About Me — Diana Holland
Girls CAN grow up to be soldiers.
“Girls can’t do that,” my neighbor’s mom said. She was reacting to my declaration that I wanted to be a soldier when I grew up. Even at eight years old I wasn’t phased by her response because my dad had already convinced me I could be anything I wanted in life.
Fast forward, four and a half decades later, not only did I become a soldier as I had dreamed, but I have been a soldier longer than I predicted: almost 32 years at the time of this writing. As it turned out, I was born to be a soldier. It is not just my profession. It is my calling.
Career Overview
I am a West Point graduate and have served at 16 different duty stations (two of them more than once), including Hawaii and Europe.
I’ve parachuted out of airplanes and helicopters. I am a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan (been there more than once). Between 2017 and 2021, I supported seven different hurricane responses that impacted five states, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
I attended Duke University for my Master’s degree en route to a teaching assignment at West Point.
I have led organizations that ranged in size from 30 to 5,000 soldiers. I was the first woman to serve as a general officer in the 10th Mountain Division and as Commandant of Cadets at West Point. I currently command the Mississippi Valley Division of the US Army Corps of Engineers which oversees the operation and maintenance of one of the greatest inland waterways in the world, the Mississippi River.
In summary, the US Army gives tremendous responsibility to its leaders and I have been no exception.
10 Leadership Lessons
The Army has taught me a great deal, and I don’t just mean how to shoot a rifle, operate a bulldozer or navigate an obstacle course. I’ve learned a lot about people, building cohesive teams, and leading organizations. More specifically, I learned to:
- Assess strengths and weaknesses in people and assign tasks accordingly.
- Be confident. Be positive. Be patient. Remain calm in a crisis.
- Communicate often. Repetition is good. Who else needs to know? Be precise, relevant, and memorable.
- Facilitate effective meetings and other forums, ensuring clear outcomes and that everyone is heard.
- Be a mentor. Seek opportunities to coach and develop others.
- Be a good follower. No matter how senior I am, I will always have a boss who has priorities and needs my support.
- Make feedback a norm. Give and receive constructive feedback. Be me, but adapt to be the leader that the organization needs.
- Trust and empower others. Give broad guidance and see what people will do. I have seldom been disappointed by the results.
- Be deliberate in building diverse teams. Our Army should represent the demographics and values of the society we are sworn to defend. Diverse teams are more likely to deliver innovative solutions.
- Prioritize people and the health of the organization. If we get the culture piece right, then everything else will follow.
10 Facts About Me (Outside of the Army)
- I’m an only child, born and raised in coastal California.
- My husband and I have been married for more than 26 years. He is my best friend and strongest supporter. He has sacrificed a lot so that I can serve the way that I do for as long as I have.
- We have a 15-year-old, 3 1/2 pound Yorkshire Terrier who thinks he’s the center of our universe. (He’s probably right, but please don’t tell him I said that!)
- I am an introvert. (Yes, the Army has introverts. Many of them.)
- I love to read. My earliest memory of favorite books includes Nancy Drew mysteries. I owned almost all of them.
- My dad told me early on that I needed to be physically fit if I wanted to be a soldier. He was SO right. He encouraged me to run and then installed a pull-up bar in the doorframe of my bedroom.
- I love to travel. Anywhere.
- My mom taught me to play the piano when I was a child and that led to the violin, trumpet, french horn, and bagpipes.
- I enjoy learning languages. Spanish in high school. Chinese at West Point. Arabic and Greek on the side. I don’t speak any of those languages with proficiency but that doesn’t stop me from trying.
- I’m active on social media but not for personal purposes. I use the forums to share the stories of our team’s people and accomplishments. You can see examples of my posts here:
LinkedIn FaceBook Instagram Twitter
Why Medium?
I want to write for Medium because I like the diverse audience, contributors, and topics. Until now, I’ve only published articles in publications associated with the armed forces and national security (go to one of my recent articles on Hurricane Response in Puerto Rico), but I want to share my experiences with a wider audience.
While some may wonder why I do what I do, it is no mystery to me. I am passionate about serving and I wouldn’t change a day of my 32 years in the Army. As it turned out, my dad was right. Girls CAN grow up to be soldiers.
How You Can Help
I want my content to be of interest to the audience. Please let me know in the comment section what leadership topics you’d like to hear about. Thank you for reading this far!
*The views and opinions presented herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the DoD, U.S. Army, or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Appearance of or reference to any commercial products or services does not constitute DoD, Army, or USACE endorsement of those products or services.
[https://medium.com/subscribe/@DianaMHolland]
