The video below is of Lt. General Hal Moore discussing Leadership, recorded at the 2007 American Veterans Conference in Washington D.C. He highlights a number of principles that has guided his life and also guided him on the battlefield.
1 In baseball, three strikes and you’re out. In the game of life three strikes and you are not out, there is always one more thing you can do, to influence any situation in your favour. All you have to do is think, what else can I do, and after that there’s one more thing you can do. The more things you do the more opportunities that open up.
2 On the battlefield always try to be where the action is going on. A battlefield leader has to lead on the battlefield.
3 In any situation you’ve got to think what am I doing that I should not be doing and what am I not doing that I should be doing, to influence the situation in my favour. There’s always one more thing.
4 Trust your instincts. Your instincts are the product of your experience, your reading, your personality. Your instincts are your best resource. Your gut tells you one thing and your heart tells you another. Go with your gut.
5 Life is not a bed of roses. You are going to be hit with adversity, now and again. When hit by adversity, you’ve got to believe that you will prevail in the end.
The trailer below is of the 2002 film We Were Solders depicting the Vietnam War battle of la Drang in 1965. The film stars Mel Gibson as the then Lt Colonel (imdb).
Another interesting example of a speech revolving around life lessons was by Navy Admiral William H. McRaven during the University of Texas 2014 commencement. It can be summed in the following principles below.
1 If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
2 If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
3 If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.
4 If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.
5 If you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.
6 If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.
7 If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
8 If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.
9 If you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.
10 If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
Many of these principles can be summed up as “Start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone. Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when the times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up”.
Another key idea discussed is that by changing the lives of just a few people within a few generations this can impact the lives of everybody on the planet.
One can read the entire transcript of the speech (online) at the University of Texas website.
The video below is again of Admiral McRaven highlighting eight key leadership lessons.
1 Know your troops.
2 Communicate constantly.
3 Set the example.
4 Accountability matters.
5 Allow room to maneuver.
6 Own the problems.
7 Learn from failure and move on.
8 Be a servant leader.
Some other blog posts that may be worth reading:
Prof Randy Pausch Time Management & The Last Lecture (online)
Schwarzenegger Interview: Vision, Goals, Confidence and Time Management (online)
Do you know of any other interesting videos / articles discussing interesting life lessons or leadership principles?
Dr. Daniel C. Doolan News & Photos 