Before I continue to answer the questions I posted on May 8th regarding strength of character, I will take a moment to mention something else I am passionate about, the American Civil War.
I have had a few emails asking me “what is the photo of on top of your blog?” The photo is taken from Emmittsburg Road looking east to north east approximately from where Kershaw’s South Carolina brigade of McLaw’sDivision of Longstreet’s Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia began their 1700 echelon attack. It is looking toward the Rose Farm in the middle of the picture with the Wheat Field and Little Round Top in the background. When Al Gill and I were taking the Norwegian Naval Cadets through a staff ride last November, our guests, Ginger and Chet Richards snapped this excellent photograph.
Yesterday, members of the Georgetown University Executive Masters in Leadership (EML) faculty conducted our “leaders recon” at Gettysburg preparing for the EML Gettysburg Residency. The Gettysburg Residency takes students in EMLand does a full blown staff ride for 3 and half days, with the students role playing a key leader as we walk the battlefield. We use the campaign and battle as a metaphor to develop leadership using experiental learning. This is the fourthyear, and it has been quite popular with the students.
Among our many stops throughout the day of coordination and talking over the timeline was to check out the new visitors center located off Powell’s Hill alstride Baltimore Pike near Rock Creek (the southeast corner of the battlefield). This visitor center is signficant in that it is part of the park’s effort to restore the battlefield to as close to it was (within reason) as it appeared in July 1863. So, it was moved, including the cyclorama) from its old site sitting on the southeast side of Cemetary Hill to its new location about a mile away. The other significance is that this was built off private donations (myself and Al Gill contributing our small part last year). The park service is now beginning to restore the old location to what it looked like at the time of the battle which includes Zeigler’s Grove just north of the famouns Clump of Trees.
You can see the visitor center here,
http://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm
There is much to learn from the past regarding leadership and adaptability if the lessons are translated and facilitated to students in a way they understand. A properly conducted staff ride is just one of many tools used during an Adaptive Leaders Methodology to develop adaptability.
Back to preparation for my trips to Fort Knox and West Point where I am teaching my adaptability workshop.
Odds & Ends: May 15, 2008…
It’s time again for another round of Odds & Ends. One of the more interesting studies mentions Multiman Publishing plans to start releasing Civil War board games set in the Western Theater and using the Great Campaigns of the American Civil …
I saw them there, one was called Sam Grant and dealt opeationally with his western campaigns. Wargames are great tools to use to develop decision making, better yet when they are done with computers that add the aspects of friction and the fog of war with an AI or better yet, an opponent on line, where you can only see what your people see or through intelligence.
Thanks for your input.
Don
Don,
My comment above is actually a trackback from one of the blog entries on my Civil War blog TOCWOC. My Odds & Ends entries basically highlight mentions of the Civil War on non-Civil War blogs. If you click on the “TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog” link above it takes you directly to my blog post. The wargames stuff just happens to be this entry’s lead off paragraph, in case you were wondering.
Brett
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