Written on: 8 November 2001
Revised: 5 May, 2003
Another Revision: 29 Sep, 2004
You have found the web page of Matt Heusser,
a Software Developer, Civil Air Patrol Major, and Dad. Right
before I wrote this article, I received an email from a former
Cadet in my squadron, who wrote:
I think if cadet officers knew this then
they might think a lot more about a decision,
rather than just shoot from the hip
Thinking back, I realized that when I was a Cadet,
I didn't spend a great deal of time thinking about WHY I did things, if
those things were RIGHT, or how I made other people feel.
This website is an attempt to study the issues of
leadership and find some best practices. My theory is simple: Leadership
cuts across all areas of my life. Some skills I learned managing volenteers
apply in the business world; some skills I learned in school apply in my
volenteer work, etc, etc. The recurring theme is leadership: How to draw out
the hard-wired human desire to build something great.
Who are you? Can you give me some background here?
Matt Heusser (that's me) joined Civil Air Patrol (The USAF Auxilliary) in 1990 at 13
years old. I was a CAP Cadet for seven years and advanced to the grade
of Cadet Colonel. I took a few Army ROTC courses in college and yes,
I used to sit in the library and read books about Military History for fun.
In 1997 I graduated with a Degree in Mathmatics
and a concentration in Computer Science from
Salisbury University.
After college, I became a software developer,
eventually moving to work for
Priority Health, a Grand Rapids Michigan based Health Management Organization (HMO).
Believe it or not, HMO's are NOT all bad.
Priority Health is a Not-For-Profit Corporation - there are no
sharks in the water. It's also committed to the ideas of
embracing change for excellence and process improvement.
In fact, within a month of my hire-in, I went to a course
taught by the CEO on vision and values, where she repeated
these ideas. I've worked at smaller companies where I never even
MET the CEO in person, or even the Vice-President that I reported
directly to.
No, it was no will-o-the-wisp that I have followed here ...
In 1999, I re-joined Civil Air Patrol as a Leadership Officer, teaching Military and Leadership
Skills to youth. In 2000, I started Grad School in Computer Information Science.
For CS 654 I was required to do a research paper
and post it to the web, so this page began. The web page slowly evolved, and about the same time,
I started writing leadership editorials for
http://www.cadetstuff.org.
In the fall of 2001, I enrolled in CS 641 -
Management of Software Developers, where just about every paper
ties into management or leadership or both. In fact, I plan on
continuing to earn a graduate certificate in ISMN, on the way to
my CIS Master's Degree.
About that time, I discovered
http://www.joelonsoftware.com.
Then I got the email (above) from C/Capt Nick Wabeke, and thought
"GEE, I made the exact same mistakes ... we need a web page for this."
And poof ... the page began. As of
November 8th 2001, it was a hodgepodge of various ramblings
about my interests, but i've realized that one recurring theme
is the philosophy of leadership. For a brief introduction,
you can read my core article.
One thing I believe is that in order to make people do things
(like learn about leadership), you have to make them
want to do those things - so the tone of the articles
is rather humorous. If you're open to applying leadership
to popular culture (for instance: Is Luke Skywalker a good leader?)
and you are willing to think deep (Billy Mitchell was
court-martialed,demoted, and early retired. Why did
CAP name an award after him?) then this might just be the
place for you. As Joel Spolsky said "The best way to get to
know me is to read what I write."
Historical Note: The cadet who sent the email above
went on to earn his Carl A. Spaatz Award, and is still a
member of Civil Air Patrol, now as an adult.
Another Note: The cadet who sent the email above is now
a Comissioned Officer on Active Duty in the United States Air Force.
I also finally finished the Master's Degree. :-)
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