Jeff Schloesser

June 6, 1944: The U.S. and our allies launch what was then the largest seaborne and airborne operation in history, Operation Overlord. Paratroopers from the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions loaded late at night on the 5th, along with other allied airborne troops, and dropped behind enemy lines an hour after midnight to secure the critical terrain and bridges that the invading armies would need. The 1st, 4th, and 29th Infantry Divisions made an opposed amphibious landing on Utah and Omaha beaches, withstanding tremendous enemy fire. It was the beginning of the end of the German Reich, and the European…

This week I am visiting Fort Bragg, and there are American flags everywhere on and off post, as befitting the home of the great All American Division and the home of our Special Operations outfits. I sincerely hope all of you are able to get some well-deserved breaks from work or the same old routine if you are retired, and see family, barbecue, and enjoy some refreshments. So what’s missing? Missing are those that died in uniform serving our country and all of us Americans. Pick your war or conflict, there have been so many. Those that did not come…

Character: so important to leadership, so important to being a good human being. So how to build it? Let me snatch a few lines from Marathon War: “Men and women are not perfect, and all of us have flaws, which we usually try to control, or at least hide from others. We are not born with character: instead, we develop it within ourselves over a lengthy period of time, some through education, some through the school of hard knocks of experience, and most often, through watching and emulating those we admire. The most important facet of character is the act…

For followers of my blog, you remember that I believe three leadership traits are most important in our very best leaders: competence, moral courage, and character. Earlier posts discuss competence and courage. For the next series of posts, let’s get into character. There are many definitions of character. I think of it simply as this: Character is what you actually do in morally and ethically challenging situations when NO ONE is watching. In my view, actions are most important: you can have pure thoughts, but it’s what you actually do that indicates your character. Why? As I write in Marathon…

Let’s talk about moral courage: standing firm in your beliefs, or what I call the willingness “to bet your stars or bars” for an idea, a conviction, or an action, normally that involves others, especially those we lead. We speak of the “courage of convictions,” which means that moral courage requires conviction, a sense of right and wrong, ideals, and most important, the willingness to sacrifice one’s personal reputation for a greater good. But as we used to say in the Army, that briefs well, but doing it is really hard. So how do we develop moral courage in ourselves…

If you have been following my blog trail, you remember that I believe three leadership traits reign supreme in our best leaders: competence, moral courage, and character. I discussed in earlier posts competence, and how you can think about it when gauging whether you, or anyone else, are ready for the next job, or the next step in life. In my next series of posts, I want to dive deeper into courage, especially the kind of courage I am talking about: how is it different than bravery, how do you develop it, and how to reward this kind of behavior…

So how DO we know if we are ready for the next big step in life? I think it boils down to two things: Am I competent in the things I KNOW I will face, just not when – the “known unknowns” as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld used to say? And maybe more importantly, am I agile enough to confront and deal with those challenges that are totally unexpected – the “unknown unknowns”? In the former, you can literally sit down and list the things you are sure you will need to be capable of doing, check off those…