Developing Your Philosophy of Living & Leading: One Moment at a Time

What is your story? We all have them, and some of our stories are so memorable they impact the way we live the rest our lives. In the book, Developing Your Philosophy of Living & Leading One Moment at a Time, author Maureen LeBoeuf shares the stories that have affected not only how she lives her life, but also how she overcame obstacles, broke past the status quo, and grew to become leader starting at a very early age. This book takes us back to the author’s childhood home, located in the quintessential small town of Olean, NY, where so many memorable moments first began to mold her. Maureen Keenan LeBoeuf is the daughter of a strict but loving Irish Catholic father and a brilliant and equally loving mother. She grew up with eight brothers and sisters, landing directly in the middle of the birth order. Having been surrounded by eight siblings her first lesson being how to share her birthday with a brother who was born one year to the day earlier.A golf ball through a window, a red ribbon, a broken ukulele and several other memories each lend themselves to an important life lesson that LeBoeuf shares with her readers. She describes how humiliated she felt when getting in trouble in 4th grade and being required to apologize to her teacher. She also illustrates how, over the years, she began developing as a leader when, as captain of the varsity cheerleaders determining the need for new uniforms, she boldly requested (and got!) a meeting with the high-school principal to present her case. Her stories take us through her time in college and describe how she began realizing the true roles and responsibilities of being a leader when she became the captain of the varsity swim team. LeBoeuf’s childhood moments that mattered taught her how to comport herself when, as a young second lieutenant, she was required to join her fellow officers for a weekly officers call, where strippers performed regularly during the gatherings. Similar moments and lessons continued, for example, including how she handled her first experience leading a platoon of American soldiers made up of 85 men and no women. Tough, decision-making, and pivotal moments such as meeting her husband, also an Army officer, and navigating the challenges of being a dual-military couple; the struggles encountered while attending the Army’s rotary wing flight program; becoming a parent in a world where there were very few dual-military couples and even fewer dual-military couples with children; the uncertainty of when and if she would be able to attend graduate school and be stationed with her husband at West Point; attending a rigorous military school and the decision to be away from her son, Jay, were each moments that often felt crushing yet continued to propel her forward. LeBoeuf goes on to discuss the death of her dad, which for her was completely devastating. Serving as the Director of Instruction with the Department of Physical Education (DPE), a supposedly amazing position that turned out to be less than amazing, culminated into what she describes as the worst two years of her Army career. These and more are the moments that have mattered and played a significant role in laying the foundation for the person and leader she has become.Using all of these experiences, all of these moments, allowed Maureen to develop her Leadership Philosophy — which she was able to rely on with confidence when she became the Director and Head of DPE at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. As the Head of DPE, LeBoeuf became the first woman ever to chair a department in the history at USMA, a position that carries with it the unique and historic title, The Master of the Sword. During this period of leadership, Maureen’s leadership philosophy was subscribed to throughout the department, and fortunately for the reader, we get to relive her time as Master of the Sword through the stories about how this philosophy was lived.