"First they came"

I visited the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston several years ago.  Two of our children went to school in Boston, and we walked to the Memorial during one of our many visits to the city.  The Memorial consists of six glass towers.  Visitors can walk beneath each tower and look up and all around, reading  quotes from survivors of each camp.  The walls on the outside of each tower display groups of numbers representing the more than 6 million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust.  There is also an engraving of the poem, "First They Came", by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller.  I've posted about the poem once in the past (see "A life of privilege - part I"), but I wanted to retell the story of the poem and its author today.

Niemöller was born in Lippstadt, Germany on January 14, 1892.  He was the son of a Lutheran priest, but he joined the German Navy in 1910 at the age of eighteen.  During World War I, he was assigned to a U-Boat and eventually rose to the rank of commander.  After the war, Niemöller decided to follow in his father's footsteps and started to train to become a priest.  

The Weimar Republic (officially known as the German Reich) was Germany's democratic government from 1918 to 1933, during which Germany was a constitutional republic for the first time in its history.  Weimar is the city which hosted the assembly that established the new German government following the end of World War I, which led to the unofficial name of the government.  Unfortunately, the Weimar Republic was unable to effectively deal with the severe economic and political problems Germany faced due to the harsh terms of surrender following World War I.  Niemöller had to take a part-time job working for the railroads in order to earn enough money to stay in school.  

Life for most Germans became even worse during the worldwide Great Depression, and as a result, support for radical groups like the Nazi Party ("Nazi" is the shortened name for the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei , or National Socialist German Workers' Party)  increased.  Adolf Hitler, who led the Nazi Party, blamed the country's difficulties on Jews, foreigners, and the weakness of the Weimar government.  Niemöller was an early supporter of the Nazi party, and after being ordained as a priest in 1929, he became an ardent supporter of Adolf Hitler.  

Niemöller initially believed, like many others, that Hitler would provide the kind of leadership necessary to restore Germany to its previous greatness.  He also believed that the Nazi Party would return Germany to the Christian ideals and morals that had been abandoned after World War I.  He even referred to Hitler as an "instrument sent by god."  

Niemöller would become disillusioned with the Nazi Party when they started to control the German Protestant Church and changed the text of the Bible to remove what the Nazi's saw as "Jewish ideology."  Niemöller met with Hitler in January 1934, which opened his eyes to the true nature of the Nazi Party.  Initially, he would criticize the German government for interfering with religious matters, while ignoring the discriminatory laws forbidding Jewish people from marrying non-Jews and having jobs in government.  His own personal views were antisemitic at first.

Niemöller was arrested several times for opposing the Nazi Party, and he became increasingly critical of Hitler and the Nazis.  He was arrested and jailed without trial for 8 months in July 1937, and shortly after his release, he was arrested again and sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.  He was transferred to Dachau concentration camp in 1941, where he would spend most of the remaining years of World War II.  He was transferred one last time to a concentration camp in Austria, which was liberated by U.S. forces in April 1945.

Just a few months after the war ended in October 1945, Niemöller headed a group of church leaders who admitted that they did not do enough to oppose the Nazi Party.  He would write in 1946, "We must openly declare that we are not innocent of the Nazi murders, of the murder of German communists, Poles, Jews, and the people in German-occupied countries...And this guilt lies heavily upon the German people and the German name, even upon Christendom.  For in our world and in our name have these things been done."

He would write and use the poem "First They Came" in several lectures beginning in 1947 and after.  His poem has inspired people across the world to speak up for others.  Personally, it's one of my favorite poems.  The message is important and just as timely today as it was when Niemöller first wrote it.  What I also find relevant is the fact that Niemöller led a somewhat controversial life, first supporting the Nazi Party and even its antisemitic views.  Apparently, he even volunteered to join the German Navy while imprisoned in concentration camp in 1938 and again in 1941.  His life story suggests to me that people can and do change.

Here is the text of the poem, once again:

First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me.

Political Animals

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote in his book Politics that "man, is by nature, a political animal, and a man that is by nature and not merely by fortune citiless is either low in the scale of humanity or above it."  Note that he says that we humans are political, not social.  Bees are social.  Ants are social.  Even birds are social.  But humans are political.  What does that exactly mean?

I am currently listening to another Great Courses lecture series called "Democracy and Its Alternatives", hosted by Dr. Ethan Hollander, who is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.  Dr. Hollander defines politics as "the way groups of people make decisions, even when people in the group want different things." Humans largely live, work, and exist in groups.  We are by nature communal.  And as I have stated in a number of previous posts, we are actually happier when we are part of a community.  But as Dr. Hollander emphasizes in his lecture series, being part of a group requires us to make trade-offs.  When we are working in a group, we have to balance our own self-interests with those of the broader group.  How we do that - how the group balances these competing interests between members - is exactly what politics is all about!  Dr. Hollander says, "Politics is how we may make decisions in a group when the individuals in the group want different things."

