Who Are The Craziest Rulers In The World

Who Are The World's Craziest Rulers? -- Robert Colvile, The Telegraph

With the deaths of Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkemenistan – a maniac so megalo- that he renamed the days of the week after himself and his family – and of Kim Jong-un – a golfer so talented that he shot 38 under par on his first ever round, including five holes-in-one – some feared that the golden age of the crazed dictator had gone for good.

But Yahya Jammeh's decision to leave the Commonwealth, and subsequent outlining of his more unpleasant characteristics, has reminded us that there are still some old-fashioned brutes plugging away out there – and, more soberingly, that there are millions of people around the world who have to bear the consequences of their capricious decisions. Here are the leaders most likely to send you scurrying to the emigration queue:

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My Comment: I would add Islam Karimov from Uzbekistan, the Castro brothers, Kirchner from Argentina, and about a dozen other leaders. Putin is not crazy .... I would put him in the category of being ruthless.

Are U.S. Military Leaders Too Cautious?

The Real Scandal Of Benghazi Is The Plodding Caution Of U.S. Military Leaders -- Bing West, Best Defense /Foreign Policy

Re Benghazi and the military (a matter of much lesser import than the deceptive talking points): On ABC on 12 May, George Will and retired General Cartwright excused the military by saying 10 hours was not enough time to react. The general said it takes up to "a day or two" to arm an F-16, file flight plans, arrange for refueling, etc.

Therefore the solution is to pre-stage the right kinds of forces, which requires a much larger military and a knowledge beforehand about the location and severity of the threat. By this reasoning, we do not have general purpose forces; we have special purpose forces.

Benghazi thus raises the question: Do we need more forces staged around the world or do we need senior officers who can respond to emergencies outside their normal checklists?

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My Comment: Kudos to Thomas E. Ricks for having Bing West as a guest commentator. As to his analysis .... Bing West is on the money.

Communication Secrets Of Great Leaders

10 Communication Secrets Of Great Leaders -- Forbes

It is simply impossible to become a great leader without being a great communicator. I hope you noticed the previous sentence didn’t refer to being a great talker – big difference. The key to becoming a skillful communicator is rarely found in what has been taught in the world of academia. From our earliest days in the classroom we are trained to focus on enunciation, vocabulary, presence, delivery, grammar, syntax and the like. In other words, we are taught to focus on ourselves. While I don’t mean to belittle these things as they’re important to learn, it’s the more subtle elements of communication rarely taught in the classroom (the elements that focus on others), which leaders desperately need to learn. It is the ability to develop a keen external awareness that separates the truly great communicators from those who muddle through their interactions with others. In today’s column I’ll share a few of the communication traits, which if used consistently, will help you achieve better communication results.

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My Comment: For military officers .... these rules are essential.

Five Leadership Lessons From Jean-Luc Picard

Image from Wikipedia

Five Leadership Lessons From Jean-Luc Picard -- Forbes

“He’d ensure the safety of his ship and his crew
And then complete the mission
And make himself a better person
Bring peace to the galaxy
And do it for free
Oh yeah, that’s what Captain Picard would do.”

– from “What Would Captain Picard Do?” by Hank Green

Captain Jean-Luc Picard is the model of a great 24th Century Starfleet captain. On his watch, the crew of the Enterprise successfully defended humanity against the judgement of the Q-Continuum, defeated the Borg, prevented the Romulans from installing a puppet government in the Klingon Empire, and encountered countless new species.

Although Captain Picard’s style was very different from Captain Kirk’s, he was also an incredibly successful leader. Here are five lessons in leadership that can take away from Picard’s voyages as you take your organization on its journey to boldly go where no one has gone before.

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My Comment: No disagreements from me on this list.

Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk

(Image via Wikipedia)

Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk -- Alex Knapp, Forbes

Captain James T. Kirk is one of the most famous Captains in the history of Starfleet. There’s a good reason for that. He saved the planet Earth several times, stopped the Doomsday Machine, helped negotiate peace with the Klingon Empire, kept the balance of power between the Federation and the Romulan Empire, and even managed to fight Nazis. On his five-year mission commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise, as well as subsequent commands, James T. Kirk was a quintessential leader, who led his crew into the unknown and continued to succeed time and time again.

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My Comment: Yeah .... I confess .... I am a Trekkie.