"A great leader answered that question. Striding into the conference room at headquarters in [[Malta]], General [[Dwight Eisenhower|Dwight D. Eisenhower]] made an announcement: **He’d have no more of this quivering timidity from his deflated generals. “The present situation is to be regarded as opportunity for us and not disaster,”** he commanded. “**There will be only cheerful faces at this conference table**.” "In the surging counteroffensive, [[Dwight Eisenhower]] was able to see the tactical solution that had been in front of them the entire time: the Nazi strategy carried its own destruction within itself. **Only then were the Allies able to see the opportunity inside the obstacle rather than simply the obstacle that threatened them**. Properly seen, as long as the Allies could bend and not break, this attack would send more than fifty thousand [[Germans]] rushing headfirst into a net—or a “meat grinder,” as [[George S. Patton|Patton]]Patton eloquently put it. "The [[Battle of the Bulge]] and before that the [[Battle of the Falaise Pocket]], both of which were feared to be major reversals and the end of the Allies’ momentum, in fact were their greatest triumphs. By allowing a forward wedge of the [[German]] army through and then attacking from the sides, the Allies encircled the enemy completely from the rear. The invincible, penetrating thrust of the German Panzers wasn’t just impotent but suicidal—a textbook example of why you never leave your flanks exposed. ([Location 769](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IX49OS4&location=769)) --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[obstacle-is-the-way]], [[resilience]], [[adversity]], [[leadership]], [[making-decisions]], [[environmental-design]], [[mindfulness]], [[story-bias]] **Source** -- [[202409180132 - B - The Obstacle is the Way]]