Think about it.  Suppose you and your best friend decide to order a pizza.  There are lots of decisions to be made.  Should you order a thick or thin crust pizza?  How large of a pizza should you order?  Which restaurant do you want to order from?  What toppings do you want to add to the pizza?  It's usually fairly straightforward to make all of these decisions when you are only with one other person.  And, if there are disagreements, you can easily make trade-offs (for example, you can order sausage on your pizza if your friend doesn't like pepperoni).  But what happens when you are trying to order a pizza for a larger group?  Unless you order more than one pizza (which may be necessary, depending on the size of the group), you will have to make trade-offs.  There's a good chance not everyone will like the same kind of pizza.  You may actually have to take a vote on what kind of pizza to order with the majority vote making the final decision.

Winston Churchill reportedly once said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."  That may not have been his exact quote.  During a speech in the House of Commons on November 11, 1947, Churchill did, as a matter of record, say, "Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time..."  Regardless, the meaning behind the words are perhaps more important than the words themselves.  In essence, Churchill is stating that as a matter of record, democracy isn't perfect.  

Going back to the pizza example above, what happens if the group votes to order a pizza with the classic "meat lover's pizza" (ham, sausage, pepperoni, prosciutto) and someone in the group happens to be a vegetarian?  Or to use a less extreme example, what if the group votes to order a pepperoni pizza and one individual hates pepperoni?  The group overall is better off, but at least one individual is left worse off.

Even the original representatives to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in the early days of the United States of America understood this concept.  They wanted to avoid setting up a government that would create a "tyranny of the majority", which refers to a situation in which the preferences and interests of the majority dominate the decisions of the whole group, potentially sidelining or repressing minority groups.  James Madison wrote about the "tyranny of the majority" (even if he didn't use those exact words) in Federalist No. 10.  He wrote, "If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote: It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the constitution. When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government on the other hand enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest, both the public good and the rights of other citizens."  

Madison contrasted a pure democracy with that of a representative democracy (i.e. a republic) when he wrote, "The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic, are first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended."  He later suggested that when representatives are elected by the citizens from a larger geographical area, then the "tyranny of the majority" is even less likely to occur.

Interestingly enough, the political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt recently wrote an excellent book (Tyranny of the Minority) that argues that our system of government has potentially resulted in a "tyranny of the minority", in which a smaller faction ends up making all of the decisions for a much larger group.  The book builds upon their previous book on a similar topic, How Democracies Die.  No matter which side of the political fence you stand upon, both of these books are compelling reads.

I don't necessarily want to end today's post talking about U.S. politics, so I won't.  I think the take-home message from today is as follows.  Unless you work by yourself with no one else around, you are likely to be a part of a group.  As such, as a member of a group, there is no way that you will be able to escape politics.  Politics, again, is about how a group makes decisions when the individuals in the group want different things.  Politics, then, is a normal part of our everyday lives.  We are, as Aristotle suggested so many centuries ago, political animals!

The price of freedom...

I started watching the World War II television miniseries Band of Brothers for at least the umpteenth time a couple of weeks ago.  I happened to be watching Episode 7 "The Breaking Point" last night.  This particular episode is narrated by Easy Company's First Sergeant Carwood Lipton, played by the actor Donnie Wahlberg.  The men of Easy Company have survived the siege of Bastogne in the Ardennes Forest during the Battle of the Bulge, and they are now preparing for the assault on the German held town of Foy, Belgium.  

There's a powerful scene at the end of the episode.  Easy Company is resting for the night in a convent.  They are all sitting in pews while listening to the abbey choir.  As the narrator (First Sergeant Lipton) reads off the name of each soldier wounded or killed in battle, the soldier sitting in the pew fades from view.  By the end of the scene, the pews are half empty.  As I was watching this scene, I was once again reminded of why we need to celebrate Memorial Day.  It seems appropriate that I was watching that particular episode, which I've probably seen at least ten or so times, at this particular time of the year.

Today is Memorial Day in the United States.  Originally known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day is a federal holiday that honors those military personnel who have lost their lives in the line of duty.  While not known for certain, Memorial Day has its origins following the Civil War, when flowers were placed on the graves of fallen soldiers.  Tradition has it that John A. Logan, the third Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, Civil War veteran, and politician from Illinois, first called for a "Decoration Day" in 1868.  While Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30 from 1868 to 1970, the United States Congress standardized the holiday and changed its observance to the last Monday of May in 1971.

It's been a few years since I've written a post on Memorial Day, which is unfortunate.  I think I last posted on Memorial Day in 2021, which was entitled, "Rest Easy Shipmates, We Have the Watch..." (please see my previous Memorial Day posts from 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 - see also "Decoration Day, "The Chimes of Freedom", and "The last full measure of devotion" for related posts).  Once again, I am asking myself how can we best honor the fallen soldiers and sailors of the past, to which I answer, "We can honor them by cherishing our freedom that they purchased with their lives and continuing their fight for freedom."

"Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high." [In Flanders Fields by John McCrae]

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.  It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the greatest task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." [The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln]

Ours is a cause worth dying for.  Our work has only just begun.  Our toughest days lie ahead, but we are up to the test.  "Rest easy shipmates.  We have the watch."

