Author Archives: themaximumstandard

It’s Valentine’s Day, and I hope you’ve done something special for your significant other. They’re the ones we spend much time with, love, and cherish. It’s our job as half of the relationship to work on improving it every day.

Your work team is also a group that you spend much time with. You love and cherish them, albeit in a slightly different way. Just like in a relationship, you have half—if not more—of the responsibility to help them love their work.

This week, we look at a few ways to make your team feel loved.

Lead well!

Steve

Leaders,

If you’re like me, I like to see quick wins. Last snowfall, my kids and I learned the hard lesson of how quick wins can lead to future challenges.

While shoveling the driveway for the third straight day and seeing snow pile up, the kids pointed out this great leadership lesson.

Don’t just focus on what needs to be done today, but deliberately set conditions for future success. This week we do this through snow clearing and the Desert Storm Air Campaign of 1991.

Lead well!

Steve

Leaders,

Are you looking to increase the camaraderie in your organization? We all are! But sometimes I think we try too hard.

A simple way is with the Jeep Wave. It’s not the scheduled interactions with a large group that enable leaders to build teams. It’s the daily activities they do to connect with their people.

Today, we look at the Jeep Wave and how it can bring people together on your team.

Lead well!

Steve

Leaders,

This week we dive into a leader on the grid iron who has hustled his way to the top.

Success is way more than talent and passion. It requires relentless effort to be achieve uncommon results. We can all learn from Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, even after their playoff loss, who does not take this for granted.

Keep hustling and lead well!

Steve

This week two-time guest author Tom Console takes us into the operating room. Here he explores how detailed planning, decisive action, and teamwork are required whether in the hospital, school, boardroom, or battlefield.

Every time this young leader writes I learn something. Great lessons from a great leader!

We are always looking for new authors. Let us help you share your best practices.

Lead well!

Steve

This week we have guest author Ty McNeely who explores the inner specialist in all of us.

When I first heard him pitch this original concept in a graduation speech, it really got me reflecting. He is spot on with the little voice inside us that is constantly talking.

Great article from a great leader – thanks for sharing, Ty!

Lead well!

Steve

Happy New Year!

“The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” — Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

I’m honored to continue this leadership journey with everyone in 2023! It’s up to us to make big things happen for our family, our work, and ourselves.

Hope you had a chance to recharge. This leadership stuff is not easy which is why we work at it.

Lead well!

Steve

Happy holidays!

This is our last article until the New Year, because we’re going to recharge through the end of December.

I say this with some trepidation. If you were to hang out with me, you’d know that I don’t do “recharge” very well.

I say this not to boast, but to identify a weakness. All of us, especially in leadership positions, need to make time to refresh, reflect, and give our bodies and brains a rest to prepare for whatever’s next.

Lead, and recharge, well!

Steve

A few years ago, my wife gave some half-joking advice to our teenage daughter. She said, “Don’t marry a jock. Marry a nerd.”

Now, the reasoning behind this comment none of us can remember. But it sparked a follow-up question that remains purposefully unanswered to this day: “Mom, did you marry a jock or a nerd?”

This week through the lens of marriage advice, jock and nerd stereotypes, and George Patton, we look at why leaders must be a little bit of a jock, a little bit of a nerd, and a whole lot of a leader.

Lead well!

Steve

Leaders are not owed, they owe.

We can all think of a person who felt they were entitled to special privileges because of their position. The best leaders understand their role is not to be owed, but to owe.

This week, we talk about breaking entitlement culture and earning our leadership position.

Lead well!

Steve

Happy Veteran’s Day!

One of my favorite Federal holidays is this one – where we have the honor to thank those who have served for their incredible selflessness and sacrifice. Being a Veteran is being a leader!

I hope you’ll get this leadership message out to any Veteran you know. They are the reason our Nation remains strong and secure today.

Lead well and thank you Veterans!

Steve

Leaders,

Watching the World Series this week, there are some BIG swings. And some BIG misses.

As I reflect on my leadership journey, I can easily recall times I’ve swung for the fence and missed. These failures in life were very painful but at the same time taught me invaluable lessons I needed for the future.

We need leaders who aren’t afraid to prepare well, swing big, miss, and try again. Those leaders allow others to do the same.

This week we walk through a number of swings resulting in both passed balls and home runs.

Keep swinging and lead well!

Steve

This week, guest author, Tom Console, defensive football coach at University of Pennsylvania, leads us into “The Great Leadership Academy” on the field.

His five lessons of leadership provide a way to continuously improve as a leader and an athlete. Tom has a great theory on how to increase confidence on and off the field through his acronym KCAC. Great article from a great leader!

If you want to guest author, drop us an email and we’ll help you publish.

