Hal Moore Quotes
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There are at least five activities that must be kept in balance through proper time management. This is not easy for a busy executive with significant responsibilities, especially in this world of “information overload.” These five activities are: the job, physical fitness, personal time alone, recreation, and social relationships. Also, if they apply, two others—religion and family. If any of these get out of balance, then life gets out of balance. From my own personal experience and observation of others, being a workaholic is the most common area of imbalance...
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From that visit I took away one lesson: Death is the price you pay for underestimating this tenacious enemy.
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Never take a subordinate to the woodshed in front of others; do that in private.
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Leadership is a highly personal, individual matter. Each leader must establish his own approach based on an internal compass using a method geared to his personality, his capabilities but always oriented towards accomplishing the mission while knowing and taking care of his men.
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Look for and find the really good horses in your organization and run them hard. Push them and challenge them with greater levels of responsibility.
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The best leaders in any enterprise see problems coming and stack the deck to prevent negative “what ifs” from happening. They also have contingency plans to take advantage of positive openings which occur in fleeting windows of time.
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A quarter-century later, General Norm Schwarzkopf would date the birth of his famous hot temper to those days, when he begged and pleaded on the radio for someone to evacuate his wounded South Vietnamese soldiers, while American helicopters fluttered by without stopping.
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A good wife is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her and he will have no lack of gain. She brings him good and not harm, all the days of her life.
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Good leaders don’t wait for official permission to try out a new idea. In any organization, if you go looking for permission, you will inevitably find the one person who thinks his job is to say “No!” It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.
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In the American Civil War it was a matter of principle that a good officer rode his horse as little as possible. There were sound reasons for this. If you are riding and your soldiers are marching, how can you judge how tired they are, how thirsty, how heavy their packs weigh on their shoulders? I applied the same philosophy in Vietnam, where every battalion commander had his own command-and-control helicopter. Some commanders used their helicopter as their personal mount. I never believed in that. You had to get on the ground with your troops to see and hear what was happening. You have to soak up firsthand information for your instincts to operate accurately. Besides, it’s too easy to be crisp, cool, and detached at 1, 500 feet; too easy to demand the impossible of your troops; too easy to make mistakes that are fatal only to those souls far below in the mud, the blood, and the confusion.
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If you seek to correct a subordinate’s overall behavior or performance, start by telling them what they do well, then tell them where they need to improve.
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Thus, a leader’s task is to develop their subordinates’ will along with their skill. This begins with realistic training with consistent standards.
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The discipline that makes an effective leader begins in the home.
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If you want something done, ask nicely. If a subordinate forgets to perform a task, don’t take it personally; just remind them nicely. In any organization, everyone has a “to-do” list. While juggling these tasks, some things will inevitably fall through the cracks. When that happens, don’t assume that the subordinate is lazy or stupid. Simply re-engage them on the task and, if necessary, emphasize why it’s a priority.
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There is no such thing as closure for soldiers who have survived a war. They have an obligation, a sacred duty, to remember those who fell in battle beside them all their days and to bear witness to the insanity that is war.
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We went to war because our country asked us to go, because our new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, ordered us to go, but more importantly because we saw it as our duty to go. That is one kind of love.
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You had to get on the ground with your troops to see and hear what was happening. You have to soak up firsthand information for your instincts to operate accurately. Besides, it’s too easy to be crisp, cool, and detached at 1, 500 feet; too easy to demand the impossible of your troops; too easy to make mistakes that are fatal only to those souls far below in the mud, the blood, and the confusion.
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On those occasions when one of my people did not perform as expected, I found that in many cases at least half the fault was my own. I had either not put out clear, clean instructions or I had not trained that person sufficiently, or I had given him a task with little or no possibility of accomplishment.
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When in charge, take charge, but treat your subordinates with respect, dignity, and common courtesy.
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When you identify a toxic subordinate leader, remove them. If you cannot remove them, reassign them to a role where their toxicity can be minimized.
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Praise in public; punish in private.
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Leaders stay informed of current events, and they should anticipate challenges based on those events.
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No job is ever “beneath” you. In whatever you do, do it to the best of your abilities
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Nothing is more precious than freedom and independence.