Perfectenschlag

As you have probably guessed from a number of my posts in the past, I am a huge fan of the American television show "The Office".  What's surprising is that I never watched the show when the series was actually running.  Instead, I binge-watched the show during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I have frequently watch the re-runs on Comedy Central.

The other night, I watched Season 8, Episode 14 "Special Project".  The character Dwight Schrute is given a special assignment and feels that his life is coming together perfectly.  He uses the German phrase (note that it's not a real German word) perfectenschlag to describe his mood (here's the video clip).   Here's the transcript:

Dwight: The Schrutes have a word for when everything in a man's life comes together perfectly. Perfectenschlag. Right now, I am in it. I finally get a chance to prove myself to corporate. I am assembling a competent team. I am likely a father. I am so deep inside of perfectenschlag right now. And, just to be clear, there is a second definition, "perfect pork anus", which I don't mean.

We should all strive for perfectenschlag.  Life is good.  

Make your attitude your greatest asset...

My wife sent me a link to a photograph of a page from John Maxwell's book, The Difference Maker: Making Attitude Your Greatest Asset.  It's worth repeating and sharing.  The passage begins with a question, "What usually separates the best from the rest?"

Denis Waitley wrote in his book The Winner's Edge, "The winner's edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent.  The winner's edge is all in the attitude, not aptitude.  Attitude is the criterion for success.  But you can't buy an attitude for a million dollars.  Attitudes are not for sale."

Legendary football coach Nick Saban said that "your attitude is critical to success. Having a positive attitude can have a tremendous effect on how you react and respond to challenges, successes, and failures."  

John Maxwell wrote something similar, stating "For years I have tried to live by the following statement: I cannot always choose what happens to me, but I can always choose what happens in me.  Some things in life are beyond my control.  Some things are within it.  My attitude in the areas beyond my control can be the difference maker.  My attitude in the areas that I do control will be the difference maker.  In other words, the greatest difference my difference maker can make is within me, not others.  That is why your attitude is your greatest asset or liability.  It makes you or breaks you.  It lifts you up or brings you down.  A positive mental attitude will not let you do everything.  But it can help you do anything better than you would if your attitude were negative."

I am reminded of a post that I wrote a long time ago ("The Man Who Thinks He Can") about a poem that my parents posted on our refrigerator door when I was growing up.  The poem was written in 1905 by a man named Walter Wintle and is called "Thinking" (the poem is also known by the title, "The Man Who Thinks He Can").  Here it is again:

If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win, but you think you can't,

It is almost a cinch that you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost;

For out of the world we find

Success begins with a fellow's will

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are;

You've got to think high to rise.

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win the prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man;

But sooner or later the man who wins

Is the one who thinks he can!

Attitude is everything.  As John Maxwell writes, it can either be your greatest asset or your greatest liability.  The choice is up to you.

Liberation

I recently read a post published last year on Medium by Komal Vaghela entitled "Embracing Freedom: My Journey of Quitting Social Media: Rediscovering Self, Embracing the Present, and Pursuing Passion".  After doing so, I decided to take my own leap and begin to wean myself from social media.  My reasons for doing so had absolutely nothing to do with politics, but everything to do with the fact that over the last few years, the amount of useful information that I've read on social media has significantly and progressively decreased.  Conversely, the amount of garbage on social media has significantly and progressively increased, especially since the various social media sites stopped fact-checking their content.  

I started out by deactivating my account on Facebook.  I never used Facebook for anything other than personal connections, but I can't really say that there was a lot of information on Facebook that I didn't hear firsthand from friends and family members.  I wasn't really a very active participant anyway.  So, shutting down Facebook for me was relatively easy.

My next step was to stop posting the content of Leadership Reverie on X (formerly known as Twitter).  I also recently deactivated my account on X, and if I don't log back on for the next 30 days, my account will be permanently erased.  There is a certain nostalgic loss here, as I've been fairly active on Twitter for the past several years.  However, I have increasingly found that most of the posts that show up on my feed are from bot accounts.  I have also noticed that many of the individuals that I previously followed are no longer actively tweeting.  Most of the news items that come across my feed are highly suspect.  At the end of the day, it's no longer useful for me - either personally or professionally - to be active on X.    

I've never had an Instagram account.  I've never used Snapchat or TikTok either.  I still use LinkedIn for professional reasons, but I have noticed that the content has lately changed, not necessarily for the better.  I would like to keep active on LinkedIn, but I will be monitoring things closely for now.

Vaghela ended her post by writing, "Quitting social media has been a transformative experience for me. It has allowed me to break free from the constant noise, embrace the present moment, and refocus on what truly matters. By eliminating unnecessary distractions and reconnecting with my passions, I have found a renewed sense of purpose and fulfillment. While it may seem challenging at first, taking a break from social media can lead to a more balanced, mindful, and meaningful life."

My own personal experience so far leads me to fully agree...

