10 Leaders Share Their Views On Leadership – Series Introduction

On February 3, I reviewed Kelly Perdew’s new book, “Take Command.” In my review, I mentioned that reading Kelly’s book had inspired me to follow-up on his "10 Leadership Principles" by running a series of articles in this Blog – asking ten business leaders each to comment on one of the principles from his own perspective. Each of these ten individuals, like Kelly Perdew and those he highlights in his book, have successfully made the transition from military leadership to leadership in the business world. Later today, I will post the first of these articles. They will run on the average of once a week for the next ten weeks.

My purpose in offering this series of commentaries on 10 Leadership Principles is twofold. First, it is my desire that these ten views of leadership in the world of the military and the business world will serve as tools to inspire and educate prospective employers about the special value proposition of business leaders who have honed their skills in the military. I meet many employers who are reluctant to hire former military leaders because of misperceptions and stereotypes that these ex-GI's may be rigid, authoritarian, humorless, and difficult to work with. Nothing could be further from the truth. One does not develop into an effective leader of troops without developing the ability to build consensus, listen carefully to all points of view, make courageous decisions, and respond instantaneously to changing environments and challenges. As the series develops, please keep in mind that these ten individuals represent a microcosm of the thousands of “Force Multipliers” who are available to help bring your company to its next level of effectiveness and profitability. I encourage you to pass these articles along to others who may be in a position to hire gifted leaders like the ones who have agreed to write for this series.

A parallel purpose behind the offering of this series is to hold up the stories of these ten individuals as a source of encouragement to men and women who are in the process of making the transition – or considering the transition – from the military to the business world. This can be a daunting chasm to cross, and taken together, these ten articles - and the individuals who have written them – represent ten different approaches to bridging that gap. It is my hope that their stories will inspire, encourage and empower those who will follow them into the world of business leadership.

(Editorial note – I am well aware that there are no women represented among the ten individuals who have agreed to write for this series. I am disappointed with this fact. Among the individuals whom I invited to participate in this project were several women leaders whom I admire and respect. In each case, these women were forced to beg off from writing for this series because of pressing demands of other projects and responsibilities. I would welcome hearing from women who have made the transition from military leadership to leadership in the business world, and would be delighted to include their stories as addenda to this series.)

In advance, I would like to thank the ten outstanding individuals who have agreed to share with us their perspective on Kelly Perdew’s "10 Leadership Principles."

If you wish to follow comments that others are making about Kelly’s book and the "10 Principles," I refer you to:

http://www.kellyperdewforums.com/index.php?

In addition, you can access information about what Kelly is doing in the Military.com column, as well as his new show on the Military Channel - GI Factory.

http://www.military.com/Opinions/0,,KellyPerdew_Index,00.html

http://military.discovery.com/fansites/gifactory/about/about.html

You can access Kelly's personal Website via: http://kellyperdew.com/

Kelly, thank you for inspiring this series!

Al