leadership – SemperVerus

Why We Shouldn’t Just ‘Do Something’

It’s a common belief that US President Teddy Roosevelt said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” However, according to the Theodore Roosevelt Center, “this statement is often attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, but no known source can be found to verify the attribution.”

Even so, TR was devoted to action. He didn’t shy away from making a decision and acting upon it. The important detail is that the decision must be based on what is right.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Every Small Decision Leads to Winning or Losing in Spiritual Warfare ]

The fifth element of the five SemperVerus components is DO, which emphasizes the importance of combining the previous four elements in order to engage in accomplishing what is needed in the moment. Neither procrastination nor neglect is an option. The SemperVerus principle reads:

V. Do: resolving to intentionally and skillfully act to accomplish positive and fruitful outcomes.

A recent commentary by John Stonestreet on the Colson Center’s Breakpoint podcast stresses that ambiguity is not the answer when action is called for. Merely choosing to do “something”—especially if it’s misguided—can be inappropriate, nonsensical, and even an obstruction to beneficial outcomes.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Be Like Ernest Shackleton ]

Here are a few excerpts:

By semperverus
Posted on 12/20/202412/21/2024

The Door of Leadership Swings on the Hinge of Character

Four-star Admiral James Stavridis served as the commander of US Southern Command, US European Command, and Supreme Allied Commander at NATO, and served for five years as the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is currently Partner and Vice Chairman, Global Affairs of The Carlyle Group, and is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, What a Leaf-Sweeper’s Answer Teaches About Personal Leadership ]

In his book, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character, he explores—through the lives of some of the most illustrious naval commanders in history—how personal character is the driving force behind successful or failed leadership.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Spiritual Fitness Self-Defense: Seeing Temptation as a Threat ]

None of the admirals in this volume were perfect, and some were deeply flawed. But important themes emerge, not least that serving your reputation is a poor substitute for serving your character; and that taking time to read and reflect is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, How Does Your Character Measure Up? ]

“The big door of leadership can swing for good or for ill…the hinge upon which that big door of leadership swings is called character; the human heart,” says Admiral Stavridis. “What’s in that heart, what kind of character a leader has is what will determine how that big door of leadership will swing for good purpose or for terrible evil.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Every Small Decision Leads to Winning or Losing in Spiritual Warfare ]

Here are a few of the lessons taught in the book:

By semperverus
Posted on 12/04/202412/04/2024

What a Leaf-Sweeper’s Answer Teaches About Personal Leadership

Launch of Friendship 7 from Launch Complex 14, Kennedy Space Center, 14:47:39 UTC, 20 February 1962. (NASA) President John F. Kennedy introduced himself to a man sweeping leaves at NASA during a 1962 visit and asked him what he was doing, to which the man replied, “I’m part of the team that’s going to put a man on the moon.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Every Small Decision Leads to Winning or Losing in Spiritual Warfare ]

The man knew that clearing debris that could affect the engines of aircraft was an integral part of the overall mission of NASA.

It’s a lesson in how to properly view the big picture of the lives we live, the work we do, and the decisions we make every day. To properly succeed in our personal meaning and leadership, we must avoid thinking small and having tunnel vision in who we are and what we do.

Every Small Decision Leads to Winning or Losing in Spiritual Warfare

Our lifetimes are lived second by second (86,400 in a day), minute by minute (1,440 in a day), hour by hour (24 in a day), day by day (7 in a week), week by week (52 in a year), month by month (12 in a year), year by year (365 days in a year), and decade by decade (8 decades in an average lifetime; which is the same as 4,174 weeks or 29,220 days). The manner in which we live depends entirely on each and every decision we make in each of those limited spans of time.

Witnessing worldwide hateful motives and malevolent behavior in the news every day, it’s self-evident that we’re in the middle of a cosmic war between good and evil (Ephesians 6:12). Every decision we make—every one of them—determines whether we win or lose in that spiritual warfare—every moment of every day.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Situational Awareness: Spiritual Self-Defense ]

This applies even in subtle ways. Today’s culture has broadly normalized what for millennia has been understood to be abnormal. One mere example is the recent Summer Olympics, where, among a variety of indecent cringe-worthy incidents during the Games, the USA women’s gymnastics team, on the world’s media stage, jokingly gave themselves the NSFW nickname of “F.A.A.F.O.,” which translates to “F*** Around And Find Out.” This decision to self-identify by lightly applying an obscene and fractious word to an inspiring and worthy female sport activity was odious to common decency; what’s perhaps worse is that the world’s media and their audience enjoyed the usage.

Let it not be so with those who commit to the SemperVerus way! What the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome in the 1st century directly applies to us in the 21st century:

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)

Perhaps you’re thinking right now, “I don’t swear that much. I can tell a little white lie every now and then. I use profanity only infrequently. Probably only 5% of my vocabulary is vulgar. It’s a minor amount.” Consider this: You’re presented with a treat by a friend. He says, “I know how much you like brownies so I made this batch for you. I mixed into the ingredients only 5% of cow manure. It’s a minor amount.” Will you want to eat it? Of course not! You want the ingredients to be pure, devoid of any toxicity, no matter how small. The same purity should be reflected in the decisions we make every moment.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Spiritual Fitness Self-Defense: Seeing Temptation as a Threat ]

Will you decide to…