Welcome to The Nutshell for subscribers of The Greater Good. A journal where I share my personal journey to citizen better.
What People are Saying - the good, the bad, and the ugly (Feedback on The Greater Good)
This week I want to put the positive up front. Too often I dismiss the positive as people being overly generous, but that’s the wrong approach. I’m thankful to those who take a minute to comment on content. It’s a big boost.
On Sarah Goldfeder’s episode.
“Just listened to Sarah's journey and I feel so motivated! 😍 As a mother and a new business owner, her words really stuck with me - 'what you do every day has to be the reward.' So true!”
“…another great podcast. You've got a great lineup of interesting leaders and topical discussions. I really enjoyed learning about the march towards EV tech.”
“This was a great episode. Very informative and interesting guest.”
“Great podcast, very passionate and informative, thanks for sharing.”
On the Courage and Leadership editorial.
“Timely and insightful post, Chris. So many view leadership as achieving results and getting things done, but what I’m learning each day is the “how” we get things done is what’s more important.”
“Absolutely agree! Challenging conformity is essential for leaders. Embracing moral courage means daring to defy the status quo and act on what truly matters, even when it's tough or unpopular. Thanks for highlighting this crucial aspect of leadership.”
“A very thoughtful reflection to help guide institutional leaders in these uncertain times.”
“A thought provoking reflection. Leadership takes courage in all environments. Doing the right thing when it requires tough decisions isn't easy and we don't always get it right. "There is a right way to be wrong" is incredibly important - I'm adding this to my list of favourite statements!”
“Love it. The words “courage is as unique as a fingerprint” hit home for sure.”
What I’m Doing
Last Sunday I published my second editorial on leadership with a focus on the importance of courage. These editorials always take me too long to write and would not be nearly as cogent without the help of my talented spouse. She reminds me that communicating well is tough. I often look at a paragraph and think, “damn, that’s good!” This is probably when I think I’ve been rather clever in how I have crafted something. This will be where she asks me, “what exactly are you trying to say here?” After I get over myself, and my Charlie Brown face has lessened, I get back to the work of figuring out how best to share an idea. After the editorial was published, I had an email exchange with someone I used to serve with about the piece. This leader uses different leadership writings to generate professional discussions in his team. I was flattered that he intends to use my latest editorial in this way.
A few years ago, I was introduced to Tim Powers by a mutual friend. I was at Royal Military College and wanted to find leaders from non-military backgrounds to share their perspectives on leadership. I had seen Tim on Power and Politics and knew he ran a business and was the head of Rugby Canada. As I was mentioning how Tim would be a great speaker for the young officer, my friend interjected with,”we grew up together in Newfoundland.” Small world. So Tim and I have stayed connected over the years and he asked me to be on his Newfoundland and Labrador drive time radio show this past week. It was a lot of fun and I had a chance to speak about my transition out of the military, why I started this Substack, what the NSP is about, and a little bit on leadership. A big thanks to Tim for helping me spread the word. You can here me starting at around 37 minutes.
One area I have yet to cover on the podcast is the media. I’m admittedly hesitant in this area based on some past experiences, so I have been looking for someone with a media background to be a guest - enter Kevin Newman. I had never met Kevin before, but it became apparent that he will be a great interview for the NSP. Not only does he have some strong opinions about how the media has evolved in the digital age, but we have many shared friends which is always a bonus to help build a new relationship. Kevin’s recent editorial on Bell Media’s cuts is worth a read.
Image credit: Dave Molenhuis
I had the second part of my pre-podcast with former Commander of the Army, Mike Jeffery. What struck me about his time as the Army Commander was how similar his challenges in 2000 are to those today. I’m not sure if this is because a job with this much responsibility will always have enduring challenges or if we are just unable to find enduring solutions. As I understand it, there will be a new Army Commander this summer and I hope he or she can find a way to bring our Army back to a level of relevance. It’s not all on them, but I believe bold changes are required to move the Army into the future. The status quo is the enemy.
I was humbled to have someone I used to serve with reach out for a mentoring session. We had a wide ranging discussion on family, career, priorities, and ways to navigate the system. This reminded me that we do a poor job of mentoring in the military. As a friend told me this week, mentoring is an act of volunteerism. So true. Mentoring takes a commitment to someone else. Just because someone is a leader, it does not mean they are automatically a mentor. Being a mentor is a deliberate act to work with someone to help chart a path forward. I always get as much from a mentoring relationship as the mentee. Mentoring is a relationship of giving to one another and I think we should all have a mentor and be a mentee.
What I’m Reading
A sample of my reading this week.
I’m finishing up a re-read of The Emperor’s Handbook. This is my favourite version of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. This is stoic philosophy at it’s finest. It’s not for everyone, but I find it very useful to remind me about some very obvious realities of life.
I stumbled across an article in Policy Options on how prefabricated housing is a solution to the housing crisis. It makes a lot of sense as the way we currently build house is customized in many ways. That approach takes too much time and prefab could be a way to put more volume in the market.
When I find something written by Peter Singer, I read it. This latest on on how the U.S. military is dealing with the AI revolution is a good summary of the challenges of this technology in warfare.
- shared this article with me and I think it’s a great piece on leader fit. The author uses the example of Boeing to underline the importance of finding the right person to lead an organization.
Circling back to where I started, I found this article in the Harvard Business Review on Why Engineers Should Study Philosophy. It argues that in the age of AI, engineers need to be able to define the problem before starting work so they can use AI as a tool and not a crutch.
What I’m Listening to and Watching
I love a good standup. My wife introduced my to Neal Brennan. Some of his earlier stuff is a tad depressing, but his recent Netflix special, Crazy Good, is fast and on point.
My new podcast listen this week is On Purpose with Jay Shetty. It was a random selection on Spotify. I’m not sold just yet (it’s a tad to zen and crystals), but I think his episode on friendships resonated with me. What I have realized about myself is I’m good at maintaining friendships. This likely came from being a only child and moving around as a kid. I put the effort into keeping friendships going. However, what I have had to learn as an adult is when to stop investing in a friendship. I now understand that everyone is a friend in their own way and I need to decide if I want to meet them where they are at or not. I used to be annoyed about not having a “balanced” friendship where someone matched my effort. This was wrong and immature. Now I have friendships that are active and those that are more dormant. I’m always happy to hear from the latter, but now I just enjoy the interaction in the moment and match their level of effort.
Reminders to Subscribers
If there are guests you would like to see on the podcast, please drop me a note in the Substack chat function.
I continue to offer free advertising for veteran charities and businesses on The Northern Sentinels Podcast. If you know a business or organization that could benefit, please pass along the offer. They can connect with me through Substack, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for supporting The Greater Good. Please take the time to recommend my Substack to someone to help grow the community. Have an amazing weekend.