Whether it’s in business, health care, law enforcement or national security, the 21st century is filled with volatility and uncertainty. How do we develop leaders who are adaptable, agile and able to help our organizations evolve in the face of an unpredictable environment?
When military and business organizations are faced with these challenges, they turn to Don Vandergriff. Don’s leader development and personnel management concepts are innovative. And powerful. And powerfully effective.
He shows executives and military leaders how to appreciate novel approaches to leader development. He illustrates how to use those new ideas to create and nurture leaders who will not only run their organizations, but help them evolve and thrive in the face of change. Don enables his clients to take those steps.
Don began his work on personnel management and leader development 10 years ago with the question, “How would John Boyd develop a personnel system that would develop the types of people he would define as leaders?”
USAF Colonel John R. Boyd was a true American hero, a 20th-century fighter pilot who became the most influential strategist of the century. He is best known for developing the concept of the OODA loop and explaining how operating inside an opponent’s OODA loop allows one to achieve the ancient strategic goal of winning even before engaging in battle.
Today, Don is the only person in the country who illustrates how to apply the principles Colonel Boyd to leader development and personnel management.
As a student of John Boyd’s work, Don has written two books, edited another and produced numerous chapters and articles using Boyd’s work as his foundation. Don’s works can be found on the web site, Defense and the National Interest which is dedicated to John Boyd. The site is operated by Dr. Chet Richards, one of Boyd’s colleagues.
Like John Boyd, Don is a true visionary. Writers such as COL Douglas MacGregor, US Army, retired, and Col. T. X. Hammes, US Marine Corps, retired, have incorporated his concepts into their books, and a number of magazine articles have featured Don’s work. The best known may be “How to Fix my Army: A Maverick Officer’s plan to Overhaul the Service’s Culture,” by Sean Naylor in the July 2002 issue of Army Times.
In his presentations, Don walks listeners through historical snapshots from the history of warfare, pointing out the elements common to leader development strategies. He explains how tools such as “tactical decision games” apply to the problems of the business world, and engages participants through games that show them how to be adaptive. Finally, he explains terms such as “schwerpunkt” and “mission orders” – powerful concepts with military roots that haven’t been taught in leader development or management courses or widely practiced in corporate offices.
