Month: May 2017

I have been watching a series on empires across history, which dealt with the Roman, Egyptian, Persian empires, but also tackled King David’s kingdom, the impact of Martin Luther and other interesting takes on the theme of an “empire”.  One thing that has struck me throughout the series is the sheer number of influential people that never really get credit for the impact they had on building the empire, and I believe it is something to consider today.  Now, I am not referring to the “puppet masters” sitting behind a figurehead, but, rather, the people who were in the right place at the right time to point the empire builder in the right direction.

While there are a number of examples throughout history, the person I’d like to introduce is Johann von Staupitz.  Staupitz was a theologian in the Augustinian order from 1485 until his death in Salzburg in 1524.  He rose to the rank of Prior in his first posting, and by 1500 was a Doctor of Theology and elected as the Vicar general of the German Congregation of Augustinians.  In 1502, he  became the dean of the theology faculty at the University of Wittenberg, where he served until 1512.  At the end of his life he joined the Benedictine order and became the Abbot of St. Peter’s in Salzburg, where his remains are interred to this day.

Looking at his resume, we see a successful Catholic theologian, who served the church faithfully in the early 1500s.  His intersection with influence, however, happened in Erfurt, where, in 1506, he met the troubled monk, Martin Luther.  Luther had a difficult life, frequently despairing of failing to live up to the expectations of his parents, particularly his father, Hans. It was Hans’ wish for Luther to become a lawyer and run the family business, but Luther had other plans and entered the monastic order against the wishes of his father and family, after losing 3 close friends to the Black Plague, however, and narrowly escaping death early in his life.  Throughout his time as a monk both in Germany and in Rome, Luther continued to battle with the concept of how to live up to the expectations of God, remarking once, that, he exchanged one harsh father for a harsher one with higher standards.  During his pilgrimage to Rome, he saw firsthand how the church had truly become a power and state of its own and  was appalled at the selling of indulgences, and other such actions.  He left Rome even more defeated, wondering how he could ever attain salvation when the church was so corrupt and when he was such a failure as a servant of God.

He was posted to Erfurt, where he met von Staupitz, who, recognizing the anguish of Luther determined to counsel him, and, as one writer remembers it, “occupy him so much by having him prepare to teach theology, that he will be able to sleep soundly, rather than entertain the long dark night of the soul each night.  Von Staupitz’s assignment for the young monk was to designate him as a professor of theology.  As he would prepare for his classes, Luther was drawn deeper and deeper into the scripture on which many considered him to be an expert.  In the course of his studies, he discovered that the theology of his youth was insufficient to provide him, or anyone else, salvation.  Upon realizing this, Luther began studying the word of God even more deeply, determined to understand and teach the concept of God’s grace and the free gift of salvation.

Luther went on to become the founder of Lutheranism, and kicked off the Reformation in the Catholic church.  He was later branded a heretic and found von Staupitz one his stronger adversaries throughout the remainder of his life.  Luther would go on to redefine grace, make the holy scriptures more accessible through their  translation from Latin to German and through their distribution to the population.  While Luther is a household name today, had it not been for the contribution of von Staupuitz, it is quite probable that this young monk would have continued to flounder in his faith, flailing about searching for meaning and, ultimately, justification by what he could offer God…not through God’s grace, freely given.

As you go through your day, consider from time to time, who might you be a von Staupitz to, and/or who is your von Staupitz.  Have a great week.

This week, I spent my work week not working. My organization sent me to the rural Eastern Shore are of Maryland to attend leadership training. I never pass up an opportunity to learn more about leadership as I know I’ll never fully understand or apply leadership principles the way I should. This week was unique though. The facilitators started the class by saying that one of the main thrusts of the week was to spend our time in the peaceful, quiet setting reflecting on our leadership journeys, the people who have influenced us and the events in our lives that shaped us as leaders. They also said the week would be considered a success if we simply regenerated our energy by spending time in the peace and quiet.

It was difficult to do. Living in the DC area of the east coast drives residents to do more and more both professionally and personally. It’s vastly different than the Midwestern lifestyle I grew up knowing. The pace is simultaneously alluring and soul-crushing. There is so much to do…too much to do. There are always options so you can fill your time with something appealing. The options are endless, but rarely do I or anyone I know choose the peace and quiet option. I’m grateful to have had the chance to shut everything off, absorb as much solitude as I could, soak in the beauty of nature, and have genuine conversations when I felt like being social. The moral of the story: Find more time for peace and quiet.

There are a few more lessons from my time in government to pass on. We are trying to keep the posts to a readable length – not quite Twitter short – but not a magazine long either.

Don’t buy a dog and bark yourself.  This has always been one of my favorite (and most used) sayings.  It means if you ask someone to do something, then let them do it. When you buy a guard dog you expect the dog to bark at intruders.  So if the dog does what it was purchase for – don’t get mad at that either.  It also means if you ask someone to do something then give them clear expectations – you should not be made if you give vague instructions and in turn get vague results. That leads to the next lesson.

Set clear expectations. If you ask someone to do something, give them clear expectations and an understood length of time to complete it.  This is the biggest problem in the workplace and at home. If you ask your spouse or child to do something, make sure they understand what you want done and what’s an acceptable time frame. Example: Honey, could you take out the trash before dinner?  A clear task with a time of completion expectation. This also leads to the next lesson.

