"Embrace the Suck"

For John, BLUF:  Don't let the problems wear you down.

When a Navy Rear Admiral writes an appreciation for a Army Major killed in action, for her local newspaper, it suggests that Major made an impression.  In this case it is Read Admiral John F. Kirby, who is the U.S. Navy’s chief of information at the Pentagon.  While stationed at the Pentagon he worked with Army Major Jaimie Leonard.  On 8 June of this year she was killed by an Afghan Policeman.  Was he a Taliban soldier, who had infiltrated the Afghan Police, or was he just an Afghan Policeman who saw gunfire as the way to settle an argument?  We don't know.  The Straits Times has this story.

For me, the story in the Warwick [New York} Advertiser contains the important point.  Major Jaimie Leonard was a person with a positive attitude and who could communicate that positive attitude to others.  This article reveals the little known and much hidden secret that leadership—real leadership—is not just top down, but also bottom up and lateral.

The second point in the story is the importance of an attitude of "embrace the suck".  It is all part of life.  NPR explains it all, here.

This blog posts references a 20 June 2013 article, so this is current.

Regards  —  Cliff