our school’s culture. It was disheartening and tragic to witness our community complain about one another. Tensions caused discontent. Misinformation and assumptions divided the workforce. To combat the change, I utilized several tactics to retain our culture, to provide support, and to create lasting memories even though we weren’t face-to-face. The results created a community of understanding and buy-in, which enabled the staff to work together and focus on their priority―student learning.

Is your culture really as good as you think it is? Are you asking the right questions and looking at the correct indicators to make sure your envisioned culture and your operating culture are consistent? What suggests they are out of whack.

Action steps:
Keep an eye on your culture. Check in often with all of your employee levels and be fully present. Look past the “please-the-boss” façade and see what your employees see. Don’t ever settle when hiring.  You’ll gain a reputation for hiring the best and your employees will appreciate the fact that they work with the best and they are the best. Make sure you’re not blind to a slowly declining culture. Sometimes the change is so subtle we don’t notice it happening. An outside perspective (consultant) can be a vital asset for this action step. Be a part of the positive change. Lead by example―treat everyone with respect and dignity. Do not gossip and vent at work. Purposefully plan events to bring your employees together to create a sense of belonging and use that opportunity to grow as a team. A greater sense of belonging equates to greater productivity.
Are you asking yourself, “How do I do this?” I can help!laura.colbert@strategicleadersacademy.com
Chris Kolenda and Afghan Interpreter

How I Chose to Commemorate 9/11

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MJ (Interpeter) & Chris Kolenda

Americans commemorate September 11th in their own ways. I spent the day at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, which houses roughly 13,000 Afghan refugees. A former interpreter from one of my units, MJ, is there with his family.

MJ served in one of the most remote outposts of Afghanistan. In such areas, interpreter turnover can be very high. Some take leave and don’t return; others get reassigned to more peaceful areas and larger bases closer to their families.

MJ stayed with his company for the full 15 months. I asked MJ why he stuck it out.  “I respected Captain Page and the company. They took good care of me, and we were making a difference.” What had been one of the most violent areas in Afghanistan in 2007 was one of the more peaceful a year later.

More Americans than ever are leaving their jobs for different employers or careers. Employee turnover, which can range from 50% to 200% of the employee’s annual salary, is one of the highest costs any company faces. For solopreneurs, turnover in your partners and subcontractors results in lost momentum, increased rework, higher expenses, and a greater risk of things falling through the cracks.

MJ provides insight on how to retain your top talent. Gain buy-in by letting people know what you need them to do and why, and having them figure out how. Set clear expectations and hold people accountable. Treat them well and make sure they’ve got the resources and support they need to be successful. Captain John Page did that for his company, which kept MJ on the team. MJ’s support and understanding helped save American lives and change Afghan lives for the better.  

MJ and his family of 8 left Afghanistan with only the clothes on their backs. The conditions in refugee camps, even ones like Fort McCoy, are difficult. MJ never complained. He’s grateful to have a chance to build a new life for his family and wants to open an Afghan restaurant.

Leading the Middle – Give Trust, Earn Trust

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Imagine that you must travel for a work assignment. The Uber driver arrives at your house, and you get in the car with your luggage. You arrive at the airport, drop your bags with a skycap, greet the flight attendant, and say hello to the pilot. You settle in for a flight, having granted trust to people you likely have never met—the driver, skycap, pilot. Do you know who did the maintenance checks on the plane? My friend and colleague John O’Grady, COL, US Army (Ret), creates an insightful paradox, “We trust these people with our lives and often those of our families, without a second thought. Yet, in our most important and intimate relationships, we withhold trust. With our work colleagues, those whom we inherently rely on for success, we say, ‘You must earn my trust.'”

Why?

Perhaps the socialization of trust has been wrong. What if we granted the same level of trust to the people closest to us as we do to the drivers and pilots in our lives? Imagine having high trust relationships that start with “you have my trust, and it can only be eroded or lost” rather than a “trust must be earned” mentality. The buy-in and responsibility felt by the newly trusted employee go through the roof! So, too, does their commitment to maintaining that trust. Here are a few steps towards cultivating a culture of trust:

· Set clear expectations
· Instead of only talking about trust at the beginning of a relationship, and then again only if it is broken or lost, make trust part of your team’s everyday conversations
· Use the space between those conversations to talk about how employees are demonstrating behavior that aligns with your expectations
· When you think there may be a trust issue arising, approach it from a position of authentic curiosity instead of being accusatory; find the underlying reasons for the issue and collaboratively address them
· Maintain trust behaviors and a trusted environment before it becomes broken; be proactive

Cultivating a culture of trust is like any leader’s action: it is a choice. To create work environments where trust flourishes, we need to understand how trust works; the ways it is given, built, maintained; and how it becomes lost or broken. We can then teach ourselves how to act and react in ways that help cultivate trust, even in the most challenging situations. 

