The Platonic Academy and “Leadership” School

I am always fascinated by the concept of philosophical schools--especially when applying that philosophy to leadership.  The last school we looked at was the Jedi Praxeum, I am sure no one will have any trouble connecting the Praxeum to Plato's Akademia. THE SITE The Akademia was a school outside the city walls of ancient Athens. It …

Leadership is… (simplicity?) [Leadership Quotes] DeMarco Banter

I spend a lot of time pondering the question: "What is leadership?"  It's really not that complicated, until we spend time to really think about it.  A friend of mine Steve Cockram of GiANT Worldwide talks about how a leader's responsibility is to take the simple, understand and acknowledge this "simple" in all it's complexity, and distill the complexity back …

Disruptive Thinking, 6 Innovative Microclimates, and Leadership for Strategic Change

by J. William DeMarco Walking Montparnasse in Paris one Christmas--I caught the ghost of Hemingway sipping a cafe au lait at the Dôme. I was struck by all the great minds that had walked the streets of the Left Bank.  I recall having the same thoughts walking the streets of Florence Italy, eating Thai with the boys in Mountain View CA or …

Wondering Where The Lions Are/Putting Leadership Back into Strategy: Chapter 1

By J. William DeMarco DeM Banter:  For those tracking with the last 4 weeks--we've resisted a strategy and leadership paper I worked on in 2008.  In typical DeMarco fashion--we are posting the first chapter last.   Chapter 1 “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” –Sun …

Wondering Where The Lions Are: Quantum Look, A National Strategy?

DeM Banter:  As mentioned in the ABSTRACT POST, Chapter 1, 2, 3 and now in Chapter 4 in 2007-08 I was fortunate enough to be selected a a National Security Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.  An outstanding year spent with some of the foremost personalities in National Security on both the Right and the …

Wondering Where the Lions Are: American Grand Strategy

DeM Banter:  As mentioned in the ABSTRACT POST, Chapter 1, 2, and now in Chapter 3: in 2007-08 I was fortunate enough to be selected a a National Security Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.  An outstanding year spent with some of the foremost personalities in National Security on both the Right and the …

Can Aristotle Teach Us About Leadership? Neo-DeMarcoian Thought

This year we spent a good bit of time focusing on ethics in our Leader Development course at ACSC.  I am not sure if readers are familiar with the Cardinal Virtues--Plato identified the four cardinal virtues in The Republic. Plato narrates a discussion--a metaphor of sorts--of the character of a good city where the following …

Nothing to Prove, Nothing to Lose, Nothing to Hide: To Command Is To Serve: DeMarco Banter

“To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.” - Andre Malraux One of my all time favorite quotes that all leaders need to be reminded of time and time again... it is SO not about you! Reading this AM from Acts and pondering the concept of servant leadership. Have you ever thought about …