Recent Pursuit of Excellence Commentaries

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American Leadership
Words of tribute for our 41st president, George H.W. Bush, continue to lead the news. Generous. Humble. Caring – a president who favored consensus over partisanship; “His kindness and civility cloaked a competitiveness,” son Jeb Bush and close friend James A. Baker III write in The Washington Post (Dec. 4). “The two of us never met a man as remarkable...
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December 5, 2018
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Touch Down!
“Wish you were here!” – tweet from InSight Mars lander, 12:03 PM – 26 Nov 2018 “@NASAInSight sent home its first photo after #MarsLanding: InSight’s view is a flat, smooth expanse called Elysium Planitia, but its workspace is below the surface, where it will study Mars’ deep interior,” the rest of the tweet reads. “The pursuit of excellence,”   » Read more...
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November 27, 2018
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Nobility
Sometimes, in spite of all the practice, persistence and patience we still miss an opportunity. And sometimes that loss comes when we least expect it and from circumstances beyond our control. This is the story of left-handed pitcher Brian Mazone who, after eight years in the minor leagues, finally got a call from the Philadelphia Phillies in 2006. He was...
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September 28, 2018
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“Never, Never Give Up”
“I will never give up. I will keep fighting till the end.” – Jim Kelly, honoree of the Jimmy V Award at the annual ESPY Awards. Near the end of his career, Sir Winston Churchill – the most quoted individual along with Lincoln – was asked to address his old English boys school, Harrow. Churchill stands to receive unanimous acclamation...
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July 23, 2018

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
The Supreme Court is Broken. How Do We Fix It?
As distilled from an email update from Michael Waldman, President and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down...
Leadership as a Moral Act
Britain’s King Charles III spoke to a chamber that, for a moment, set aside party labels—Democrat and Republican—and listened not as factions, but as participants...
Unity is Not a Declaration. It’s a Discipline.
How does a country move from argument to action? The shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is not an isolated event. It is part...
When the Line No Longer Holds
There are moments when events reveal more than they intend. What unfolded Saturday at the Washington Hilton was not simply an isolated act. It was...
How High Can Leadership Rise?
What is power accountable to when it no longer accepts limits? We have seen what happens when power turns inward—when it begins to believe it...
The Burden of Command
What does leadership require when decisions send others into harm’s way, and uncertainty is shared not just by those in command, but by the nation...