Ira Chaleff's Blog, page 9

Partners in Courage

I had the great pleasure of visiting my colleague Bill Treasurer at his home in North Carolina this past week, on my way back from viewing the awesome total eclipse from high up in the gorgeous Smoky Mountains. Bill and I are comrades-in-arms. He published his first book Right Risk about the same time I published the first edition of The Courageous Follower, both of us with our wonderful publisher, Berrett-Koehler. Bill’s next book was Courage Goes to Work and his most recent is A Leadersh...

NASA and Intelligent Disobedience

NASA’s Joint Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is managed by Cal Tech University. It is responsible for the non-human (robotic) space flights in our solar system and for advancing the earth sciences. It is an extraordinary collection of highly educated, motivated and diverse professionals.

I was invited to conduct workshops on my recent book, Intelligent Disobedience, as it applies to the need for candid input from every team member to ensure mission success.

In the photo I am...

MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award 2017

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab announced today the winner of its Disobedience Award. They are Dr, Mona Hanna-Attisha and Professor Marc Edwards whose work unearthed and publicized the lead poisoning occurring in Flint Michigan as a result of politically driven changes to the source of the city’s drinking water supply. The specific act of disobedience was refusing to wait for peer review of their findings once they determined children were being harmed now by the elevat...

Book Excerpt – Wise Leaders Value Intelligent Disobedience

Intelligent Disobedience does not imply that the authority figure is acting immorally, though that case certainly occurs. The individual with formal authority may simply be wrong for a variety of reasons. There are many other well- intentioned reasons that a person with authority may ask us to do something that is wrong for the situation. By disobeying the specific order, we are not only making an a attempt to respond appropriately to the situation, we are also saving authorities from doin...

Book Excerpt – What is Intelligent Disobedience?

What exactly is Intelligent Disobedience? I had the same question when I first heard the term. These are two words that don’t usually fit together. We know what obedience is: following orders or rules or established ways of doing things. Obeying usually keeps life running smoothly. Disobedience is a contrary response to these common obligations of life. Disobeying often results in unpleasant consequences. Those issuing the orders or seeing the rules are inclined to enforce them, and they u...

If I Had Known Then what I Know Now

US 1936 Olympics gold medal backstroke champion, Adolph Kiefer, the son of German immigrants, died this week at 98 years old. As the US Navy’s chief swim instructor in WWII he is credited with saving thousands of lives by teaching sailors a survival form of the backstroke.

He broke world records 17 times, held 14 patents that improved the sport of swimming and remained life-long friends with his fellow Olympian, Jesse Owens, the African-American whose 1936 victories galled the ultra-racist...

Tortured Souls

In the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, Army Major General (Retired) Antonio Taguba and Marine Lt Colonel (Retired) Scott Cooper review two memoirs about torture that the authors of the memoirs participated in while assigned to the Mid-East in the “war on terror.” These memoirs are relevant reads for anyone concerned about the uses of torture, its morality, its questionable effectiveness and its adverse impact on our strategic interests. In this blog post I wish to focus on the...

Leading & Following in Law Enforcement

The principles of courageous followership have found their way into many aspects of our culture. In California, for example, The Police Officer Standards of Training have for many years included The Courageous Follower in the year long sergeant level training program.

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There is now a new arrival in the application of courageous leadership and courageous followership values and strategies. Robynne Sherrill who focused her doctoral dissertation on the relationship of...

Bright Spots Amid “The Carnage”

The Washington Post, January 17, 2017
Tom Jackman – Rusell Contreras (AP)

A peaceful but seismic change of government occurred this weekend in Washington. The newly sworn in President chose to describe the national landscape as one of “carnage” that was difficult for many to recognize. In the midst of the uncertain course of this presidency it is important to not lose sight of the capacity of this country to reflect on its flaws and take steps to remedy them. One such step occurred this w...

Bringing light to the world

At each stage of mankind’s history there has been darkness caused by natural phenomena or by the misuse of power by humans. In the winter solstice that we now enter in the Northern hemisphere, each culture has evolved its rituals and celebrations to counter the physical darkness and its accompanying psychological darkness. You may celebrate the light that Jesus brought into the world, the holy oil that burned in the reclamation of the ancient temple, the Yule log that shares its warmth, or...