We're all clones All are one and one are all We destroyed the government We're destroying time No more problems on the way -Alice Cooper A version of this post also appears on Cambridge's Judge Business School's Blog The Play-Doh Factory Remember Play-doh? If not, Play-Doh is a children’s modeling clay used for arts and …
11 Reminders For Busy Leaders: Just Say NO To Status Quo: Neo-DeMarconian Memories
A short one this week--I found some old notes from our time in the UK. I had these on my desk and just found it to be a great reminder--almost 9 years later. I believe these were originally from Terry Starbucker's site and I still like 'em Learn From History (So You Don’t Repeat It) …
Declining Empire, Leader Development, Innovation, Creativity, Warfare and DeMarco Banter
Empire, leadership development, innovation, creativity, and warfare. Maybe I worry about it too much, but when we look at the history of the world it seems the decline of empire is usually due to a decline in leadership and leader development. Perhaps a decline in the strong advocacy of stellar leadership and bold ideas and …
It’s the Strategy, Stupid…or How Did I Get Here? DeMarco Banter…
I'm sure all the "old" folks out there recall the phrase "It's the economy, stupid." In the realm of leadership... we might look at this infamous phase in a deeper and slightly new light. While on a U.S. National Level.... it appears to still be about the economy (more or less, COVID, etc)... but on a …
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The “Enlightened Rebel’s” Guide to Empire: DeMarco Banter
Or…what would Sir John Glubb Pasha say…Part 1 History has much to teach and offer in terms of empire’s rise and decline. Great empires of the past such as Britain, Spain, Islam, Rome, Persia, and Babylon rose and fell over a period of centuries. Even Niccolo Machiavelli’s 1532 signature work, The Prince was a study …
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Podcast and Interview with Bright Insights: Bill DeMarco and Paul Bright on “K” is for Knowledge
Very cool to be on Paul Bright’s “Bright Insights” Podcast—thank you for the invite Paul—wonderful to talk with you. Click here: https://link.chtbl.com/Demarcopart1 iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/k-is-for-knowledge-part-1-with-bill-demarco/id1468714783?i=1000488364213 From Paul’s Show notes: I'm very excited to bring you part one of this discussion with retired Air Force Colonel Bill DeMarco, Chair of Air University's Leadership Department and forerunner of …
Have You Ever Seen The Rain? Or The Decline of Empire Part II: DeMarco Banter
Driving home the other day, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s epic tune “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” was on the radio and it got me thinking. What is the song about? Clearly it is the end of a happy time—but to what end? A quick Google search reveals it is actually about John Fogerty’s brother Tom …
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Stoic Thinking and Failure: Adjust Your Thinking–DeMarco Banter
“Reason shows us there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” ― Seneca, Letters from a StoicFailure is an inside job--inside our head. So is success--all depending on how we define it. If we want to achieve, we have to win the war in our mind first. We can’t let the …
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Strategy and Organization by Henry Kissinger Foreign Affairs (Apr 1957)
A bud of mine, Josh Zaker, passed this piece to me over 8 years ago and I came across it again just the other day. It was written for Foreign Affairs in the Spring of 1957... amazing at how relevant Dr Kissinger's words are still for us 63 years later. I have pasted the conclusion …
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Leading, Mentoring, Coaching, Comets, and Gravity–It’s so not about you. Neo-DeMarcoian Thoughts
In all the classes we teach here at ACSC on leadership—mentoring is always a topic that comes up. In the past decade or so—there has been increased talk of “coaching” vs mentoring and honestly, it is an interesting conversation. I worry at times we get stuck in the minutiae and forget the big picture—what are …