"You salute the rank, not the man..."

The last blog post addressed "courage" as one of the three Navy core values.  Today, I would like to talk about "honor."  The word "honor" is defined in many different ways.  As a noun, honor can be used interchangeably with the words, "privilege," "esteem," or "respect."  As a verb, to honor someone means "to hold them in high regard or respect" or "to keep a pledge, agreement, or promise."  For example, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, one of the Ten Commandments is to "Honor your mother and father."  In this usage, we are asked to hold our parents in high regard or respect.  The final sentence of the U.S. Declaration of Independence states, "...And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."  Here we see the use of the term (as a noun)as "privilege" or "respect."  Finally, the Boy Scout Oath (some of my happiest memories as a young boy were during Scouting) begins with the words, "On my Honor..." - here we see the word (as a noun) as a "promise."

When I think of the meaning of the word "honor," I am often reminded of the "Honor Code" used by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point: A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do."  The West Point Honor Code has been used (even if modified slightly) by other military academies, including the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the Virginia Military Institute, as well as both private and public colleges (Harvard, Princeton, and Texas A&M to name a few).  It is elegant in its simplicity - I will not lie, I will not cheat, I will not steal.  Beyond that, I will not tolerate those who do.  It is the ultimate in 200% accountability - I am accountable for not only my own actions, but also for those actions of my colleagues.

Honor also means "integrity."  You stand up for what is good and what is just.  Shortly after the recent U.S. Presidential election, the campus leadership at the University of Notre Dame held an interfaith prayer service.  The video is short (the service lasted approximately 11 minutes), but the most powerful thing that I heard from the video was something that Father John Jenkins, the University of Notre Dame President said in his remarks.  He told a brief, but poignant story about Father Ted Hesburgh (long-time President who recently died this past year).  It seems that a Jewish student at the college had been harassed by two other Notre Dame students to the point where he decided to leave the University.  Father Hesburgh brought the two students who had harassed the Jewish student in to his office and gave them this message:  Leave campus and go to the Jewish student's home and convince him to return to the University of Notre Dame.  If you can't convince him to return, you are not welcome back either.  The two students convinced the young man to come back, and the three graduated together.  Father Jenkins said, "That is Notre Dame.  Either we walk together in mutual support, or we do not walk at all.  Either we are all Notre Dame, or none of us are."  That, to me, is integrity.  That, to me is honor.

Finally, in these difficult times, I think it bears well to remember a scene from the HBO television mini-series, "Band of Brothers" (one of my favorites!).  In the scene, which I believe is from the final episode (or pretty close to the end), Major Dick Winters is sitting in his jeep when Captain Sobel walks by him.  In one of the early episodes, Captain Sobel was relieved of his command (he wasn't a very good leader) and the company command is instead given to Winters.  Obviously, Captain Sobel doesn't like Major Winters very much.  Major Winters was a great leader who truly lived and led by the core values, courage, honor, and commitment.  He deserved to be honored.  He deserved respect.  Regardless, instead of saluting Major Winters, Captain Sobel looks the other way ("if he doesn't see him, he doesn't have to salute him").  Major Winters stops him and says, "You salute the rank, not the man."."  In other words, even if you can't respect the individual, you must respect and honor the office.

"You know what to do..."

I have previously posted a blog about mission, vision, and values (Your personal mission, vision, and values).  When I was on active duty, the Navy's core values were (and still are, by the way) Courage, Honor, and Commitment.  I still hold these three core values very close to my heart, even to this day.  They are, in fact, three of my personal core values (whether I always live up to these values is a different story, but I feel that they are important values to live by regardless).  Today, I would like to talk a little about "courage."  The word "courage" has many different meanings and interpretations.  Webster's online dictionary defines "courage" as "the ability to do something that frightens one" or "strength in the face of pain or grief."

Thomas Paine, a political activist, philosopher, and patriot from the Revolutionary War era once said, "I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflections."  "Courage" doesn't mean that you can never be afraid.  Rather, "courage" means that you still do the right thing even if you are afraid.  Courageous leaders are the ones who push forward, even when they are afraid.  Courageous leaders are the ones who stay "calm, cool, and collected" in times of stress.