Thanks, Tom, for helping us all lead well.

Steve

Good morning, Leaders!

This week I visited the Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy, an alternate high school program for 16- to 18-year-old students who have dropped out or are not progressing in a traditional setting.

I found that in this environment, they exemplify the Easy-Hard Principle: doing hard things today leads to an easier future.

It was inspiring watching them build a better life, and this week we look at how to apply those principles in our own leadership.

Lead well!

Steve

October 11, 2022 by Stephen T. Messenger I’m the assistant coach of a 13 year-old soccer team, and the first things we do every practice are stretch and run a lap around the field. I noticed an interesting phenomenon on day one. The players didn’t run the full field and cut the corners by aContinue reading “Don’t Cut Corners: In Soccer… Or in Life”

Good morning, Leaders!

As I look across my—or any—organization, there are so many talented, hard-working individuals. One of our jobs is to understand what talents each person brings to the team, and how to engage and interact with them appropriately.

This week we explore the Nine-Box Matrix. This tool allows leaders to assess talent based on current performance and future potential and engage employees appropriately.

I hope this helps you think deeply about workforce development and how to develop and retain our talented workforces.

Lead well!

Steve

I recently rode in the car with a really bad driver. He took the corners too fast, stopped abruptly, and generally made me fear for my life. Yet, when I subtly brought up his lack of driving skills, he brushed it off as if he could be a driving instructor in his spare time.

What would cause such a bad driver to think they’re good?

This week we explore the intersection of confidence and competence, graphed through the Dunning-Kruger Effect. An interesting concept to observe in both others and our own lives.

Lead well!

Steve

I took command of Army Garrison Fort McCoy 62 days ago and quickly noticed an interesting thing. Many times, members of the team speak to me about the command and preface it with the word “your”—as in, “your garrison” or “your installation.”

I quickly correct them.  It’s “our” installation. While this language may seem like semantics, this week we explore how one word makes a huge difference.

Lead well!

Steve

Good Morning, Leaders!

I often see the efforts of one person multiplied by thousands and wonder how they do it. This week we explore how one girl and her 57 cents turned into the founding of a major college in Philadelphia.

In this, we discuss how leaders are designed to take great ideas and bring them to the next level. I hear often, “Military commanders should do only what commanders can do.”

Yet many find themselves in the tactical fight and micromanaging, stifling their greatest asset–talented people.

Are you multiplying your team’s efforts or micromanaging how they work? We hope you think about how you direct activity this week.

Lead well!

Steve

“The British are coming!” shouted Paul Revere as he traversed the countryside surrounding Boston. Meanwhile, William Dawes carried the same message shouting the same thing.

Yet only one of these men became famous. Only one of these men was successful in their mission to warn Boston that night.

This week we look into what makes a successful communicator. Why some people thrive like Revere while some people disappear in history like Dawes.

Lead well!

Steve

I was walking into my office building last week with a few colleagues when I clearly saw a piece of trash laying on the ground. I instinctively tried to ignore it when once again the all-too-familiar voice of a man I’ve never personally met, but once heard speak, echoed in my head.

“Never pass a piece of trash without picking it up.”

General Michael Garrett’s leadership advice is both literal and metaphorical. This week we explore how to ensure we’re not walking by trash and instead improving the organization through personal example.

Lead well!

Steve

It’s so easy to see life as a pendulum. When we go too far one way, we overcorrect and swing back the other way.

The key is to strike a balance between extremes. This week we look at two sides of leadership styles: the interpersonal leader and the results-driven leader.

We don’t have to choose to be one or the other. In fact, we should try to be both.

Lead well!

Steve

This week we explore the concept of valuing others. It’s so easy to walk by people because of our busy schedules.

Yet every person and engagement has the opportunity for a positive interaction. Each one also has the opportunity for a negative result.

In this article, we talk about how a little deliberate planning increases our chances of a positive outcome. More importantly, we connect with our most valuable asset: people.

Lead well!

Steve

July 19, 2022 by Stephen T. Messenger Last week, I took command of United States Army Garrison Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. My family and I are humbled and blessed to be placed in this position of responsibility that influences hundreds of wonderful people who work for the garrison, tens of tenant organizations, and thousands of peopleContinue reading “Be Great Today!”

Good morning!

The early hours are the best time to gain a competitive advantage in work and life. Finding one extra hour every workday generates 32 more days of productivity each year!

This week we explore how to win the morning, and hence, win the day!

Lead well!

Steve

This morning, guest author Samuel Messenger shares his recent graduation speech which he gave last week to hundreds of newly graduated high school leaders!

His insight and wisdom on decision making techniques is something we can all use while considering our own choices.

Thank you, Sam for sharing this great lesson! We’re always looking for new authors, and you are leading the way!

