Leadership My Dad’s Way

My dad, General (retired) James L. Anderson spent 24 years as the Master of the Sword at West Point. He currently speaks on leadership at the Lincoln Leadership Institute in Gettysburg, PA. He has dedicated his life to developing leaders of character wherever he serves. Click here to learn more about him.
The two of us will be sharing a father-son perspective on the leadership lessons he taught me, the lessons we both learned at West Point, and the unique perspectives we each have based on his lifetime in leadership in the Army, and my 20 years in the business world.

Your Attitude Is A Choice: Make A Different Choice

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way, Miss Cellaneous | 5 Comments
Tags: Attitude, Character, General Jim Anderson, Habits

Dad: “Did you do what your mom asked you to do?’

Son: (Without looking at his dad.) “Yep.”

Dad: (Eye brow raised) “Excuse me?”

Son: (Starting to walk away and dripping with annoyance) “Yes Dad. I did what mom asked me to do!”

Dad: (Firmly) “Hey bud! Look at me.”

The boy turns and looks at his dad.

Dad: “Your attitude is a choice. Make a different choice. Understand me.”

Son: “Yes sir.”

That was a scene that played out in my home with my dad sometime in the early 1980’s. Being the son of an Army Ranger who was a future general did not prevent me from having a bad attitude at times. It should have, but it didn’t. Continue Reading…

To Hire A Low Maintenance Team: Hire Character

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way | 2 Comments
Tags: Character, Coaching, Hiring, Low Maintenance Team

I am one of those guys who does not always get to control the TV remote in my house. Because of this dynamic, my desire to watch Deadliest Catch or SportsCenter is put on hold so my wife can watch one of her cooking shows.

One thing I often hear on these shows is to always start with the best ingredients: really good vanilla, fresh vegetables or premium meats. I see this as an essential for Building A Low Maintenance Team (LMT) as well. To truly develop a LMT, I must start with great ingredients. In this case, that means hiring the right people.

I must hire people of character. That sounds logical but Hiring Character is not simple. Continue Reading…

To Lead A Low Maintenance Team You Must: Surrender Self

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way | 2 Comments
Tags: Hiring, Innovation, Leadership, Low Maintenance Team, Teams

All leaders would love to have a low maintenance team (LMT). A LMT allows a leader to focus on the big things and avoid the day to day hassles that could and should be handled at lower levels. When a leader does that, the leader and the team are more engaged and burnout and turnover for both are lower.

But, while most leaders believe they want to lead a LMT, many are not ready to give up what they need to surrender in order to lead the team they desire.

If I want to be a leader of a LMT I must surrender SELF. I must:

Surrender my control
Surrender my fears
Surrender my time

Leaders: Hire People Who Walk With A Limp

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way | 2 Comments
Tags: Character, Hiring, Interviewing

Adversity builds character. I find that the people I admire have not always had things easy. Somewhere, at sometime in their past, these people overcame circumstances in their lives that changed them. They walk with a limp.

Through my 15 years of interviewing, hiring and training people I discovered that finding people who walk with a limp is often an indicator of their character.

In the business world, competency is the price of admission to any job or leadership position. Competency alone is not a differentiator when hiring today. This is a buyers market. There are competent people everywhere looking to fill open positions in good companies.

I write and speak often about character being an individual’s and an organization’s key to success. But character is difficult to determine in the hiring process. How can a leader determine if the person they are interviewing is of high moral character? Continue Reading…

Leaders All Want To Lead Low Maintenance Teams

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way | 2 Comments
Tags: Culture, Hiring, Low Maintenance Team, Teams

Leaders when I say the words Low Maintenance Team a lot of you smile and think about a favorite team from your past.

Some of you are wishing you had a Low Maintenance Team right now.

I’ve had both low maintenance teams and high maintenance teams.

And I know, WE ALL WANT TO LEAD LOW MAINTENANCE TEAMS.

Most of my high maintenance teams occurred early in my 15 years of front line leadership. But as time went on, I adapted and developed systems and philosophies so my teams all became low maintenance teams.

Courage: Where Do I Find It?

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way | 2 Comments
Tags: Character, Courage, Destiny

Courage is a buzzword I defined previously as: To act without regard for perceived or actual personal risk.

Is there anyone alive who does not wish to be courageous? For courage to be part of my character, I must develop to the point where I am habitually acting in a courageous way in both the big things and the small. I have written that character:

Begins with our thoughts.
Our thoughts become our words.
Our words lead to our actions.
Our actions become habits.
Our habits determine our character.
Our character determines our destiny.

Based on this premise then, the first step in developing into a person who habitually acts in a courageous way, I must begin by thinking about what courage looks like in practice. Continue Reading…

Leaders of Character: West Point’s Way

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way | 49 Comments
Tags: Character, Destiny, Habits, Integrity, Leaders of Character, Leadership, West Point

Headline: West Point, The Best Public College in America — US News and World Report in 2011.

My alma mater opened in 1802 as an engineering school. In 2011 it was ranked third in the nation for undergraduate engineering, still lockstep with its 200-year-old original purpose. But at its heart, West Point is a leadership school.

The primary mission of West Point has been to provide leaders of character for our nation.

The question, “Can character be developed?” is answered every May when a new group of 1,000 second lieutenants complete four years of character development. In June of 1984, I began my journey from typical high school graduate to trained Army officer four years later. West Point changed my attitude about what the word character means.

Two Reasons Corporate Values Don’t Work

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way | 9 Comments
Tags: Character, Communication, Innovation, Integrity, Leadership, Trust, Values

Organizational or personal values describe HOW we operate. Many organizations claim to follow certain values because they list them on their websites, or they are on a poster in their offices.

However, many employees will say their organization has values published, but admit those companies do not live by them. Why? I believe there are two reasons:

The values are not defined. In other words, no one ever lays out exactly what each value looks like in practice.
The values are not consistently communicated. Organizations and individuals must be marinated in their values consistently to make them part of their character.

Leaders: 4 Steps To Building Bench Strength

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way | 6 Comments
Tags: Character, Leadership, Leadership Development, Strengths, Training

I was caught in the trap of my own making. I watched my company cut leadership training from its training curriculum in the early 2000’s. As the years went on, I began to bark about this lack of training for leaders. I believe that an organization that does not develop its next generation of leaders begins to stagnate and eventually staggers.

Then it hit me, complaining is not leading. I had complained for too long. Continue Reading…

Character: Don’t Have a Grandson with a Dog Collar

By: Dave Anderson | Category: Leadership My Dad's Way | 19 Comments
Tags: Character, Destiny, Habits, Thoughts, Words

Direct TV warns us: “Don’t have a grandson with a dog collar.” While I am tempted to blame my issues on the cable television industry, especially their “customer service centers”, I believe my issues, particularly my character issues are internally derived.

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Leadership My Dad’s Way

Your Attitude Is A Choice: Make A Different Choice

To Hire A Low Maintenance Team: Hire Character

To Lead A Low Maintenance Team You Must: Surrender Self

Leaders: Hire People Who Walk With A Limp

Leaders All Want To Lead Low Maintenance Teams

Courage: Where Do I Find It?

Leaders of Character: West Point’s Way

Two Reasons Corporate Values Don’t Work

Leaders: 4 Steps To Building Bench Strength

Character: Don’t Have a Grandson with a Dog Collar

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