The AmeriCorps Pledge

AmeriCorps (officially known as the Corporation for National and Community Service) is an independent federal agency for national service and volunteering established in 1993 after Congress passed the National and Community Service Act of 1990, which was signed into law by then President George H.W. Bush.  AmeriCorps members participate in a variety of service activities, including after-school tutoring or homebuilding. They complete 1,700 hours of community service over an eleven month term.  After successfully completing their term of service, AmeriCorps may be eligible for an education award that may be used to pay for college or to pay-off existing student loans.  Despite its long history and track record of success under several U.S. Presidents from both political parties, roughly 75% of the agency's employees were placed on administrative leave last month by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

I have to be 100% honest that I didn't know too much about the AmeriCorps program itself.  I listened to a talk radio show last week that discussed the history of the program.  What impressed me was the oath of service that each AmeriCorps member takes at the beginning of their term:

I will get things done for America – to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone in government had to pledge to "get things done for America"?  Wouldn't it be nice if everyone in government would work together to strengthen our communities?  Wouldn't it be nice if everyone in government worked to find common ground whenever they were faced with conflict?

The AmeriCorps pledge represents a commitment to service, as well as a commitment to perseverance.  It's also a commitment that calls its members to action (see my recent post, "Have a bias towards action...").  Service.  Commitment.  Dedication.  Action.  Perseverance.  Resilience.  These are the ideals and aspirations of each and every AmeriCorps member.  They are the ideals and aspirations for all leaders everywhere.

Deference to expertise builds trust...

As I mentioned in a post earlier this month ("The bullfrog is wise..."), I recently read The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy) by Admiral (retired) William McRaven.  Admiral McRaven is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) from August 8, 2011 to August 28, 2014.  Admiral McRaven is credited for organizing and overseeing the execution of Operation Neptune Spear, the special operations mission that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. Following a very popular commencement address at his alma mater on May 17, 2014 (and of course after his retirement from the Navy), Admiral McRaven would go on to serve as the chancellor of The University of Texas System from 2015 to 2018.  I've posted about Admiral McRaven in the past (see "If you want to change the world, don't ever, ever ring the bell!", "Early morning brain teasers?!?!", and most recently, "The bullfrog is wise...").

Admiral McRaven has now written a number of short books on leadership.  Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World, which is based upon his 2014 commencement speech.  The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy) is based on some of the lessons he learned during his more than 37 years as a U.S. Navy SEAL.  The title “Bullfrog” is given to the Navy SEAL who has served the longest on active duty.  Admiral McRaven was received this honor in 2011 (and held that distinction until his retirement in 2014).  

There's a short chapter in The Wisdom of the Bullfrog on trust.  Admiral McRaven starts every chapter in the book with a quotation from a great leader in history.  The chapter on trust starts off with a quotation from Abraham Lincoln, who said, "The people when rightly and fully trusted will return the trust."  I thought this was an interesting quote.  As it turns out, there are a few more quotations like this one.  The ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi (popularly known as Lao Tzu) said, "The one who does not trust enough, will not be trusted."  The American educator and author Booker T. Washington said, "Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him."  Finally, the American author Ernest Hemingway said, "The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."

All of these quotes are supporting the High Reliability Organization concept of "Deference to Expertise".  The U.S. Navy SEALS undoubtedly qualify as a High Reliability Organization in my opinion.  By trusting team members to do the job, leaders are creating a virtuous cycle (see the "Trust Cycle" below) that engenders further trust.  "Deference to Expertise" creates mutual trust.

Admiral McRaven writes, "To be a great leader you must be trusted by your employees.  If they do not trust you, they will not follow you.  It takes time to build trust, but it is time well spent if you intend to lead effectively."  He suggests that leaders follow three key points to build trust:

1. Foster a culture of action, allowing the rank and file to take the initiative and fix problems that need addressing.

2. Accept the fact that this will lead to zealousness and the occasional screwup.  This overenthusiasm is better than a culture of inaction.

3. Praise those who attempt to solve the problems on their own, even if the results are not as expected.

All of this sounds a lot like "Deference to Expertise".  The second point above is all about creating conditions of psychological safety, so that team members feel empowered to take risks.  Even if they fail or merely make a mistake, they will learn as a result.  Empowerment leads to professional growth and development, which further builds psychological safety and trust.  

"The importance of nothing"

Legendary Hall of Fame college football coach Nick Saban is a walking soundbite.  He always has something to say, and it's usually inspirational.  As I mentioned in a recent post ("Five Choices"), I recently had the opportunity to hear Coach Saban speak at the Becker's Hospital Review 15th Annual Meeting (I even got to shake hands and get my picture taken with him).  He had a lot to say about leadership, some of which I've heard him say before in the past.  Here are just a few of his most famous quotes, which I heard him repeat at the Becker's conference in some shape or form:

"It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."

"Smart people learn from their mistakes; wise people learn from other people's mistakes."

"Mediocre people don't like high-achievers, and high-achievers don't like mediocre people."