Keep things brutally simple.  If you have a task that requires more than 5 movements/parts, then its best to either break the task into separate tasks or do it yourself. The more complex task, the more likely you will be disappointed with the results and the more likely the task will not get accomplished. Another key point is that you cannot expect someone to read your mind.  If you have a clear idea of a finished product/outcome – share that. I have fallen victim to this particular trap where I was given a task and the person giving the task had a vision of the completed project, but did not share it with me. That led to a lot of unnecessary frustration on both our parts.

There are more lessons to share in upcoming blogs, but I’ll wrap this one up with  a simple wish for all those reading our blog; a long and interesting life filled with joy and surrounded by people you love, and that love you.

After over 30 years of working in joint military and civilian organizations, I’ve learned how a person approaches a problem is definitely influenced by his or her service background, or a lack of military service in general. Through the years I watched (and learned) as each military service has a different approach to problems and as such, they are dead sure that they had the right answer to any problem. I also learned that my civilian counterparts who had never served, often have a diametrically opposed view of how to solve problems from their prior-military counterparts.

Those of us with a military background usually plan the heck out of every task. We work very hard to foresee potential obstacles/frustrations, and then develop well-thought out mitigating strategies for them. We even carry that mentality to our home lives. We tend to plan family vacations to the minute. We also know that no family plan survives first contact with children or the highway (my apologies to the German General Von Molkte (the elder) who said “No operation extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main body of the enemy.”) What a good plan gives you is a foundation from which you can flex in case of changes. A good plan also gives peace of mind. The services vary wildly in planning and doctrine. The Army tends to be the most thorough when it comes to planning. This brings to mind a quote from senior service school, “An Army general doesn’t have a bowel movement without a plan” (this is the clean version). It is possible to over plan something, or get stuck in the planning cycle and never get to the execution cycle.

My non-prior-military civilian counterparts usually approach problems with an entirely different mindset. They are more nimble when it comes to problem solving. They can grasp problems quickly, but they have little patience with making detailed plans and prefer the, “fly by the seat of your pants” method of problem solving. They prefer to talk about problems, then execute. I watch daily as they attack problems with the “ready, fire, aim” method. This leads to double the work. Problems that would have been foreseen and avoided with good planning are too often talked to death in long and painful staff meetings.

I can also say they are heads and tails above their prior-military counterparts when it comes thinking outside the box. Military doctrine tends to provide answers for most problem sets, which sometimes hamstrings prior-military when it comes to creative thinking. However, it’s my observation they struggle with detailed and long-term projects (unless they have a business degree or background) because that involves much more “brain-power” than they think is necessary. I have seen this phenomenon up close and personal at the highest levels of government.

That said, here is what I’ve learned and want to pass on from watching both sides operate. Some lessons were learned from watching others make mistakes, and some came with scars. The goal of all these posts is to provide the reader the benefit of our experiences, and occasionally inspire an “eureka” moment.

Know the cost.   When you make a decision make sure you know the cost of your decision either in dollars, blood, sweat, or tears. There is cost to everything you do. Economists even count the cost of what you gave up, to do something else. This is called opportunity cost. Opportunity cost refers to a benefit that a person could have received, but gave up, to do something else. For example, if you decide to play golf with your buddies, the opportunity cost is not spending time with family or doing something at home. So make sure you know the cost of your decisions.

Be comfortable with the worst case scenario. I usually call this the “what’s the worst that can happen?” question. The 1970s detective show Baretta had a theme song had this phrase, “…if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” When you make a plan, determine the worst case and be prepared to deal with that possibility. If you can’t, then don’t execute the plan. It’s that simple.

More money (or stuff) does not equal more happiness. I know it may seem hard to believe, but money does not equal happiness. One benefit and curse, of growing older is now many of my friends are retired or retiring and they all say the same thing, what they cherish the most isn’t their stuff or money, but the memories they made. They all regret not spending more time with loved ones. I have a friend who seems to shovel money into the gaping hole in his heart/soul/life and never gets happier. I know from first-hand experience that hitting an arbitrary number in your bank account, or buying the next cool thing only provides fleeting satisfaction. Long term and deep satisfaction is built with relationships and memories.

Build your life’s foundation on solid principles. There are legion sayings about this, for example, “stand for something or you will fall for anything.” The reason you need to have a solid foundation, built on time tested principles is that they often conflict with your interests, your wants, or your friends. So many times I hear someone is “torn” because of their choices. They are torn because their principles are in conflict with their wants/interests. That simply means their principles are not solid, and as such, they are easily swayed to something they know is not right. Having a solid foundation doesn’t mean you are never conflicted, it simply means the gravitational pull from what you know is right cannot be overcome with what is wrong or convenient.

Live your life. My grandmother (God rest her soul) was determined to live her life through her children and select grandchildren. Every time we visited all she talked about was my aunt, uncle, or my cousin. When asked her about her life, she seemed confounded. She was so busy keeping up with and offering advice to her children and grandchildren she had forgot to live her own life. She didn’t travel – except to visit children – and she didn’t have a hobby. Every person you meet serves as an example – remember that. My grandmother showed me how not to live. Live this life to the fullest – make a bucket list and attack it with gusto.

I’ll add more tomorrow – but in the meantime I’d like to leave you with a quote from Marcus Aurelius “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”