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Today, I’d like to pay tribute to an iconic American leader who passed away this morning: Colin Powell. Even amongst the greatest military minds of his generation, he stood out as exceptional. Serving two combat tours in Vietnam at the beginning of his distinguished Army career, he rose in the ranks to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H. W. Bush. During his tenure as CJCS, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in a naked power grab in 1990. In respo...Continue reading

For those who follow baseball, and most especially the San Francisco Giants, we all know the Giants lost the 5th and final game of the National League Division Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers last night by the score of 2-1. The Dodgers broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the 9th and the Giants weren’t able to come back in the bottom of the inning. As a result, the Dodgers took the series three games to two and advance to the National League Championship Series to face the Atlanta... Braves, who won their NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers. Obviously, as a lifelong Giants fan, I’m very disappointed the Giants didn’t win. After what can arguably be described as their best season ever (with a team record 107 wins in the regular season), it’s hard to see it end this way, especially since they lost to their arch-rivals from Los Angeles. That said, I want to acknowledge that the Dodgers deserved this win. While there were some balls-and-strikes controversies in this last game, the fact is that the Dodgers played extremely well they have all season and have certainly earned the right to go to the NLCS. There was nothing cheap about their victory. The entire NLDS felt like it was clearly the two best teams in baseball going after each other, even though it was just the opening round. I also want to close out this post by acknowledging the absolutely amazing season the Giants had. No one expected them to compete for a title, much less lead major league baseball with the best record among all 30 teams. Featuring outstanding comeback years from the old guard (Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, and the Giants icon Buster Posey), extraordinary performances from numerous players who weren’t re-signed by their former teams, and the rise of incredible young players like Logan Webb, the team competed ferociously every game and throughout the long season. What they did was amazing and is an example to us all of what can be accomplished when we have determination, focus, and a belief in ourselves. I’m proud to be a San Francisco Giants fan. Go Giants! https://www.mlb.com//n/giants-lose-to-dodgers-in-nlds-2021

Family is important to all of us, and it’s something we can easily take for granted. Today, I want to highlight one of my favorite people in the whole world: my younger brother Kevin. Kevin is an extraordinary man. A loving father and husband, he is intelligent, accomplished, and dedicated. In many ways, our lives followed similar paths. Like me, he became an officer in the Air Force. I was honored to administer his commissioning oath and pin on his second lieutenant bars in ...June 1984 as he graduated from Officer Training School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Kevin was also an Air Force aviator, earning his navigator wings at Mather Air Force Base, California in 1985. He and I both flew the heavies Kevin started his flying career in the RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and later transitioned to the KC-135 tanker when he became a full-time reservist. One of my favorite memories surrounding my brother was when Kevin and I were both stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska from 1988-90. I wrote about it in my book: The good news, though, was that my younger brother Kevin, an Air Force navigator in Offutt’s RC-135 reconnaissance squadron, was also stationed at Offutt. He was 31 and he wasn’t dating anyone, either. I loved hanging out with Kevin when he wasn’t on one of his frequent deployments to Okinawa, England, or Greece. We typically would get together after work on Friday and grab a bite to eat. There was zero planning beyond the decision to meet and whose car we’d take. We literally would drive down the main drag in Bellevue (the town right next to the base) and one of us would point to a restaurant and say, ‘Let’s go there.’ So we would. After dinner we’d drive to the nearby movie complex and get two tickets for whatever film was playing next it didn’t matter what it was. That’s how we got to see some classically bad movies. I freely admit our extreme ‘go with the flow’ behavior was completely ridiculous. And I loved it. It wasn’t long after this that both of us would meet our future wives and get married. Kevin retired as an Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel in 2014 after 30 years of service. He now lives in Aledo, Texas outside of Fort Worth with his wife Doris and their younger daughter Cathy. His older daughter Christine, a medical student, lives nearby. Most recently, Kevin has embarked on writing his own book. Doing extensive research and conducting numerous interviews with individual players, he’s creating an insightful and engaging book focused on baseball (one of our favorite subjects). I’m honored to be coaching him as he embarks on this wonderful new chapter in his life as he becomes a published author. I’m very grateful to have had Kevin as my younger brother for the last 64 years and I’m looking forward to many more. It has been an adventure and a joy.

