Thursday, June 28, 2012

Who was this guy?


“He had confidence.  His knowledge about the job and what needed to be done was superior to others.  He had a sense of himself and what he brought to the job.  He had a vision of where he would take the team.” *

This is an excerpt from a US Army officer efficiency report for a certain lieutenant colonel who was serving as a battalion commander in the early 1990’s.  But what I would give if only it could be said about me and I think most of you would like this to be said of you as well.  It almost seems like an epitaph, something I think a lot of folks would like to be said as their eulogy, doesn’t it? 

When you think about the qualities and skills required to be an effective leader, I’ve written about some of these before.  The sense of confidence derives from the next sentence, knowing the job well.  That confidence is spawned because this person worked harder than most to know the job and knowing how to communicate it to his subordinates.  That communication is often done in pieces, yet the leader keeps the gist of the overall plan in play at all times.  By having a sense of himself, he took into account his strengths and weaknesses, knowing, for each task, which to emphasize and which to minimize or improve upon.  And perhaps most importantly, he wasn’t just trying to get the job done or make it until the next payday…he had vision, that extraordinary sense of the next level of accomplishment.  That extraordinary sense of making his team better and, thus, more valuable to the organization.   That extraordinary sense that goes far beyond the routine pluses and minuses of the daily grind of micromanagement.  

So who was this Army officer?  You probably heard of him later in his career when he was promoted to be General David Petraeus, now Director of the CIA.   I think his superior who wrote that OER some twenty years ago was pretty good at recognizing leadership talent.

*From All In, by Paula Broadwell, The Penguin Press, 2012

About the author:
David Ciarella is a Houston, Texas native. He has his bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Austin and served four years as an officer in the U.S. Army. He has experience in leading and building sales teams in the chemical and power industries and has won numerous awards for his work. Ciarella also has a U.S. patent and has written several articles for various publications.   For further information, please see www.TopNotchLeadership.com

Saturday, June 23, 2012

The Civilian Guide to Leading Your Troops

The July 19, 2012, episode of American Heroes Radio features a conversation with US Army Veteran and author of The Civilian Guide to Leading Your Troops David Ciarella.

Program Date: July 19, 2012
Program Time: 1500 hours, PACIFIC
Topic: The Civilian Guide to Leading Your Troops
Listen Live: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lawenforcement/2012/07/19/the-civilian-guide-to-leading-your-troops

About the Guest
David Ciarella, USA “is a Houston native. He has his bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Austin and served four years as an officer in the U.S. Army. He has experience in leading and building sales teams in the chemical and power industries and has won numerous awards for his work. Ciarella also has a U.S. patent and has written several articles for various publications.” David Ciarella is the author of The Civilian Guide to Leading Your Troops.

According to the book description of The Civilian Guide to Leading Your Troops, it “shows how to be successful in a leadership position through military techniques. He uses his own experiences in military and civilian life of dealing with fit and unfit leaders to drive his point home to readers who are looking to gain knowledge and tips on how to be effective leaders. “I have worked for and with both good and poor leaders in both my military and civilian careers,” Ciarella says. “I have used examples from them to write a book to help train young leaders.”

About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life.  Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.

About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years.  He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant.  He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University.  He has experience teaching upper division courses in law enforcement, public policy, law enforcement technology and leadership.  Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One.  He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in law enforcement.

Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lawenforcement/2012/07/19/the-civilian-guide-to-leading-your-troops

Listen from the Archive:
http://www.americanheroesradio.com/civilian_guide_leading_troops.html

Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530

LinkedIn Event:
http://linkd.in/KFLiZs