Whether you are a Mid-Leader, a CEO or senior executive, or an early career professional, here are powerful lessons from my friend Aaron and my time, so far, at the BKG

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Leading the Middle – Powerful Lessons from the Bloody Knuckles Garage

Earlier this year, my friend and former colleague Aaron told me he was sick. He never said the word cancer, but his treatment and prognosis revealed the battle he was fighting. He said Miracle Max would have to pull off a big one. COVID complicated visits, so his family and friends had to support him from a distance. He was finally released from the hospital and is now at home but with regular trips for treatments and check-ups. As you might imagine, he received offers of help and support. I want to share what I learned from his response to his prognosis, acceptance of help, and the gifts he shares.

Aaron and I got to know each other through the shared experience of building a new Team in a new organization, creating processes, and contending with toxic leadership. He is retired Air Force; I am retired Army. He likes hard rock; I prefer classic R & B and Latin music. He studied electrical engineering; I studied behavioral sciences. Our oppositeness became our strength. We leveraged each other’s ideas. We got to know what makes each other tick, and we built the best Team in the organization.  

We often talked about him selling his big house, but there were a few projects that he wanted to complete before putting it up for sale. His prognosis changed his priorities. He sent an email to family and friends with things he wanted to be done to the house. Each task was in prioritized order with dimensions, materials on hand, and colors. Section two of the email was tool availability, section three was material acquisition, four was visitor plans, and finally, accommodations. It was typical Aaron, organized and detailed enough to know what was needed to get the job done.

I responded to the email telling him when I planned to come over to work on the house. He kindly declined. You see, Aaron is a car guy owning a 1972 AMC Javelin, 1973 Pontiac Firebird, and a 2007 Pontiac Solstice, all with car covers, along with a late-model ninja motorcycle and a newer truck. I claim to be a shade tree mechanic, so we often shared our car-oriented escapades. When I offered to work on the house, his priority, he said “Nah, I need your help with the cars.”

For the past month, I have spent every Monday working on the cars in what I now call the Bloody Knuckles Garage (BKG). On my drive home after the first Monday, I thought, here is a man fighting cancer yet showing humanness (trust, respect, and empathy) and sharing his grace by wanting me to do something he knows I enjoy. I cherish walking into the dark garage, opening the garage door so that the sunlight comes in, putting on my music, removing the car cover, and starting the job of the day. The tasks are clear with what to do, but not how to do it. The timeline is mine, and I have discovered a new level of patience. I have found myself in uncomfortable positions like being wedged between the floorboard and the dash. I am doing repairs I have never done before. When he is home, and I go into the house, I give him an update and tell him what is next. He nods and tells me, “go for it, I trust you.” I treasure our conversations and experiences.

Whether you are a Mid-Leader, a CEO or senior executive, or an early career professional, here are lessons from my friend Aaron and my time, so far, at the BKG:

· Trust is bonding

· Perspective and patience are revealing

· The diversity of people, thought, and experiences of your Team is a superpower

· Give them the tools, tell them what to do but not how to do it & watch them shine

· Learning & development can happen anywhere when you allow them to happen

· Multiply your experiences and create the same for your Team

· Being uncomfortable is when growth happens

· Do it afraid

· People matter more than anything

Please extend good wishes, positive vibes, and prayers for my friend Aaron. The more, the better. He is a stand-up guy. Trust me, we are better because he is among us.

Leading the Middle – Are you a Hippo or an Elephant?

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Are you hippo-like with a large mouth and little ears? Are you aggressive and searching for prey?

Leading the Middle
 
Or are you more elephant-like with a little mouth and large ears? Are you intelligent, friendly, and others like having you around? Ever notice how they use their trunk to lift others or nudge something along?
 
How does your Team see you? The chances are that you are a little bit of both.  
 
Think about the last time you grew impatient, was accusatory, and chose not to listen. Hippo.
 
Instead, be patient, curious, and listen. Elephant. Use those big ears for good.
 
Pause and think before talking, ask clarifying questions, and focus on what the other person is saying; create dialogue.
 