"There are two pains in life.  There is the pain of discipline and the pain of disappointment.  If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you'll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment."

"What happened yesterday is history.  What happens tomorrow is a mystery.  What we do today makes a difference."

"Process guarantees success.  A good process produces good results."

"Eliminate the clutter and all of the things that are going on outside and focus on the things that you can control with how you go about and take care of your business.  Take the other team out of the game and make it all about you and what you do."

Today I want to talk about another famous quote from one of his press conferences.  I don't remember exactly what season it was, but Alabama had an important game scheduled for later that week against their SEC rival, the Arkansas Razorbacks.  Coach Saban wanted to get across the point that his players should be working harder.  He stepped up to the microphone and said, "OK, y'all ready for a lecture?"  The topic?  "The importance of nothing."

He said, "You get up every day, you’re entitled to nothing.  Nobody owes you nothing. You could have talent, but if you don’t have discipline, if you don’t execute, you don’t focus, you get nothing. If you’re complacent, and not paying attention to detail, what does that get you? Nothing."

He looked around and then said, "Nothing is acceptable but your best.  Everything is determined by what you do and you trying to be your best, so that you can build on positive performance.  That's the only thing.  There should be nothing else but that, for everybody."

Legendary advice from a legendary coach.

Someone else...

I came across a social media post the other day that I thought was worth sharing.  I've spent a lot of time this year reading and writing about happiness.  It's truly been transformative for me, both personally and professionally.  Today's post builds upon that theme.

The social media post was simple, yet incredibly powerful.  It was a photograph of a dry erase board, which contained an important message for us all:

Someone else is dreaming of the job you hate, the home you complain about, the smile you forget to wear, and the health you take for granted.  Don't let difficult times make you forget your blessings.

There are times when I occasionally lose sight of the fact that I have been very fortunate in this life.  Count your blessings.  Take comfort and solace in the positives and leave the negatives for another day.

Happy Mother's Day

I wanted to wish all of the moms out there a very special "Happy Mother's Day!"  Here is a post from a few years ago on three simple lessons on leadership that I learned from the mothers in my life:

Mother's Day Leadership Lessons

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the moms (especially the ones in my life!) out there for everything they do, each and every day!  As I sat down to think about what I could write about today, it really became abundantly clear - mothers are really the perfect models of leadership!  While there are many lessons on leadership that I could talk about, I would like to keep it simple and focus on three.  And while I would like to honor all mothers today, I wanted to focus on the three that I know best - my mother, my wife, and my mother-in-law (who died several years ago).

Lesson #1: Never stop learning.  All three of the mothers I have mentioned lived or are currently living lives filled with opportunities to learn, and in each case, they took advantage of these opportunities to the fullest.  My own mother graduated from college at a time when many women did not, starting out a career as a teacher and going on to earn a Masters degree.  One of my earliest memories is going to my mother's commencement ceremony at Butler University (maybe because it was an awfully long time for someone my age to sit still and behave!).  My wife started out in marketing and sales after college, took several years to stay at home full time and raise four kids, and went back to school to earn her Masters in education.  She is now the best middle school math teacher I know!  My mother-in-law also graduated from college at a time when many women did not go to college and worked as a nurse.  She spent the next several years working and going back to school, earning a number of Masters degrees in nursing, counseling, and pastoral care.  These three wonderful women have taught me to never stop learning.  If your dreams require you to go back to school so that you can reach your goals, then do it.  But even if you don't go back to school, never, ever stop learning.  Leaders should never stop learning.

Lesson #2: Take care of your own.  My mother raised two of us, my mother-in-law raised 8 children, and my wife raised four children.  They say that a mother's love knows no bounds - a mother's love is endless.  No matter what you do in this life, your mother will always be there for you.  You can always count on your mother.  These three women have taught me to always, no matter what, take care of your own.  Support your team.  Protect your team.  Be an example for your team - inspire, motivate, nurture.  Leaders should always take care of their team.

Lesson #3: Make it fun.  I had a great childhood - I am sure my mother made things fun for my sister and I when we were growing up.  I want to focus here on my own wife, the mother of our four children.  She always made things fun for the kids.  She always came up with fun ways to teach our kids lessons about other cultures, other countries, and life in general.  She is a natural - even though all of our kids have grown, she continues to make math (not the most exciting subject in school, at least in my opinion) fun for her students.  Work isn't always easy, but it should be fun.  Keep a positive attitude.  Be happy.  Keep things loose and lighthearted, even in times of stress.  Leaders should always make it fun.

Today, I wanted to thank the mothers in my life for teaching our extended family these three great lessons.  Never stop learning.  Take care of your own.  Make it fun.  Happy Mother's Day!

