Know Yourself

I’m a person first.  Though I adored the Army, I was not one of those officers who came from a long family history of service or always aspired to wear the uniform and serve forever.  I liked that about myself.  I had served with a few of these officers in my career and they seemed a bit narrow-minded and socially inept.  I never held automatic grudges against these types of leaders, some were actually very good.  I just remember many of them and the way they were which did not resonate with me.  I always felt there were bigger things than just wearing the uniform.  Though I was a career officer, I never really considered myself one.  I had other clothes in my closet beside my boots and camouflaged uniform and enjoyed periods where I wouldn’t have to shave every day or where I could sleep in late.  I was never the “chosen one.”  I wasn’t the one selected for early promotions and earmarked for the most prestigious assignments.  I saw myself more as a person than a solider.  I always felt this and shared it with a few people but never really put it on paper until I chose to create my BIO sketch. You can read it for yourself in Chapter 5 of “It’s Personal, Not Personnel, Leadership Lessons for the Battlefield and The Boardroom”