The Courage to Take Command: Leadership Lessons from a Military Trailblazer

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SURPRISE AS A LEADERSHIP TOOL

There are times in your leadership career when you’ll need to do something unexpected or out of character. A slight lack of predictability can work in your favor when you really need to make a statement.

In 1992, war broke out in Bosnia, in the former Yugoslavia. Bosnia imploded with ethnic hatred and genocide—neighbors killing neighbors. United Nations peacekeeping efforts did not end the ethnic cleansing. In 1996, the United States and other NATO nations became involved.

I worked very hard to convince the Pentagon to assign the 318th Press Camp, the public affairs mission in Bosnia, to tell the Army’s story of peacekeeping, but the U.S. Army Reserve Command sent a smaller unit, a public affairs company. The ...