The Evolution of (Mis)Trust

Several years ago, I wrote a post about Paul McCartney's 1983 hit single "Pipes of Peace".  Here is what I said on December 25, 2016:

The setting of the video is the Western Front, 1914 (World War I).  On December 25, 1914, French, German, and British soldiers crawled out of their trenches, crossed "No Man's Land," and joined together to celebrate Christmas.  They exchanged food and souvenirs, sang carols, played football (soccer), and drank a toast to peace.  Christmas brought out the best of humankind on that day.  After several months of grueling, hand-to-hand combat, in the middle of the "War to End All Wars," there was peace.  Men who merely hours earlier were killing one another, joined hands, broke bread together, and enjoyed a few quiet moments on Christmas.  On that Christmas night, the guns were silent, bringing special meaning to the Christmas carol, "Silent Night" that they sang.

For a few hours, enemy combatants who had been shooting at each other for days trusted each other enough to walk out into the open where they were easily exposed to gunfire.  Soon thereafter, they returned to their trenches and would fight again on another day.  An artist commemorated the event for the The Illustrated London News on January 9, 1915:

  

Just imagine the level of mutual trust that the two opposing armies had to have in order to do what they did that Christmas night!  The Russian playwright Anton Chekhov said, "You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible."  The American clergyman Frank Crane said, "You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough."  If both Chekhov and Crane are correct (and I believe that they are speaking the truth here), then why is it so hard to trust one another?  If enemy soldiers staring and pointing their guns at each other across a battlefield can trust each other, even for just one short night, then why do we have such a hard time trusting our colleagues, our leaders, or our institutions?  As I stated in a post a month or so ago (see "If only out of curiosity..."), there has been a precipitous decline in trust in today's society.  What gives?  

As it turns out, there is a biological explanation for society's trust issues.  Len Fisher writes about the branch of economics known as game theory in his wonderful book, Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life.  He dedicated an entire chapter to the concept of "trust" specifically as it related to cooperation versus competition in groups.  Humans are hardwired not to trust each other from an evolutionary standpoint.  It's in our DNA, so to speak.

There is a vast body of evidence in cognitive psychology showing that we are more risk-averse (see the discussion on prospect theory developed by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman).  In other words, we utilize strategies that seek to minimize the risk of loss, rather than ones that try to maximize the chance of reward.  Trust does exactly the opposite.  Fisher writes, "If we offer trust, we are taking a risk that the trust may be betrayed.  If the risk pays off, we may gain a lot, but if it doesn't, we can lose out in a major way."  Trust, then, from a game theoretic perspective, is a payoff-dominant strategy (i.e., one that maximizes the potential payoff), while mistrust is risk dominant (i.e., one that minimizes the potential risk of loss).  As we are seeking to minimize the risk of loss (as opposed to maximizing the chance of reward), it follows that we are more likely to develop mistrust as opposed to trust.  Natural selection, then, favored those with the most highly developed sense of mistrust.    

I will have a lot more to say about trust in future posts.  For now, I encourage you to check out a Medium blog post by Nathan Kinch, entitled "Game theory and the evolution of trust".  Kinch provides a link to an online game by Nicky Case called "The Evolution of Trust".  It's actually a series of games that take about 15-30 minutes (depending on how fast you read) to play, but it will definitely help you to understand why we are evolutionarily programmed to not trust people!  The famous "Tit for Tat" strategy in game theory (see also my posts "Knights, Knaves, and Pawns" and "The Wager" for more), as well as research on the evolution of cooperation also show why we don't trust each other.

"Doing things right vs. Doing the right things"

Stephen Bungay opens Chapter 7 of his excellent book The Art of Action by acknowledging that "Business has inherited from the military the distinction between strategy and tactics."  He goes on further to explain the difference between strategy and tactics, writing that "Strategy was the art of the general and tactics the craft of the soldier...Generals were the planners and soldiers were the implementers."  While the distinction between strategy and tactics is an important one, Bungay emphasizes that there's at least one more important component to leadership.  He uses the term operations, though in the past (see my posts "Amateurs talk strategy.  Professionals talk logistics" and "Logistics wins wars!"), I have called it logistics.  

Bungay is both a military historian and a business consultant, which is one of the reasons that I find his articles and books so interesting.  He uses the World War I Battle of the Somme, which took place between July 1, 1916 and November 18, 1916 as an example of the kind of flawed thinking that leadership is only about strategy and tactics, failing to account for the equally important third component of operations or logistics.  While more than 3 million soldiers (French, British, and German) fought in the battle, just over one million were wounded or killed, making it one of the deadliest battles in history.  Planning for the British offensive began five months before the battle.  The plan was so detailed that it left very little room, if any, for real-time adjustments.  Battlefield commanders had to get approval for every change from the plan.  The result was disastrous - the British Fourth Army suffered more than 60,000 casualties on July 1, 1916, making the first day of the campaign one of the deadliest days in the history of the British Army.  By neglecting to factor in the logistics that were required to tactically execute the overall strategy, the British Army suffered one of its worst defeats in history.