The great British statesman, Winston Churchill, once said, "Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities...because it is the quality that guarantees all others."  It all starts with courage.  Courage to stand up for what you believe in.  Courage to stand up for what is right.  Courage to stand up for those who can't stand up themselves.  We need more "courage" in this world.  We need more "courage" in our leaders.

Sometimes, "courage" means "letting go."  Leaders should trust their teams to get the job done.  Courageous leaders let their front-line leaders, who are the experts (HRO: Deference to Expertise), do their job.  I am reminded of one of my favorite stories that I learned in a leadership class during "Officer Indoctrination School" at the U.S. Navy Training Center in Newport, Rhode Island.  The setting was the Battle of Cape St. George during the Solomon Islands Campaign, World War II, on November 25, 1943.  The United States Naval force was led by Captain Arleigh "31 knot" Burke, under the command of Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, Jr.  Halsey's command directive to Burke is rather instructive:

31 Knot Burke, get athwart the Buka-Rabaul evacuation line about 35 miles west of Buka.

If no enemy contact by 0300, come south to refuel same place.

If enemy contacted, you know what to do.

Note that Halsey's instructions are rather specific, down to almost the exact longitude and latitude and time of day.  However, if Burke encountered the Japanese Navy, Halsey's instructions were rather loose.  In other words, Halsey's courageous style of leadership proved that he trusted Burke would know what to do and be able to get the job done.  One could argue that the exact specifications of where to go and when were bordering on micromanagement, but the last sentence is very clear: "You know what to do."  At times, courage means saying, "You know what to do."

The art of self-reflection

I came across another really good book the other day, called "The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living" by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.  The book is essentially a daily devotional reader and includes passages from some of the great Stoic writers and philosophers of antiquity (Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus, among others).  The last several passages have all been about self-reflection, which I have really enjoyed.  I think self-reflection is an excellent habit for leaders to establish and develop.  Harry M. Kraemer recently wrote an online article for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, "How self-reflection can make you a better leader".  In the article, Kraemer suggests that leaders spend 15 minutes at the end of every day asking themselves the following questions:


1. What did I say I was going to do today in all dimensions of my life?
2. What did I actually do today?
3. What am I proud of?
4. What am I not proud of?
5. How did I lead people?
6. How did I follow people?
7. If I lived today over again, what would I have done differently?
8. If I have tomorrow (and I am acutely aware that some day I won't), based on what I learned today, what will I do tomorrow in all dimensions of my life?


I was struck by how similar these daily self-reflection type of questions were to what Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus asked themselves in ancient Rome!  So I thought to myself, maybe there is something here that I should be doing in my own life!  While I do not have a perfect track record so far (I just started doing this), I did start to sit down at the end of the day and ask myself a few of these questions, and I have found the exercise to be really useful and worthwhile.


I will finish with a quote from Kraemer's article - "The reason many, many people have trouble balancing their lives is that they have not been self-reflective enough to figure out what they are trying to balance."  Great advice for me. 

"A goal without a plan is just a wish"

I came across a great quote the other day (full disclosure, the political analyst Matthew Dowd tweeted the quote and I looked it up to see who originally said it).  The French writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, "A goal without a plan is just a wish."  Wow!  That really does sum things up nicely, doesn't it?  Having a vision, the so-called "true North" of where you want to be is only the first step.  You have to set individual goals for yourself, which, if achieved, will help get you to your "true North."  However, setting goals is not even close to being enough.  Having a plan to help you achieve your goals and then executing on that plan are the next steps. 

In other words:

1. Set a vision
2. Set goals based on that vision
3. Develop a plan on how to achieve those goals
4. Execute the plan
5. Evaluate how you did

If you don't have a plan to achieve your goals, they are only empty, meaningless statements.  How often do we hear about how our friends, co-workers, and family members make "New Year's Resolutions" only to fail on or about January 15th?  It happens all the time - it's happened to me personally!  But if we develop a plan on how we will work towards those resolutions, we are more than half way there! 

