Military

The game has changed in military leadership. Earlier this week, The Washington Post published a fascinating account of the recent firing of Gen. David...

One assumption at the core of this blog is that military service-particularly service in the crucible of combat-is exceptionally effective at developing...

Control your narrative.

The armed services have been in the business of leadership development much longer than the corporate world has. Today's military leaders need tools and...

The U.S. Navy operates on the front lines of climate change. It manages tens of billions of dollars of assets on every continent and on every ocean, which...

According to long-held U.S. Army tradition, leadership is based on a rigid hierarchy. Are you a young officer not sure what to do? Look one level up....

Business has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years. So has warfare. Every executive knows firsthand the daunting challenges of the 21st...

Charles-Edouard Bouee, COO at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, applies "light footprint" military doctrine to management.

After-action reviews identify past mistakes but rarely enhance future performance. Companies wanting to fully exploit this tool should look to its master: the U.S. Army’s standing enemy brigade, where soldiers learn and improve even in the midst of battle.

The 75th secretary of the U.S. Navy writes about how to lead a large, complex organization that is interdependent with other large and complex entities....

Eight lessons from some of history's greats.

When responding to a complex, fast-moving crisis, leaders must constantly adapt their mental models and create a "unity of effort," argues Allen, a retired...

Once, sailors couldn’t leave the USS Benfold fast enough. Today, the vessel is the pride of the Pacific fleet, and sailors from other ships are clamoring to join its crew. How did the captain of the ship, Mike Abrashoff, get the Benfold back on course? By breaking bad habits and jettisoning old attitudes—starting with his own.

Although the first ship he ever commanded crashed into a buoy, Mullen rose through the ranks to serve two presidents as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...

A Q&A with former general Stanley McChrystal.

How to lead through turbulent times.

CEOs and other senior executives these days must manage countless complex, high-stakes conversations across functional areas and divisions, with alliance...

A $200 billion market has appeared on your business horizon, but you may not have noticed it. It's the new U.S. military. Virtually all aspects of the...

In recent months, which radical, tree-hugging group has upped the volume on pushing for action on climate change? I bet you wouldn't have guessed American...

When leaders don't fire incompetent executives, they send a bad message to the whole organization. A case in point is the U.S. Army. "To study the change...