Month: February 2020

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The Leader’s Playbook©: Planning for, and handling, Contingencies

Premeditatio malorum – The Pre-Meditation of Evils.  A Stoic approach to planning for contingencies.

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy… or Murphy”.

Combat, business, and most certainty life never seem to go the way we want them too.  When things turn for the worse the question is two-fold; how we are going to handle the situation, and what did we do in advance to prepare for it. 

What the American Fighter Pilot and Special Operations Forces do better than anyone else in the world is plan for, and handle contingencies.  Oftentimes multiple contingencies at the same time.

Tragically these lessons have been paid for oftentimes with the blood of our Brothers and Sisters.  A famous example of this was Operation Eagle Claw, the 1979 attempt by the United States to rescue our hostages held in Iran (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw).

What you do in your planning efforts and how you think about, anticipate, and train for contingencies regardless of what you do in life will go a long way to ensure that Murphy does not ruin your day.

Daily ask yourself and your teams, “What specifically are we doing about the contingencies and how will we be ready for X?”.

The Author is currently serving as an active-duty military officer. Any comments or recommendations on this post or on this site are solely my personal views and do not represent the position of any branch of the United States Government.

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The Leader’s Playbook-13: Never miss the opportunity to be quiet and listen.

Being self-aware is something that I work hard on every day. Years ago I realized that I (and everyone else) talks too much and that we need to all be quiet and listen.

I must be an active, patient, and thoughtful listener. I must listen for understanding both with my ears and my eyes.

And, when I do make a decision to open my mouth, I need to think deliberately about what I’m going to say, how I’m going to say it, what the context is, the content of the message, the primary (and sometimes secondary audiences), the tenor and tone I’m going to take and the timing.

And as one of my former bosses once said, “Junior, never miss the opportunity to shut the #$% up”. Great advice.

The Author is currently serving as an active duty military officer. Any comments or recommendations on this post or on this site are solely my personal views and do not represent the position of any branch of the United States Government.