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May 10 1940 | One Day, One Man

May 9, 2013 — 6 Comments

Winston Churchill, Sir Kingsley Wood, Anthony Eden, May 10, 1940. Getty Images

On Friday, May 10, 1940, at 5:35 a.m., the beautiful spring dawn of northwestern Europe was sundered by the unanticipated, unmistakable, ominous, thunderous rumble of heavy artillery fire. Adolf Hitler himself was on the scene, directing the surprise German invasion of Holland and Belgium.

The ruthlessly effective Blitzkrieg that had been loosed upon Poland was now on the move in the West. The Wehrmacht moved with rapid, rehearsed precision through the Low Countries. Its success surprised even the German high command. The Luftwaffe hit French airfields, as well as targets in Holland and Belgium.

Amid the chaos, British prime minister Neville Chamberlain scrambled to hold together his government. Hours of political maneuvering removed any lingering doubt that the premier could not unite his Conservative party, much less Labour and Liberals, into a war cabinet.

Shortly after 6 pm, Winston Churchill was called by a reluctant King George VI to form a new, all-party government.

In Change, Generations, History, Personal Development, Quotations, Serve to Lead®, Service Artist, Calling, Career, Character, Citizenship, Courage, Excellence, Hero, Integrity, Optimism, Passion, Vision

Audio Serve to Lead, Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt Leadership

May 6, 2013 — 2 Comments

Audio versions of Serve to Lead, Reagan on Leadership, and Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership will be released for the Holiday Season 2013-14.

21st Century Environmental Leadership | Part III

April 26, 2013

Environmental Leadership Begins With Each of Us.

For the week of Earth Day, Serve to Lead includes three posts on the evolution of 21st century environmental leadership. Your comments and contributions are encouraged.

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The Task of Environmental Leadership

Amid the ever rising, discordant, disconnected, coursing invasion of voices and information and interpretations competing to engage our consciousness 24-7, it’s ever more difficult to achieve perspective.

Are we surprised that people retreat to various explanatory ideologies to impose some order… or perhaps, a surcease, a rationalization for disengagement?….

Our evolving environmental consciousness exemplifies the challenge of achieving understanding in our highly connected age.

Earth Day week is an apt moment to make note of some of the spectacular changes underway.

Undertake a thought experiment:

–What issues before us now will appear most consequential fifty years hence?

–What questions that appear to us to be settled, entirely beyond debate, will be viewed as erroneous in the future?

–What issues are taboo, kept from discussion, that will be viewed as central, in the longer view?

What follows are a series of observations and questions intended to stir thought–and spur action.

21st Century Environmental Leadership | Part I

April 23, 2013

Environmental Leadership Begins With Each of Us.

For the week of Earth Day, Serve to Lead includes three posts on the evolution of 21st century environmental leadership. Your comments and contributions are encouraged.

###

The Task of Environmental Leadership

Are we surprised that people retreat to various explanatory ideologies to impose some order… or perhaps, a surcease, a rationalization for disengagement?….

Our evolving environmental consciousness exemplifies the challenge of achieving understanding in our highly connected age.

Earth Day week is an apt moment to make note of some of the spectacular changes underway.

Undertake a thought experiment:

–What issues before us now will appear most consequential fifty years hence?

–What questions that appear to us to be settled, entirely beyond debate, will be viewed as erroneous in the future?

–What issues are taboo, kept from discussion, that will be viewed as central, in the longer view?

What follows are a series of observations and questions intended to stir thought–and spur action.

In 21st Century Communication, 21st Century Leadership, Cleantech, Collaboration, Current Affairs, Environment & Energy, Generations, History, Innovation, Regulation, Social Media, Sustainability, Transparency Information Age, Optimism, Vision, Who Are You Serving?

Margaret Thatcher Leadership | Tigress Surrounded by Hamsters

April 8, 2013

The London Daily Telegraph eulogizes “the greatest peacetime prime minister.”

In Current Affairs, History, Quotations, Ronald Reagan, Service Calling, Career, Character, Citizenship, Courage, Excellence, Integrity, Optimism, Passion, Vision, Who Are You Serving?

Thinkers and Talkers and Doers

April 4, 2013

credit backfirealley.com

How often have you heard something like the following?

–I’m a doer. I don’t spend time on books or academic thinking or intellectual stuff. That’s just a distraction from getting things done.

–I’m a thinker. I don’t want to waste my time working with people who aren’t worth my time. I’ll leave that to public relations types and politicians.

–I’m a communicator. All the great ideas in the world don’t mean a thing if you can’t express them in a way that persuades others. It doesn’t just happen.

What about you?

As a leader, do you view yourself primarily as a thinker or talker or doer?