Welcome!
In the twenty-plus years since I was commissioned as an Officer in the United States Army, I’ve sensed the voluminous materials developed by the military have applicability beyond the uniform.
Three interrelated concepts challenge all professionals: Leadership, Management, and Life Planning. Military doctrine, techniques and processes are best tools to help inform and improve our perspectives and abilities.
Borrowing with Pride endeavors to use the excellent (but, outside of the Armed Forces, largely unknown) military manuals and publications to help you grow as a leader, manager, and planner of your own life.
I’m intrigued (or confused) and want more details.
Each week, Borrowing with Pride will send two dispatches:
Study. On Tuesdays. Free to all subscribers. It will include 10-15 minutes of content and reading with questions for reflection (example: Small Team Leadership).
Guided Discovery. On Thursdays. Available to paid subscribers only. It will include 20-40 minutes of discussion on the Study content, combined with thought exercises, reflections, and activity prompts to thoughtfully and methodically apply lessons to your personal and professional life.
There will be occasional additional dispatches on topics of general interest that fit with the themes of Leadership, Management, and Life Planning.
The focus is on the practical and not the tactical. The training provided will help you become more thoughtful and methodical, but it will not equip you for a life in the trenches.
Yes, military euphemisms are pervasive in real life, and yes, in the business world, people love referring to things as ‘wars’ and ‘battles’, but beyond the typical adoption of verbiage and the ever-growing industry of former ‘Warriors’ pitching their swagger-based, chest-thumping form of leadership self-help, there is a distinct lack of attention to the doctrines, techniques and processes that help the world’s most complex organization function.
Three general concepts reinforced in the development of military leaders, both commissioned and non-commissioned, are:
1. KISS (keep it simple stupid),
2. Adopt and espouse the best ideas, regardless of source, and
3. Do not worry about memorizing everything, just know where to find the information.
With these concepts in mind, Borrowing with Pride is a system to support individuals wanting to learn and reflect on military concepts and how they can improve us individually and collectively in Leadership, Management, and Life Planning.
This sounds like work?
It is, though like most things, you get out of it what you put in. You, yes you, consistently lament that you do not make the time for critical thought and self-analysis. Why not give yourself the opportunity?
This is curriculum, content, and community, every week, for you to borrow with pride for your own benefit, however you define it.
Why subscribe?
True to the title, you can borrow most everything provided with pride, and without payment. All themes and associated linked materials are free with an unpaid subscription. All reading materials are unclassified and provided by government through existing open source formats. Study dispatches are free.
But…a paid subscription will provide you with each Thursday’s Guided Discovery dispatch, which includes structured (but brief) analysis, thought-provoking questions, exercises, and discussion prompts (feel free to do this with a friend).
A paid subscription is access to rigor in your analysis and application of each week’s theme and serves as an accelerant to your success. Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives.
Who is producing this?
I’m Matt Pedersen. I’m borrowing with pride as your facilitator on this journey.
I’ve worked at McDonald’s, been an Officer in the military, and been a Managing Director / Partner at the world’s largest consultancy, working with the world’s most successful companies. In short, I’ve worked at and with every level of the biggest organizations on earth.
Everyone is looking for inspiration, a competitive edge, contrarian perspectives, a different frame of reference, and new ideas on how to lead, follow, and be happy in an increasingly complex world. I’ve spent a career contemplating the applicability of military concepts to both the business world and personal life, and I want to expand on this contemplation and share it with you.
We’re on this journey together, and if you have ideas on how to make it better, I’ll be happy to borrow with pride (and gratitude): matt @ borrowingwithpride.com