Lead well!

Steve

Happy Flay Day leaders!

How well do we integrate work and life? There are so many lessons from home that can easily integrate into work and the other way around, but if you’re like me, I tend to compartmentalize.

Today we dive into the world of magic, drug-dealers, and the U.S. 1936 Olympic crew team to understand how to integrate lessons into other facets of our daily lives.

The best leaders see a holistic worldview of family, leisure, career, and hobbies and share lessons from each into the other.

I hope you’ll find time to blend these lessons together to be a better leader for your family and organization.

Lead well!

Steve

The best leaders have the ability to enter the other person’s world. They see what inspires, encourages, and motivates them.

This week using a raised crosswalk initiative by the New York City Mayor, we look to see how we can move from our world to our team’s world to better lead.

Never stop learning!

Steve

This week we explore what Blaise Pascal called the three orders of greatness. These three orders of the body, mind, and heart are all needed reach your full leadership potential, but followers gravitate most towards the third order.

I hope this makes you think today about what our followers truly need from us day in and day out.

Lead well!

Steve

January 18, 2022 by Stephen T. Messenger Oblintunity: An obligation that one must do, but at the same time provides massive opportunity for personal growth and development I’ve recently been part of a mission to place military medical professionals into civilian hospitals struggling with high numbers of COVID patients and staffing shortages. These military doctors,Continue reading “Oblitunity”

This week, I had the honor of promoting to the rank of Colonel in the United States Army. As I looked back over a 21-year career, I reflected to select one, seminal leadership lesson I wanted to pass along to military and civilian leaders, and especially my children.

It’s not about me.

by Stephen T. Messenger July 13, 2021 Last week I completed my Battalion Command experience—it has truly been an honor to lead America’s best and brightest. I was challenged, humbled, and encouraged by the great men and women who so diligently work on behalf of our Nation. While I learned many lessons from the job,Continue reading “Success Versus Significance”

July 4, 2021 This Independence Day, we thought it would be appropriate to share one of our Nation’s foundational documents, the Declaration of Independence. The struggle our fledgling Nation went through to separate from Great Britain was leadership at its finest. Fifty-six signatories supported by a countless background cast signed this declaration that would essentiallyContinue reading “Independence Day”

by Stephen T. Messenger April 20, 2021 COVID scrapped our plans again.  We spent over two months planning an exciting, week-long, COVID compliant, offsite for our leadership team.  Between reinforcing our strategic narrative, sharing best practices, conducting one-on-one counseling, hosting a competitive event and team building, and providing ample down time, this event was destinedContinue reading “Plans Are Worthless; Planning Is Everything”

by Stephen T. Messenger January 17, 2021 It was the day after one of my peers and good friends left the organization.  I walked into the office and staring me in the face that morning was a white envelope with my name on it.  Outside was his name professionally printed on quality cardstock.  Inside IContinue reading “The Art of the Thank You”

Stephen T. Messenger January 7, 2021 Roger Federer and Andre Agassi are two of the most successful tennis players of all time.  With over 2,000 match wins between them, they ruled the courts of their day and demolished their competition.  Interestingly enough, one loves the game while the other hates it.  Federer found his motivationContinue reading “Acing Transformational Leadership”

by Stephen T. Messenger January 1, 2021 I have three baseball caps in my house.  One is a clean tan Army hat that I wear outside in public at places like sporting events and beach gatherings.  This reminds me that I am a military officer both on and off duty and represent the profession ofContinue reading “Wearing Different Hats”

by Stephen T. Messenger January 1, 2021 In 2007, Starbucks faced backlash for a failure to protect the environment.  Between wasting over six million gallons of water per day from constantly running faucets and selling more than two billion unrecyclable paper cups per year, their environmental footprint, or lack thereof, was not making any friends.[i] Continue reading “Not a Hint of Impropriety”

by Stephen T. Messenger January 1, 2021 The most powerful words any leader can say are “Follow me.”  Leaders lead from the front and are the first to walk into any conflict—be it the field of battle or boardroom.  You cannot expect your team to do what you say unless you do what you said. Continue reading “Follow Me!”

by Stephen T. Messenger January 1, 2021 I’ve been a runner now for many years typically hitting the pavement five times a week.  In periods where I run just to say I exercised; I rarely improve. I generally don’t see changes in my performance except preventing atrophy.  I can tell my coworkers I ran toContinue reading “Doing Things Right”

by Stephen T. Messenger January 1, 2021 What would you get your boss if she asked you for a cup of coffee first thing in the morning?  One of my mentors asked me this very same question ten years ago.  I pictured myself walking to the break room to fill up a Styrofoam cup two-thirdsContinue reading “Cup of Coffee Philosophy”