Season Encroaching and Backbone Re-Visited

The first day back to work after the substantial amount of fun I overindulged in over the Thanksgiving holiday was bound to be underwhelming. It was. I was buoyed by Christmas carols which I can no listen to without feeling guilty for having been drawn in too early. The Favorite Panamanian also helped with her Christmas decorating splurge continuing unabated at the house. We have way, way too many decorations for the much smaller house we’re now in. I’m not sure she considers that a good thinking. All the message signs in the kitchen have been replaced with their Christmas counterparts, some I’d never seen before, although I was assured that we’ve had them “for years”.

The Kitchen Sign Board in Holiday Mode

The biggest buoy though continues to be the existence of the First Blog Reader out in distant California. I’m more than a little saddened at having to miss her first Christmas but that only means her second will be something to remember for the ages. My Cali-Daughter continues to send a daily batch of photos of the littlest miracle and I would be entirely remiss if I didn’t continue to share some of them with you. You will undoubtedly recognize through this convincing photographic evidence that I may have even underestimated her quality. I am madly in love.

Yeah, I'm Cool!

Let's Talk Dad

Already Mastering the Front Leaning Rest Position

We received a quick update from the builders down in Panama yesterday as well. They reported the foundations have all been laid and the building is about to start rising. I’ll be down in Panama in February and will trek up the beach to check it out.

Aerial View of Foundations, Note Closeness of Pacific Coast Beach in Upper Left Corner

Ground Level View

Finally, I ran across the following words attributed to the latest Sergeant Major of the Army, Daniel Dailey. It reminded me of what I miss most about being in the Army, getting to hang around Non-Commissioned Officers. The Army NCOs are truly the backbone of the Army and what separates our military from most of the rest of the world in terms of competence. They are simply the best in the world. I considered it a privilege to learn from them every single day I was in the Army no matter what rank I held. SMA Dailey’s words are great examples of why and would be great advice for most middle managers in the civilian world as well. So yes, I do miss wearing a uniform every now and then. 

Dailey's top 10 to SGMs, in his own words:

No. 1. Yelling doesn’t make you skinny. PT does. If you’re not out there saluting the flag every morning at 6:30, you can automatically assume your soldiers are not. Soldiers don’t care if you’re in first place. They just want to see you out there. This is a team sport. PT might not be the most important thing you do daily but it is the most important thing you do every day in the United States Army. The bottom line is, wars are won between 6:30 and 9.

No. 2. Think about what you’re going to say before you say it.  I’ve never regretted taking the distinct opportunity to keep my mouth shut. You’re the sergeant major. People are going to listen to you. By all means, if you have something important or something informative to add to the discussion, then say it. But don’t just talk so people can hear you. For goodness sake, you’re embarrassing the rest of us. Sit down and listen. Sometimes you might just learn something.

No. 3. If you find yourself having to remind everyone all of the time that you’re the sergeant major and you’re in charge, you’re probably not. That one’s pretty self-explanatory.

No. 4.You have to work very hard at being more informed and less emotional. Sergeants major, I’ll put it in simple terms: Nobody likes a dumb loudmouth. They don’t. Take the time to do the research. Learn how to be brief. Listen to people, and give everyone the time of day. Everyone makes mistakes, even sergeants major, and you will make less of them if you have time to be more informed.

No. 5.If you can’t have fun every day, then you need to go home. You are the morale officer. You don’t have to be everyone’s friend, but you do have to be positive all the time. The sergeant major is the one everyone looks to when it’s cold, when it’s hot, when it’s raining, or things are just going south. Your job is to keep the unit together. That’s why you’re there. The first place they will look when things go bad is you, and they will watch your reaction.

No. 6. Don’t be the feared leader. It doesn’t work.  If soldiers run the other way when you show up, that’s absolutely not cool.  Most leaders who yell all the time, they’re in fact hiding behind their inability to effectively lead.  Soldiers and leaders should be seeking you, looking for your guidance, asking you to be their mentors on their Army career track, not posting jokes about you on the 'Dufflebag blog'. That’s not cool. Funny, but it’s not cool.

No. 7. Don’t do anything — and I mean anything — negative over email. You have to call them. Go see them in person. Email’s just a tool. It’s not a substitute for leadership. It’s also permanent. You’ve all heard it. Once you hit ‘send,’ it’s official, and you can never bring it back. Automatically assume that whatever you write on email will be on the cover of the Army Times and all over Facebook by the end of the week. Trust me, I know this personally.

No. 8. It’s OK to be nervous. All of us are. This happens to be my favorite. It came from my mother. My mom always used to tell me that if you’re not nervous on the first day of school, then you’re either not telling the truth, you either don’t care, or you’re just plain stupid. [Being nervous] makes you try harder. That’s what makes you care more. Once that feeling is gone, once you feel like you have everything figured out, it’s time to go home, because the care stops. Don’t do this alone. You need a battle buddy. You need someone you can call, a mentor you can confide in. Don’t make the same mistakes someone else has made. Those are the dumb mistakes. Don’t do this alone.

No. 9. If your own justification for being an expert in everything you do is your 28 years of military experience, then it’s time to fill out your 4187 [form requesting personnel action] and end your military experience. Not everything gets better with age, sergeants major. You have to work at it every day. Remember, you are the walking textbook. You are the information portal. Take the time to keep yourself relevant.

No. 10. Never forget that you're just a soldier. That’s all you are. No better than any other, but just one of them.  You may get paid a little more, but when the time comes, your job is to treat them all fair, take care of them as if they were your own children, and expect no more from them of that of which you expect from yourself.