I started this blog last year based upon a personal New Year's Resolution to "write more."  I did pretty well for the first week or so, and then I took a rather long hiatus and wrote nothing on the blog until the Spring.  Why?  I started out with a goal of writing a blog post at least once per week.  Nothing too specific - and I certainly did not have a plan.  When I resumed writing, I came up with a plan to write a blog post on every Wednesday and Sunday evening.  Looking back, it appears that I have done reasonably well, with only a few exceptions.  I have established a rhythm where I sit down every Wednesday and Sunday evenings to write a blog post.  In other words, I came up with a more robust plan to reach my goal!

I am not sure what prompted Matthew Dowd to tweet this quote, but I am really glad that he did.  There is an important lesson here.  Develop a vision.  Set a goal.  Make a plan.  Execute the plan.  Evaluate.  It's really that simple.

The Farewell Address

There have been a lot of so-called "farewell speeches" lately - tomorrow, January 20, 2017 is Inauguration Day in the United States.  It is a time of transitions - as one era peacefully ends, a new era peacefully begins.  As is the case with most transitions of power, some people are going to be happy and others are going to be sad.  I am reminded of our nation's first transition of Presidential leadership.  George Washington had everything going for him - even back then, all those years ago, he was considered the "father of his country."  He was loved by all, and if he had wanted to do so, he would have easily been elected for a third term as President (there was no such thing as term limits then).  In fact, some of his officers near the end of the American Revolution had recommended that he declare himself King (in what has been called the Newburgh Conspiracy, in essence, a military coup against the Continental Congress) - the nation had been weakened by the long and drawn out war, both militarily and economically, and these officers believed that only Washington as King could keep the country together.  Washington responded to one officer in particular as follows:

Be assured, Sir, no occurrence in the course of the War, has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army as you have expressed [which] I must view with abhorrence, and reprehend with severity.  If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable...Let me conjure you then, if you have any regard for your Country, concern for yourself or posterity, or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your Mind.

As the story goes, Washington addressed his officers, and as he began to read his written speech, he gazed with difficulty on his words.  He did not speak, but instead he took a pair of reading glasses from his pocket (few, if any officers had ever observed him wearing his glasses), saying, "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country."  His officers quickly realized that Washington perhaps had sacrificed more than any of them had.  Many of his officers were moved to tears as Washington read his speech, and the conspiracy collapsed before it had even started.

Washington chose the alternate path - he gracefully and peacefully stepped down.  Not too much later, he gave the first of what would be many farewell addresses during his military and political career.  He first addressed his beloved troops, the men who had fought beside him for six long years.  In his farewell orders to the Continental Army, Washington outlines the virtues and personal character that would be necessary for the success of the new American republic.  He warns his men of the difficult path ahead, stating that what they do, how they choose to live their lives, would ultimately decide whether the American nation would "stand or fall."

...and by their confirmation or lapse it is yet to be decided, whether the revolution must ultimately be considered as a blessing or a curse; a blessing or a curse, not to the present age alone, for with our fate will the destiny of unborn millions be involved.

Washington gave his final public farewell at the end of his Presidency in 1796.  In his farewell address, he cautioned the young United States against either geographical or political factions - rather, he advised the American citizens to view themselves as one cohesive group in a foreshadowing of the later President Lincoln's quote, "a house divided against itself cannot stand."

In this time in our history, when there are so many issues that divide us, we would be well to remember our nation's first President and his advice that we are better together than we are apart.  We can accomplish more when we work together than we can ever hope to accomplish working separately.  Regardless of whether you are Republican or Democrat or whether you are black, brown, red, yellow, or white; regardless of whether you are part of the 1% or the 99%;  regardless of whether you live in a red state or blue state - we are the UNITED States of America.  And as the "Father of our country" said:

...all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength, greater resource, proportionately greater security from external danger...

...in this sense, it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.

 

"Why? Why not?"