Bungay goes on to emphasize that strategy, tactics, and operations/logistics are all necessary if an organization is going to fulfill its mission.  He writes, "Operations are about doing things right...Strategy, in contrast, is about doing the right things."  He suggests that "Rather than a plan, a strategy is a framework for decision making."  Operations/logistics involve making the decisions to achieve the strategic aim, while tactics are the realm of routine, day-to-day activities that often can be standardized to best practice.  I like how he distinguishes between operations/logistics and strategy.  He goes on to describe other examples from military history, and in particular he talks about the Prussian general Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (his son, also Helmuth von Moltke, but known as the Younger, was a German general during World War I) was really one of the first military theorists to differentiate between strategy, tactics, and operations/logistics.  

The bullfrog is wise...

My wife recently listened to an online interview in which Admiral (retired) William McRaven discussed his new book, Conquering Crisis: Ten Lessons To Learn Before You Need Them.  She thought that I would like the book - she knows me very well!  I've posted about Admiral McRaven in the past (see "If you want to change the world, don't ever, ever ring the bell!" and "Early morning brain teasers?!?!").  Both posts were based upon a commencement speech that Admiral McRaven delivered at his alma mater, the University of Texas, on May 17, 2014.

Admiral McRaven graduated from the University of Texas before joining the U.S. Navy and becoming a Navy SEAL.  Admiral McRaven had an incredible career, even before organizing and overseeing the mission that led to the death of the international terrorist, Osama bin Laden (Operation Neptune Spear).  Upon his retirement from active duty, he served as the Chancellor at the University of Texas from 2015 to 2018.  He was reportedly considered by President Joe Biden for potential appointment as Secretary of Defense and by Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential running mate in her failed 2024 Presidential election campaign.  He wrote in a 2020 editorial in the Wall Street Journal, "Truth be told, I am a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, small-government, strong-defense and a national-anthem-standing conservative."  My wife asked if he was going to run for President in 2028 - we can only hope!

Back to Admiral McRaven's most recent book release.  I've ordered it at our local library, and of course there is a waiting list.  So instead, I decided to check out some of his other books on leadership.  There is Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World, which is based upon his 2014 commencement speech.  It's a quick read (I finished it during my train commute to and from work last week), but Admiral McRaven makes some excellent points on leadership.  It's well worth checking out!  

I am just finished reading The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy).  The title “Bullfrog” is given to the Navy SEAL who has served the longest on active duty.  Admiral McRaven received this honor in 2011 when he took charge of the United States Special Operations Command.  By the time he retired from active duty service in 2014, Admiral McRaven had 37 years as a Navy SEAL under his belt, leading men and women from all of the armed forces in and out of the special operations community at one point or another.  He distilled some of the most important leadership lessons he learned in The Wisdom of the Bullfrog.  Similar to Make Your Bed, it's a quick read!

Just to finish things off, I started reading his book Hero Code: Lessons Learned From Lives Well Lived.  So far, so good.  It's very similar to the other two books above, but it's still holding my attention and filled with useful insights on leadership and life, in general.  His latest book Conquering Crisis: Ten Lessons To Learn Before You Need Them is still on hold at the library, but I am confident that it will be a great read as well!

Stay tuned for more insights from Admiral McRaven in future posts!

Five Choices

I've posted about legendary Hall of Fame college football coach Nick Saban on numerous occasions in the past (see my most recent post "All Things Must Pass" following his announcement that he was retiring from coaching in January, 2024).  It's not often that you have the opportunity to meet and/or listen to a legend, but thanks to the Becker's Hospital Review 15th Annual Meeting held in Chicago this past week, I got to do both (full disclosure - I briefly shook his hand, introduced myself, and had our picture taken during a welcome line).

Coach Saban spoke at the conference about leadership in general.  There were several things that stood out to me.  First, we, as Americans, are definitely looking for a hero.  As soon as Coach walked onto the stage, a crowd of meeting attendees in the front row gave him a standing ovation.  I guess there were a lot of Alabama Crimson Tide fans at the conference.  

Second, he was introduced as the winningest coach of all-time.  Technically, that's not true (he's actually tied for 15th with current LSU head coach Brian Kelly for all-time wins).  His teams at LSU (2003) and Alabama (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2020) have won seven college football national championships, eclipsing the previous record of six championships by another Alabama football coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant.  

Third, right before he walked onto the stage, the conference organizers played a short video highlighting Coach Saban's career and everything that he has accomplished.  The video suggested that Coach Saban is one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and I wouldn't argue that point.  As soon as he sat down, though, Coach Saban said, "Did you all see that video?  It wasn't always that way."  He then talked about how unsuccessful he was at Alabama during his first year as head coach.  The team ended the season with a win-loss record of 6-6 (before beating the University of Colorado in the 2007 Independence Bowl), including a humiliating loss to University of Louisiana-Monroe by a score of 21-14 despite being 25 point underdogs.  He used that lesson to briefly talk about the need for humility, as well as the importance of learning from failures.

Lastly, and perhaps most relevant to the subject of leadership, Coach Saban used the word "we" an awful lot.  I don't think I ever heard him use the word "I" once.  That's technically wrong though, he did mention the old cliché "There's no I in Team with the response that there is an "I" in the word "Win" (before talking about leadership, at least in football, as an act of connecting with and inspiring individuals as opposed to groups).  

