A Curator of Strategy, Leadership, Spirituality, and Rock and Roll…. "Changing the world…one "contact" at a time…."
Articles by me or at least mostly by me…
The piece below (with some modifications as to not offend the spiritually queazy) was used in a powerful way by LtCol Tom Torkelson at the 351ARS Change of Command 14 June 2012.... he was addressing what it means to be "squared away." The quote came from an anonymous young African pastor...found among his papers in …
Continue reading "The Power of Words…and being “Squared Away”"
China Grove: If you know the song...just the mention of it brings the distinctive guitar riff and power chords to mind "China Grove" is a song from The Doobie Brothers' 1973 album The Captain and Me. It was written by original lead singer Tom Johnston, before he fell ill in 1975 and was replaced by Michael McDonald. The song is based …
Continue reading "China Grove: Is that even a real place or just a cool old song?"
Influence may be the highest level of human skills. -Author Unknown by J. William DeMarco Stepping into a job where you might feel overwhelmed by the shear number of people that you are responsible for? I can relate. When I first stepped into my current position, I did not know anyone, I was new to …
by J. William DeMarco EPIC FAIL! Is that always a bad thing? Sitting here on my XX birthday… I ponder all the successes and the EPIC FAILs in life. Success does not mean avoiding failure… it is all what you do with the EPIC FAIL. Do you learn, do you get stronger? All of us …
By J. William DeMarco “I am appalled at the aimlessness of most people’s lives. Fifty percent don’t pay any attention to where they are going, forty percent are undecided and will go in any direction. Only ten percent know what they want and even all of them don’t go toward it.” - Katherine Anne Porter …
by J. William DeMarco In the Military we have a rather unique "tradition" of the exit interview. When a commander is about to leave, public affairs or in the case of the Bloody Hundredth, the Wing Historian will give a quick interview regarding accomplishments, plans and vision. It seemed to last no more than five minutes …
by J. William DeMarco Shouldn't that be the first question we ponder as leaders? Seems like most people evaluate events or decisions based on how they will be affected personally. Leaders need to ask not only how will this impact our people but they also need to look at how decisions will impact those above and next …
Continue reading "Welcome to the Machine…or how will this affect our people?"
By J. William DeMarco Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day You fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way -Pink Floyd: Time The concept of time is always of interest to me... a while ago I penned a piece NT3 (No Time To Think), a large part of NT3 comes …
Continue reading "Time, Vision, Priorities….and the tolling on the iron bell…"
By J. William DeMarco Pondering individuals and impact this AM: Would you agree that people always (I know big word) project on the outside how they feel on the inside? Every once in a while you meet someone for the first time...and you suspect something is not quiet right--you suspect a poor attitude, yet you …
By J. William DeMarco I have a pretty strange morning routine... the gym, listen to podcasts, Bible reading, leadership devotional...and then the day begins. This AM, there were several things that just jumped out at me. First, highly recommend the Linchpin Podcast hosted by Andy Traub. This week Andy hosted John G. Miller, author of …
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