One of the most important gifts we can give others is the gift of camaraderie, friendship, and supportive guidance. By necessity, successful leaders provide a mission-oriented focus to ensure an organization achieves its goals. Outstanding leaders also understand it’s critical to promote a healthy unit culture where people feel as if they are valued, and their leaders are looking out for their well-being. When a leader, or even a more senior co-worker, takes an interest and p...Continue reading

Here we go! Tonight. Game one of the five-game National League Division Series between the Giants and the Dodgers. The two teams have the best records in baseball this year and it’s the first time they will have met in the postseason (which is crazy that it has never happened before!). First pitch is at 6:37 Pacific Time. Hot-shot youngster Logan Webb (11-3) goes for San Francisco against Cy Young Award candidate Walker Buehler (16-4) for Los Angeles. As a Giants fan, I reall...y wish they were playing another team in this first round. The Dodgers are so very good this year. Yet, there is so much poetic justice that these two teams are facing off right at the beginning. As a long-time Giants fan, I also know it is never, ever, ever, EVER good to count our chickens before they're hatched (remember the 2002 World Series?). Yet, this team has defied expectations all year long, and it has three amazing veteran leaders from the recent championship teams (Posey, Crawford, and Belt). The "about to get hit by an iceberg" mentality doesn't exist within them. For my fellow Giants fans out there, this article will help get us pumped up for the game tonight: https://www.mlb.com//n/reasons-giants-are-for-real-in-2021 Get ready to rumble! Go Giants!

There’s still time left to sign up! Come join us for our next virtual retreat on October 16-17. I host small groups of 10 or less and I promise you'll love the experience. Mostly, though, you'll love the writing you produce as a jump start on your fantastic book. I’m meeting with another veteran on Zoom tomorrow about joining all of the other first-time authors at my book retreat. I just met him yesterday and he’s excited to move forward and realize a lifelong dream of his: b...ecoming the published author of an inspiring, engaging book. If you want a free consultation about my Make Your Book a Reality writing retreats and how this program will help you achieve your dream, I invite you to make an appointment to talk with me. It’s completely free, and there’s absolutely no obligation. I use calendly to schedule my appointments. Here’s the link: https://calendly.com/aim-point-llc Here's the link if you're inspired to sign up: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr Or you can contact me directly via email if you have any questions: [email protected] More information is available at www.colbrucehurd.com

Recently, my amazing sister-in-law, MK Mueller, and I had the opportunity to discuss (of all things) war movies. She had just seen Top Gun for the first time and she enjoyed it. I liked it, too. She also asked me if I had a favorite war movie. I gave her a quick answer about some movies I liked. Afterward, though, I realized my #1 choice was really obvious: "Twelve O'Clock High" starring Gregory Peck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT3BMnabfOA For those who haven't seen this... Academy Award-nominated 1949 black-and-white film, it is extraordinary. It's based on actual people and events and centers on a U.S. Army Air Force bomber group commander in World War II England. He takes an underperforming unit and molds them into a top-notch outfit under dangerous and trying circumstances. Unlike many of the special effects-centric war movies that are made today, this film is really a character study focused on situational leadership in a combat environment. In fact, the Air Force uses this film to instruct its officers about leadership principles based on whether an organization is relationship or task-oriented. Ideally, we want to be both. Sometimes a unit falls short in one or both areas. As a leader, it's up to us to read the situation and to encourage what works and correct what doesn't. One type of approach doesn't work in all situations. Sometimes, a leader encourages, and other times more discipline is required. As I wrote in my book, the biggest influence in my life towards joining the Air Force was my father, a highly-decorated World War II pilot. He wasn't the only influence, though. I remember watching Twelve O'Clock High and the spinoff TV series on television growing up. I was mesmerized. I loved the flying, of course. More than that, though, I wanted to be those guys. I wanted to be the pilot or commander making those tough decisions. I wanted to be the guy everyone depended upon. Twelve O'Clock High inspired me to become an Air Force pilot. What movies have inspired you? And why?