MSI Press Blog

  Leaders rarely realize how many of their values are cultural until they leave home. They step into a new environment believing they are bringing “universal” principles, only to discover that universality is a myth. What happens next—what bends (transforming values, in Alanazi & Leaver's terminology), what holds (conforming [to the first culture] values in Alanazi & Leaver's terminology—reveals more about the leader’s inner architecture than any résumé ever could. Here are three short narratives that show how this plays out. 1. The American in Dubai: Learning to Slow Down Without Losing Purpose When Mark arrived in Dubai to lead a regional project team, he carried the classic American toolkit: direct communication, quick decisions, and a belief that transparency was always the highest virtue. He assumed these were leadership values. In reality, they were cultural habits. He learned this the hard way. In his first month, he pushed for rapid timelines and blunt feedback....

  MSI Press managing editor contributed two chapters to this book and hopes readers interested in language and culture studies, as well as military studies, will enjoy it. The digital edition is free! VISIT MSI PRESS  WEBSITE  TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES. Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter: get inside information before others see it and access to additional book content (recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, links to precerpts/excerpts, author advice, and more) Check out  recent issues .     Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book ,  Pinterest , and  Bluesky .       MSI Press welcomes submissions that reflect legacy and lived experience. Learn more about our publishing process on  our website . We help writers become award-winning published authors. One writer at a time. We are a family, not a factory. Do you have a future with us? Find out at www.m...

  Retired Chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State, GEN Colin Powell , died today from the complications of Covid-19 and cancer. Both deadly. He was fully vaccinated; however, cancer made him vulnerable, especially the kind of cancer he had, multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that lowers immunity and thereby reduces the effectiveness of vaccines.* This death is particularly painful for my family though the Powell family has no idea of it. You see, with Carl Leaver, my husband, just dying of cancer, any cancer death is painful. However and moreover, years ago, when she was in high school, our daughter was a good friend of Anne-Marie Powell, the general's youngest daughter. All the kids gathered at the Powell house, always. Most of the kids were unaware of the stature of their friend's father because of his humility. He loved kids, and he welcomed them all -- as a father, not as a statesman or military officer. It spoke a lot about him. Likewise, when our ...