June 25th, 1876

The battle of Little Bighorn, or the Battle of the Greasy Grass.

Here’s the story in my own words… General Custer and his 700 men were bold, cocky, and confident.

Supremely undertrained, soldiers took 6 target practice shots before being declared soldiers.

No matter, they were going to defeat the Indians once and for all.

(This blog isn’t about the Native Americans vs. the United States. That would be another perspective. For years General Custer and his men were considered war heroes. Thankfully, we now have new perspectives. Those Native Americans just fighting for their FREEDOM. Just such a horrible thing. Anywhos…)

There was a ridge, they could of went and scouted, but no, they went over it… to find 2,000 aligned, pissed and war-trained WARRIORS. They were SLAUGHTERED. It was CUSTER’S LAST STAND.

Takeaways.

1. Train your people. Not on the fly. Formally. The best-trained people tend to win.

2. Be Humble. Never underestimate what you don’t know.

3. Have patience. In a hurry for victory, they plowed through the mountain.

4. Have perspective. If they would have looked around the ridge, they would have seen their objectives. Maybe we don’t have physical boundaries but we certainly have mental. Do you engage with your team before you make a decision? Do you try to look at things from others’ eyes? Are you empowering your team and customers to ask them what they think?

Peace,

Joel