You are strong and powerful but know how and when to use it for the common good.
 
Lift others more and nudge those who need a push.
 
Listen more, talk less.
 
Thanks to Antonio Rodríguez Martínez for the conversation and inspiration!

Attitude and Skills

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Attitude and Skills
 
There is a tale of a boss who is unhappy with the work of his employees. Is it their attitude or lack of skill? He looks in the mirror, struggling to figure it out. Frustrated and at his wit’s end, he decides that he will hold a gun to their heads and tell them, “get it done!” If they do the work, then it is clear that their attitude is the problem. If they say, “well, shoot me because I can’t do it,” then it is a skills problem. Too easy, right?
 
While the story is extreme, fostering the right attitude and providing the right talent and skills is leader business. It might be the most important aspect of business and Teams. It starts with you and your attitude. Here are few ways to improve the attitude and skills of your Team, while doing the same for yourself:     
1. Make sure everyone knows that their work is essential. Create buy-in by discussing the thinking behind and the importance of your vision and mission, goals, values, and strategy.
·        Get people involved in defining them
·        Take the time to answer questions and challenges
·        When someone asks why it means they care
 
2. Get your employees the training, resources, and guidance to do their jobs well.
·        If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well; if it’s not worth doing well, it’s probably not worth doing
·        Set up your employees for success
·        Align work with people’s natural inclinations (see our PROM Servant Leader archetypes https://lnkd.in/gxgeRQA3
 for a simple way to start)
·        People who report using their natural strengths each day are 2X to 3X more productive than their peers
 
3. Let people know that you appreciate who they are and what they do.
·        Coach people to be the best versions of themselves (see our PROM Servant Leader archetypes https://lnkd.in/gxgeRQA3
 a simple way to start)
·        Do not subconsciously try to turn them into clones of you. Nothing says, “I don’t appreciate you,” quite like efforts to turn people into a mini-me or suggestions that they hide their identities. Instead, help them contribute as their best and most authentic selves.
·        Take special care to ensure that your most vulnerable employees feel the safety and confidence that they can contribute as their best and most authentic selves
·        Your most vulnerable employees tend to be those who look, think, or act differently than the majority
·        Recognize people’s contributions in ways that they want to be recognized
 
Look in the mirror. Do you see opportunity because of the attitude you foster and the skills you provide?

Team Resilience

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As I wrapped up my stay in Colorado, resilience kept revealing itself. I treasure my talks with my 91-year dad who attributes his resilience to habits of walking, laughing, and worrying less. I spent time in my old neighborhood where I first developed a sense of Team and it has served me well. I’ve been fortunate to have been on some great athletic Teams, Army Teams, national security Teams, and leadership Teams. While resilience starts with the individual, its greatest impact is on the Team.
 
My friend and colleague Christopher Kolenda, Ph.D. developed some very useful ways to Build Team Resilience:

1. Encourage good personal habits (sleep, eating, exercise, relationships).

2. Sustain your organizational rhythm – predictability is like a stabilizer that keeps your Team centered and focused.

3. Emphasize meaningful routines so that people quickly recover a sense of normalcy and control when disaster strikes or things begin falling apart.

4. Celebrate wins – rack up small wins to build confidence and momentum.

5. Use mini-resets to regain focus – review goals, actions steps, what’s missing, in-stride adjustments. Ready. Go.

6. Coach people to be the best versions of themselves – people stick with you when they know you appreciate them as people and their contributions.

7. Ownership – no one ever washed a rental car. Create ownership in success (the mission and vision; game-plan). People are not on the Team; they are the Team. People will bounce back when they have a stake in the success.

8. Challenge – empower people to make decisions; underwrite their mistakes. Coach them to learn. Build good judgment and resilience when the stakes are low, so those qualities are present when the stakes are high.

9. Talk about good and bad events. No blame-game. What happened, why did it happen? Get the facts and agreement on the facts. What can we learn?

10. Morale is more important than mood – Mood=sugar donut, Morale=your Team’s level of confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline.
 
Lastly, set up your emerging leaders and employees for success. Get them the training, resources, and guidance to do their jobs well. If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.  

Spectrum News 1 – Wisconsin veteran reflects back on 9/11, his time overseas

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https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2021/09/08/wisconsin-veteran-reflects-back-on-september-11th-and-his-time-overseas?cid=id-app15_m-share_s-web_cmp-app_launch_august2020_c-producer_posts_po-organic#