A Curator of Strategy, Leadership, Spirituality, and Rock and Roll…. "Changing the world…one "contact" at a time…."
“Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man.” -Henry Adams Leaders are in a place of transition, not just in global power dynamics, but in technology as well. In this dangerous liminal space , leaders are looking for clarity and firm ground. Jeff DeGraff points out, we have absolutely zero data …
Continue reading "Bringing Chaos to Order: A Philosophy for Innovation"
Life is a dance— you know the song: “Life's a dance you learn as you go... Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow Don't worry about what you don't know Life's a dance you learn as you go… That’s cute. Do you believe it? I know dancing is a popular metaphor for life, and I am …
Continue reading "Life’s A Dance…until you get punched in the face: DeMarco Banter"
As the USAF prepares for new challenges and opportunities of the coming decades, it faces sobering 21st-century realities: pandemics, rising state on state competition, global centers of power have become more distributed and the terrorism threat more dispersed. Most importantly, the emerging environment is demonstrating a trend that could prove to be the defining one …
Continue reading "The Future Leader We Need Now: DeMarco Banter"
The Byrds were an iconic band when I was growing up, although they were well before my time, the music is in a sense timeless. The song Eight Miles High was always one where there seemed there was this confluence of a million things all happening at once and as I did some “research” I …
Had a pretty rough day a while ago… and my lovely bride came to me and said…“I have a song for you.” The simple song made my day… and then of course I have to ponder why? Superhero complex: one in which a person’s intrinsic desire is to help people or the world be better? …
With all the COVID impacts, I had the opportunity to speak with the Society of British Neurosurgeons Symposium on making change in large organizations. Click Here
Come on you raver, you seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine! Most natural diamonds are formed at high temperature and pressure at depths of 87 to 118 miles in the Earth's mantle. Diamonds are made to shine using grit. All gems are cut and polished by progressive abrasion using …
Continue reading "Shine On You Crazy Diamond—How To Get a Diamond To Shine"
By J. William DeMarco “There must be a pony in here somewhere." Optimism... something I struggle with...but I am getting better... Our future will not be determined by our complaints....life is full of issues, surprises, events we never saw coming... and I have yet to have a bad assignment or a bad job...so, perhaps it …
Continue reading "Pony Optimism or the Wisdom of Ronald Reagan"
In my day job we spend a great deal of time focusing on developing leaders of moral character, so I was ecstatic when I came across a story from Tony Dungy from his days with the Colts. Dungy mentions the extreme talent of draft prospects coming out of college. At times, players would have plenty …
How many times have you heard our environment has changed—it’s now more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) today than every before? I’m not 100% convinced this is true. Go back just in American history. Did George Washington live in uncertain times? Did Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, or LBJ live in uncertain, complex, …
Continue reading "Leader Development in the V.U.C.A. Environment: Neo-DeMarcoian Thought"
