by David Brown | Oct 27, 2026 | HumanFirst, Insight, Journal |
I was driving home from work when a retired general on The Art of Manliness podcast described a briefing he sat through in 1991. Mark Hertling was an Army major in Germany with two boys at home, ten and seven, and he was told his cavalry squadron could take casualties...
by David Brown | Jul 14, 2026 | HumanFirst, Leadership, Thoughts |
Just after the pandemic, my agency put up a five thousand dollar hiring bonus. The veterans read that flyer the way veterans read everything, carefully and personally. By the end of the week the hallway question was the same everywhere: where is ours? Nobody was...
by David Brown | Jun 16, 2026 | HumanFirst, Insight, Journal |
My kid was working on a craft project at the kitchen table the other night. He was struggling with how much glue to use and where to put it. Naturally, seeing his frustration grow and fearing the mess that would likely ensue, I took over. I had the glue placed, the...
by David Brown | Mar 3, 2026 | Blog, HumanFirst, Insight, Leadership |
Anne Frank wrote, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” She wrote that hiding in an attic. Thirteen years old. Surrounded by genocide. Her instinct wasn’t to wait for rescue or permission....
by David Brown | Sep 16, 2025 | HumanFirst, Insight, Journal |
Every week, I send a message to my teams letting them know I’ll be offline for about two hours. During that time, I turn my phone off, lace up my skates, and play in a weekly hockey league. To some, it may sound silly. But for me, it’s sacred time. Time without the...
by David Brown | Aug 12, 2025 | HumanFirst, Insight, Leadership |
We’ve been getting accountability wrong. In too many workplaces, “holding someone accountable” is code for punishing them. That’s not accountability — that’s discipline. And they’re not the same thing. What Accountability Really Means Real accountability is proactive,...
