Never Sleep On Your Parachute

Unique Leadership Axiom: Never let personal comfort endanger your life.
As a student at Caltech I was a member of the Air Force ROTC.  Back in the day, some of us cadets were flown to The Firepower Demonstration at Eglin Air Force Base.  In the plane we sat on canvas seats and bare aluminum structure.  Backpack [...]

Pack your own Parachute

Unique Leadership Axiom: Never trust your life to someone who does not know or care about you.

Every Takeoff Deserves a Safe Landing

Unique Leadership Axiom: A winning mission depends upon a thorough pre-flight check.

Wash And Dry Your Feet, Always Have A Clean Pair Of Socks

Unique Leaders Axiom: For you and your people, physical health comes first.
One of the criteria used in designing ammunition is lethality.  But sometimes munitions designs which will wound rather than kill are more devastating to the enemy.  Why?  Because caring for the wounded is a logistic burden.  Not only is a soldier who is wounded [...]

Every Time You Rest, Clean Your Weapon.

Unique Leadership Axiom: Never miss a chance to sharpen your tools
Bart Simpson says, “So what?  Who cares?  What’s in it for me?”

Drop Your C***s and Grab Your Socks

Unique Leadership Axiom: In boot camp, where you learn to survive, the most primitive human needs are set aside every day for the accomplishment of the team mission.

The Daily Dozen

Unique Leadership Axiom: The Daily Dozen adds life to your years and years to your life.

Polished Shoes Save Lives

Unique Leadership Axiom: When your life is on the line your habits will save you.
In boot camp old habits die and new habits are born. It’s common for civilians to believe that boot camp is all about squashing initiative. In fact boot camp is about building initiative. Initiative is built on a foundation of self-knowledge. [...]

Presidential Training Wheels

The Rock In My ShoeWe all have training wheels provided us by the evolution of the species. One-trial-learning, which I refer to as training wheels, helps us survive in new situations. Unfortunately, it is also the root cause of prejudice.

Follow Up or F*** Up

Unique Leadership Axiom: In business if you screw up, you may get fired. In the military if you screw up, you and your men may die from enemy fire!