Terry Newell is currently director of his own firm, Leadership for a Responsible Society. His work focuses on values-based leadership, ethics, and decision making. A former Air Force officer, Terry also previously served as Director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education, and as Dean of Faculty at the Federal Executive Institute. Terry is co-editor and author of The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships That Make Government Work (CQ Press, 2011). He also wrote Statesmanship, Character and Leadership in America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and To Serve with Honor: Doing the Right Thing in Government (Loftlands Press 2015).
There are some silly differences in close relationships. The humor and acceptance that comes from negotiating through them help build the foundation that gets people through rough times.
Fearful of backing down, nations may back into war. As Memorial Day approaches, it is worth recalling lessons from Vietnam.
In science and technology, the balance between humility and hubris is hard to judge. Much of that work goes on out of view and most of us lack the knowledge to evaluate – or even understand – the work itself.
Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were the Jeremiahs of the 19th century, calling the nation to live its founding values. We need Jeremiahs again.
Nearly a hundred years ago, Dr. Frances Weld Peabody said "The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient." That requires empathy.
Stories take facts and weave them into meaning. A nation needs unifying stories. Without them, it is like a ship unable to find a harbor.
The next time technology captures your time and energy, ask yourself: am I really living the life I want to live?
If legality is the sole standard incumbent on a president, we risk a presidential playing field devoid of ethical expectations.
I have a love affair with spring. It's been going on as long as I can remember. Its promise and its gifts never fade.
The campaign against government waste and gridlock has been a hallmark of elections for decades. But we should be wary of a government that acts too swiftly.
Anger is human but can destroy human dignity. More awareness of the thinking potholes it puts in our paths might avoid us driving so dangerously ahead.
Neuroscience is being used by some to shape what we buy and how we vote. Our emotions can be used, by neuro-manipulation, to drive out our reason
The desire to be in the inner circle of a powerful person or group, to be one of the “chosen,” can lead a person to be morally blind to what they are asked to do.
My wife has been, and remains, the muse for my own efforts to learn how to live. I will never achieve her ability for aging joyfully, but I will always be grateful that she shows me how
Our ability to deliberate about core public issues we face is compromised by poor understanding about our Constitution and history. Too many of us cannot pass a test of basic civic literacy.
The now-ritualized response to politicians discovered to have a racist past consists of condemnation, words of apology, and calls for resignation. Is this ritual helpful, and when is forgiveness appropriate?
We owe our greatest achievements to optimism. But we have suffered some of our worst tragedies from unfounded overconfidence. We need to make sure we don't cross the line that divides them.
Simple pleasures and the ability to add simplicity into one’s thinking provide rich rewards amidst the complexity and confusion in which we live.
We want strong leaders but mistake humility for weakness. Strength is not opposed to humility, it is magnified by it.
When most Americans look at government, they see only a negative picture shaped by those with axes to grind. To many, the government shutdown is thus no big deal. What they see is, sadly, a glass half-empty.
