Mark Geyer

"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can't blow a weak trumpet."

~Theodore Hesburgh

Today is my dad, Mark Geyer's, birthday and I can't think of a better person to write about a good example of leadership than him. My dad has worked for NASA for over 19 years on projects like the International Space Station and most recently Orion, traveled all over the world from Denver to D.C, Russia to Japan. As it's project manager, he's fought hard to keep the Orion funded even with the President's proposed budget cuts to manned missions. The most prominent qualities that make him a great leader are definitely his ability to articulate his vision and his constant vigilance to keep everyone involved informed.

A year or two ago Orion was part of the Constellation program which consisted of three projects meant to take humans to the moon and on to mars. However when President Obama started to make cuts to federal spending, Constellation was the first to go. Two of the projects were cut immediately but my father and many more of his co-workers worked together to create a proposal that would use the resources they had already utilized in the planning stages of Orion to fit something the President was looking for. Congress subpeona former NASA employees (such as Gene Cernan and Buzz Aldrin) to testify on the importance of continuing manned space exploration. After much fighting against the President's budget, Orion was allowed to continue it's research and production.

Throughout the entire process my father made sure that throughout the country, all members of the project were kept informed of his actions and what Congress was deciding. He held weekly meetings in which he teleconferenced all of the various sites and expressed his current plans for the project, what they should be doing, and opened the floor for any and all questions. He traveled constantly to every military base, research facility, and NASA site where his employees worked in order to establish connections and attempt to quell their fears of unemployment. Even though it was a very stressful time for everyone involved I never once heard him utter a foul word or give up hope. 

I hope that when I go into the workforce and have to face certain problems and difficult situations I can use poise and determination that I have always seen my father use when approaching something difficult. Happy birthday to arguably the best Dad on the planet, and the nerdiest rocket scientist I know.

 

Abraham Lincoln

"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm."

~Former President Abraham Lincoln 

To some, today marks the busiest shopping day of the year. To others it marks the birthday of one of the greatest leaders to ever hold the office of President. Former President Abraham Lincoln. He was not born into greatness, he could barely even read and write. Yet he led the nation in the war which cost us the most. 

There are so many things that a leader could learn from Lincoln's term in office.The Gettysburg Address was so short that the photographer did not have time to set up his camera before the President finished. However many regard the speech as more important than the battle itself in terms of lasting influence. Lincoln also showed how a leader must be quick to forgive. After he won re-election in 1864 he urged the South to put down their arms and quickly rejoin the Union. Holding grudges holds people back, and good leaders should forgive for the betterment of those whom they lead. There are countless other things to be learned from Lincoln's presidency and how to be a good leader.

The First Thanksgiving

“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.”

~H. U. Westermayer

Thanksgiving is a time of overindulgence, family reunions and long standing football rivalries. It's also a time for remembering our blessings and giving thanks for everything we have despite hardships. No one did this better than the Pilgrims. They had been exiled from their homeland, thrown in jail and traveled to an entire other continent for their freedom where they had to deal with harsh weather, new land and barely any provisions. They experienced so many hardships and yet they took the time to give thanks after their first harvest. But what does being thankful have to do with being a good leader? Everything. 

The best leaders aren't the ones who look down on others because they feel better than them, the best leaders are the ones who connect with other's experiences and use that connection to build trust. In order to learn, people have to make mistakes or go through some sort of trial which helps them to become a better person. Without these experiences it is hard for anyone to have the knowledge to fall back on when times get tough in the future. It's not good enough to just experience adversity however. Instead a good leader is someone who can look back on their hardships, acknowledge that they contributed to making them a better person and being thankful for them. It's only when you appreciate all that has made you stronger that you actually become stronger. Good leaders know that there's always something to be gained from a bad situation and instead of moping around and feeling bad for themselves learning and using that experience later is the only way to grow. 

Colonel Winters

"True satisfaction comes from getting the job done. They key to a successful leader is to earn respect--not because of rank or position, but because you are a leader of character."

~Colonel Winters

Celebrating Veterans Day (or Armistice Day) always gets me in the mood to read some personal accounts of various wars and this year I landed on a book written by a commander of Easy Company (the 2nd Battalion) in WWII, Colonel Richard "Dick" Winters. 

Throughout his book, Winters talks about what it was like training, fighting and living with the other members of Easy Company. The part that stood out to me the most was when he was serving under Lieutenant Colonel Sobel while training in Aldbourne. Winters and Sobel had very different personalities and Winters worried that Sobel was an unfit leader for Easy Company. Sobel tried to get him thrown out of the army several times by charging him with crimes that were unjust. Winters took them to the court martial and he was sent away to become the battalion mess officer. 

Following this, despite Winters' attempts to stop it, many of the other officers went to the regimental commander and threatened to turn in their stripes if Sobel was not replaced with Winters. This did not impress the commander and he demoted some of the officers yet he still replaced Sobel and excused Winters to where he could return as a leader of Easy Company's 1st platoon. Throughout the war Winters played a big part in the success of Easy Company and it was clear that his men had the utmost respect for him.

One thing I've learned from starting to read this book is that even when put into a position of authority, like Sobel, you do not automatically gain the status of a leader. Leadership is something earned through respect and once you gain the respect and trust of those around you, like Winters did, if you are responsible you can become a great leader.

Armistice Day

"If you want to make enemies, try to change something."

~Woodrow Wilson 

Today is Veteran's Day, or as originally named, Armistice Day. So what better way to honor it's history than look back on the events for which it was named? Armistice Day was named after the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month on which the armistice was signed that ended fighting in Europe. Unfortunately though, I think the Treaty of Versailles which was the result of the original armistice showed some of the worst leadership in action of all time. 

It all started when Woodrow Wilson came up with and distributed his Fourteen Points. They were dropped over the border of Germany as propaganda and is considered an influential part in Germany's call for peace. However after the armistice was signed and the leaders of the great nations began drawing up the Treaty of Versailles, things began to take a turn for the worse. This is because, while Germany's leaders agreed with Wilson's points, they did not agree with what they turned into in the treaty. However since they had signed the Armistice and their hands were  tied, they had no say in the matter. Many believe this disagreement and hatred of the Treaty of Versailles played a crucial role in the development of WWII.


Who knows what could have happened differently if the leaders in Paris had consulted with or even just listened to the concerns of the German leaders? In any case their exclusion of certain leaders and countries from the negotiations was a clear example of what leaders should not act like. I've learned from reflecting on this incident that if something is decided without the consent or collaboration of all those involved, it can lead to some nasty consequences.

Leading by Example

"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent."

~Abraham Lincoln

This comic is a pretty big example of how if people do not believe in you then they will never consider you a leader.  You can say anything you want to others. That you climbed Mt. Everest, held council with the commanders of the Army and Navy, or even that you owned a Ferrari. Without proof however, no one worth convincing will believe you. It's the same way with leadership. 

If you want people to trust you and follow you as a leader, then you have to prove to them that you want what's in their best interest. You can't just tell them that you advocated for them and expect them to believe it. You must work with them to understand what they want and then  show them your ideas for how to accomplish it. In the same way you cannot just expect people to see you as a leader because you tell them you are one. Instead you must prove to them through your actions that you are capable to be a leader. Therefore leading through example is the only way to lead.