J.H. Benson

View Original

Musings (December)

  • It is the duty of the CEO to develop the leadership skills of his direct reports and to see to the same for the middle managers.

  • The fear of consequences is the scarecrow of cowards and the moment of opportunity for the great leaders.

  • Intentional impatience by the leader keeps the staff at full-stretch leaving little time for grousing and disloyalty. Staffs that are under-worked and rarely held accountable can be gossip factories and pathogens for failure.

  • Militarily speaking, the U.S. still possesses the arm and the reach, but the head is gone, which may soon allow the arm to whither and our adversaries are aware.

  • In decision-making, executive insight, initiative, and prerogative trump consensus every time.

  • “In your pursuit of leadership excellence, please understand that tidy narratives and eloquent rhetoric must be under-written by raw guts and (executive) courage.” emphasis added, Dr. Bill Horton, “Leadership Lessons of General Robert E. Lee

  • The ego has no amigo. Tony Gonzalez, Professional Football Player

  • “… give me all the ‘wanna be’s you can find; they are the “gonna be’s’ of tomorrow.” Executive Courage - Sometimes You Have to Walk Point, Jim Benson

  • “Common sense is not all that common. In fact, it is seemingly so uncommon today that we should refer to it as ‘uncommon sense.’” Anonymous

  • “In aerial combat, we’re in a game where if you come in second, you don’t come in at all.” anonymous U.S. Air Force officer

  • “How much better to have wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver.” King Solomon, Proverbs 16:16

  • “The question is not who owns something but who does not own it.” Character Matters, Dr. Mark Rutland

  • “Willful hiding of pertinent information from another in order to get the better of him in a busy deal is not shrewd business, it is thievery.” Dr. Mark Rutland