FOR TRAINING USE ONLY 1 Be a leader All the time 108 & A Wake Up

FOR TRAINING USE ONLY 1

Be a leaderBe a leaderAll the timeAll the time

108 & A Wake 108 & A Wake UpUp


“Col Mercado told me how well the Commandant’s Inspection went last fall. I

expect great things on the President’s Inspection, but you know I’m tougher than

Col Mercado. We’ll see how we do…”-- Lt Gen John W. Rosa, President, The Citadel, Remarks to the Corps of Cadets,

16 Jan 2014


As we get underway in the spring term, trying to regain the momentum from last term, or perhaps wanting to make this semester a better one in terms of grades or goal attainment, it might be useful for us to look to history to see how another leader faced new challenges.

In Rick Atkinson’s book An Army at Dawn, we gain insight into the learning curve of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was cutting his teeth as a commander in North Africa in WWII. Ike’s approach to “getting better as a leader” might point the way for us. From the book:

“As always, he contemplated the art of generalship through the lens of his own shortcomings. ‘Through all this I am learning many things…that waiting for other people to produce is one of the hardest things a commander has to do.’ Even more important, ‘an orderly, logical mind [is] absolutely essential to success…’”

“He studied his mistakes—this practice was always one of Eisenhower’s virtues—and absorbed the lessons for future battles in Italy and western Europe.”

“Eisenhower wrote his own son at West Point: ‘I have observed very frequently that it is not the man who is so brilliant [who] delivers in time of stress and strain, but rather the man who can keep on going indefinitely, do a good straightforward job.’”

Keeping “an orderly, logical mind” and doing “a good straightforward job”—if that approach was good enough for Ike, it ought to be good enough for us.

Post Script: Rick Atkinson is the keynote speaker for this year’s Krause Leadership Symposium in March.

FOR TRAINING USE ONLY

CS 1-2CS 1-2Career Success AfterCareer Success After

The CitadelThe Citadel

4

Jan 2014CAO: 21 Jan 2014


Objectives

• Gain employer perspective on what makes a successful candidate

• Understand job market, qualifications, and expectations of potential employers

• Develop confidence interacting with potential employers (know what to say, how to initiate conversation, and how to brand themselves)

5


What I Wrote Down from Boeing Expert• Know your brand

• Develop & practice that “Elevator Speech”

• Always tailor “elevator speech” to job

• Live by interview 101: prep, keep it tangible, remember 1 min rule

• Prepare “ice breaker” & “questions”

6

For every career, there is a price of admission







Communicate brand, get to the essence



Like GPA?Like GPA?


Remember your Remember your degreedegree

Citadel strengthCitadel strength]


Resources“The Doo-ah”• Career Center

• NY Times & Others

• Interview stream

• Career Fair – 26 Feb

16

For every career, there is a price of admission


When I interview people, I always ask, “Why do you want to be in this business?” If someone doesn’t immediately have an energetic, authentic response, that it is a huge red flag for me. It’s shocking how many people come in for very high-level jobs and it’s clear they haven’t even been on our company’s website.

The Corner Office--NY Times Excerpts--

I then usually ask them to describe the job they’re interviewing for, which is a good question for several reasons. First, it helps force them to articulate what the job description is and how their skills would fit into that job description. Second, it helps me learn their level of interest in the company. It immediately becomes apparent whether they’ve done the research and whether they are really serious. I also ask where they think their career will go in the next five or 10 years.


Questions & CommentsQuestions & Comments

Be a leaderBe a leader

All the timeAll the time

18

Documents

FOR TRAINING USE ONLY 1 Be a leader All the time 108 & A Wake Up