There is an oft told story of a group of college students who walk in to the lecture hall to take their "Introduction to Philosophy" final examination.  The philosophy professor writes up one word, and one word only on the chalkboard - "Why?"  The professor then sits down and tells the students, "You may begin."  In the story, one of the college students sitting in the front row writes down in her essay booklet two words, and two words only - "Why not?"  The students happily finds out that she received an "A+" on her examination.  I first heard this story when I was a college student, almost 35 years ago (did the "chalkboard" give that away?!?!).  The story has become urban legend - look it up on the Internet! 

As it turns out, the story is actually based on factual events.  The playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, "You see things; and you say 'Why?'  But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'"  Sound familiar?  The quotation comes from Shaw's play, "Back to Methusaleh" , a play that spans from the time of Adam and Eve to 31,000 AD (fittingly enough, the play apparently took three nights to perform in its entirety).  It is something of an oddball play, but it is a great quote.  In fact, the quote was later paraphrased by someone much more famous - Robert F. Kennedy, who said, "Some people see things as they are and say why?  I dream things that never were and say, why not?"  Kennedy apparently used the quote in so many different speeches that the quote is now more commonly believed to have been first said by him (even though he always gave credit to Shaw).  Just to finish out the story, the comedian George Carlin paraphrased both Shaw and Kennedy when he quipped, "Some people see things that are and ask, Why?  Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not?  Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that shit."

So what is the point of the quote?  What does an urban legend about a college philosophy final exam, an Irish playwright, a former U.S. Attorney General and Presidential candidate, and a stand-up comedian all have in common here?  In my mind, the lesson for us here today is that we should never be satisfied with just the simple answer.  Rather than accepting life as it is today, we should dare to dream about the endless possibilities of tomorrow.  As Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize said in a beautiful quote (my compliments to the Disney movie Queen of Katwe where I first heard the quote), "The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them.  If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough."

In other words, "Why not?"

Remembering Dr. King

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was born on January 15, 1929.  Today, we celebrate his birthday and honor his legacy.  A few months ago, I had the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C. on a business trip - I went running around all the monuments and stopped by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to read a few of his quotations.  It truly is a remarkable monument to a remarkable man - it is hard to imagine what life would be like in the United States today without the work that so many of our nation's great civil rights leaders, including Dr. King, did in some of the darkest times in our history.  Here we are, just a few days shy of the final day of our nation's first African American President's second term (and arguably, if he had been allowed to run for a third term, he probably would have won).  The irony of what that means, juxtaposed with some of our nation's more recent struggles is not lost on me this MLK Jr Day.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial has a vision statement that I think summarizes very eloquently how we should celebrate Dr. King's legacy - today and in the future.  The official vision statement reads as follows:

Dr. King championed a movement that draws fully from the deep well of America's potential for freedom, opportunity, and justice. His vision of America is captured in his message of hope and possibility for a future anchored in dignity, sensitivity, and mutual respect; a message that challenges each of us to recognize that America's true strength lies in its diversity of talents. The vision of a memorial in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. is one that captures the essence of his message, a message in which he so eloquently affirms the commanding tenants of the American Dream – Freedom, Democracy and Opportunity for All; a noble quest that gained him the Nobel Peace Prize and one that continues to influence people and societies throughout the world. Upon reflection, we are reminded that Dr. King's lifelong dedication to the idea of achieving human dignity through global relationships of well being has served to instill a broader and deeper sense of duty within each of us— a duty to be both responsible citizens and conscientious stewards of freedom and democracy.

These are truly powerful words to live by - they inspire us and they challenge us.  Dr. King once said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”  We stand now in times of challenge and controversy, and now, more than ever, is when we need true leaders that can help us find our way.

We stand on the precipice of tremendous change in health care.  Dr. King also once said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”  The incoming presidential administration has already promised to "repeal and replace" Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) - whether you support the law or oppose the law, there are certain elements of the law that  have accomplished a lot of good. 

I think Dr. King would have been proud of all the things that we have accomplished since his death.  But we still have a long way to go.  Today, we are reminded of how much we have accomplished and how much work there is left for us to do.  Thank you, Dr. King.