When Coach Saban talked about winning national championships - it was always "we won".  When he talked about the first time he walked on the field as the University of Alabama football coach, it was "we" again.  I was impressed by his subtle reference to the point that leadership is about putting the needs of others before your own.  Leadership is about giving credit to the team for every positive thing that happens, but accepting personal responsibility for the negative things that inevitably happen.  Leadership is about empowering others.  Leadership is about being a servant to your organization.

Coach Saban made so many great statements about leadership, and I was taking notes!  I am sure some of his points will find their way into future posts.  For now, at least, I wanted to end today's post with a video from a post-game interview while he was still coaching at Alabama.  Here, Coach Saban is talking about five choices that we all have in life.  "We can be bad at what we do.  We can be average at what we do.  We can be good at what we do, which is probably God's expectation for whatever he gave us.  Or we can be excellent.  Or we can be elite."

While he didn't mention these choices specifically during his speech at Becker's, the themes that he did discuss were fairly consistent.  He suggested that the human condition is to be average (I think his exact quote was "The human condition is not to be a champion").  The normal human condition is to do what is enough and sufficient to get by and survive.  "All of us, at one time or another during school, got an A on our first exam.  We then took the next few weeks off, did the minimum we needed to do to get by, and then got a C on the next exam to end up with a B average.  That's not being a champion."

In the video (and at the conference), Coach Saban asks, "Do you want to be a champion?"  If the answer to that question is "yes", then you have to work for it.   

Ready for the World

They say that "April showers bring May flowers."  Do you know what else May brings?  Graduations. It's officially graduation season around the country, and there's a greater than average chance that there will be lots of blog posts, social media "likes", and YouTube videos about some celebrity who delivered an excellent commencement speech.  High school graduates from around the country will be receiving a copy of the Dr. Seuss book, Oh, The Places You'll Go! (it's a classic!).    

Commencement speeches are supposed to inspire, motivate, encourage, and celebrate, all at the same time.  Once the speech is done, we are effectively telling the graduates that they are ready for the world!  Some speeches are certainly better than others.  Some will be talked about for years to come (see below), while others will be forgotten in a few years.  For example, I can't remember who gave my high school and college commencement speeches or even what they said, but admittedly that was a long, long time ago.  

I recently conducted a quick Internet search for greatest commencement speeches.  There are several that consistently appear on lists of the greatest commencement speeches of all-time, and I have to admit that most of them are very good.  Here are a few of the more well-known speeches (in no particular order):

David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College, 2005 ("This Is Water")

Steve Jobs at Stanford University, 2005

Conan O'Brien at Dartmouth College, 2011

Sheryl Sandberg at UC Berkely, 2016

Barbara Kingsolver at Duke University, 2008

There are a few commencement speeches that haven't appeared on any of these lists that I still feel are worth a view.  For example, the Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Peyton Manning delivered a great speech at the Valedictory Exercises at the University of Virginia in 2014.  During this speech, Manning famously told the graduates, "When you are chided for your naïveté, and you will be, remind your critics that an amateur built the ark, experts built the Titanic."  He also spent the first five minutes or so throwing footballs to randomly selected graduates!  

Tennis star Roger Federer delivered an inspirational speech at Dartmouth College in 2024.  He made several key points.  First, "Effortless is a myth."   Federer said, "People would say my play was effortless. Most of the time, they meant it as a compliment... But it used to frustrate me when they would say, He barely broke a sweat!"  Or Is he even trying?  The truth is, I had to work very hard... to make it look easy...I didn’t get where I got on pure talent alone. I got there by trying to outwork my opponents."  

Second, "It's only a point."  He said, "You can work harder than you thought possible... and still lose. I have...In tennis, perfection is impossible... In the 1,526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches.  Now, I have a question for all of you.  What percentage of the POINTS do you think I won in those matches?  Only 54 percent...Here’s why I am telling you this. When you’re playing a point, it is the most important thing in the world.  But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you.  This mindset is really crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point, and the next one after that, with intensity, clarity and focus."

Third, "life is bigger than a court."  He then described his career and everything that he was able to do and every place that he was able to visit because of tennis.  He then said, "Tennis has given me so many memories. But my off-court experiences are the ones I carry forward just as much.  The places I’ve gotten to travel, the platform that lets me give back, and, most of all, the people I’ve met along the way."

I've mentioned a few other commencement speeches in some of my older blog posts, all of which are also worth a view:

William McRaven at University of Texas, 2014 (see my post, "If you want to change the world, don't ever, ever ring the bell!")

Chief Justice John Roberts at Cardigan Mountain School, 2021 (see my post, "I wish you bad luck")

Abby Wambach at Barnard College, 2018 (see my post, "We are the wolves!")

Bryan Dyson at Georgia Tech University, 1991 (see my post, "The Real Thing")

I can't wait to see what Graduation Season 2025 has in store.  I am confident that the themes from at least a few commencement speeches from this season will find their way into this blog!  Congratulations to all the graduates out there - you are ready for the world!