Cadet Reading: LTG Honore- "Leadership in the New Normal"

[High Speed Low Drag]

Previous thread when LTG Honore retired: http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=3997.msg77095;topicseen#msg77095

Finished reading this book, written by Lt. Gen Honore, US Army ret.  It was just released in mid-November and is a great read.    I would (and will) make it required reading for cadet officers.  I don't think the book would necessarily be suited for young cadet NCOs (although high-school age students are good candidates).


A major focus of the book is about personal responsibility and three simplified rules of leadership. Also brings up how interconnected all cultures are and how important leadership is dealing with this new world interconnectivity.  Bottom line, a good book (163 pages but half-size) written in plain language for cadets.

Here are some of my favorite quotes and pieces.  Again, please remember that I feel this would be a good required reading for cadet officers and these are some of the things I hope the cadets remember:

** (He credits his ROTC instructor for these three rules and found them to be true):  To be successful, a leader must: 1) Learn to do the routine things well 2) Don’t be afraid to take on the impossible 3) Don’t be afraid to act, even if you are being criticized.

** “Pandering leaders are like the Tooth Fairies:  No one ever sees them, what they deliver isn’t worth much, and there always comes a time when people stop believing in them.  Real leadership takes the courage sometimes to tell people what they don’t want to hear.  It requires honesty, personal investment, and accountability.”

** “In the New Normal, privacy is diminishing.  Hell, you can barely hope to have a conversation with a waitress without it showing up on YouTube.”

** There are three streets: Wall street where the rich live, Main Street where the middle class live, and Railroad Street - the street in the part of town most prone to flooding, with rickety houses, that gets the least amount of city maintenance dollars - where the poor people live. …  Ignoring Railroad Street and its underdeveloped talent can be dangerous.  Kids who have talent will use it.  Leadership will determine if they use it for good or bad.”

** A lot of people still have the understanding that a job is what you do for a certain number of hours and then go home.  This attitude has no place in the New Normal.  Your job is now your mission.

** We’re going to have to make sacrifices for the good of the country, and the first thing we are going to have to give up is our sense of entitlement.  Whether it’s increasing taxes on the top 20% of U.S. citizens (who have 85% of the country’s wealth) or discouraging lower-income folks from having out-of-wedlock babies - it’s time for our people to step up.

** Loyalty is based largely on emotion, but it manifests itself in action.

** Parents should remember: When you walk in the door, you’re not in command, but in collaboration.

[font=]Obviously, I didn’t put everything in here.  But with the book talking about leadership in military, business, political and (in his words- the most important), family, you can see why it would be a great book for our cadets to read.  I strongly encourage you guys to read the book.[/font]