George,

I love this topic because it is so timeless.

The number one thing I wish I knew was how powerful organizational culture is. Culture trumps every strategy I’ve ever developed.

CDSP plan, do you have a culture that values accountability?  If not it’s going to be hard to sustain that plan.

Want empowerment? Does your culture support autonomy or does it stifle it?

I wish I would have realized sooner how quickly I drive the culture as the commander.

Second I wish I understood the power of parallel execution sooner.  How by allowing multiple leaders to work multiple events simultaneously with me and my 1SG just spot checking and azimuth correcting allows us to do more and better than if we tried doing everything.

Finally the need to give meaningful feedback.  I’m always talking but is it relevant and I need to do a better job writing these counseling sessions down.  No OER or NCOER should be a surprise.  No one in my unit should be uncertain where they stand.  I can’t expect improvement if I don’t counsel effectively