Master Sgt. Noel DeJesus, a student attending Sergeants Major Academy Class 74 has long since become accustomed to writing papers for his classes, but has gone above and beyond the average homework submission, publishing several books over the years.
This year alone DeJesus has presented one of his writings at the Army University Learning Symposium and received the Iron Pen, an award for publishing from the Command and General Staff College for his publications.
He wrote two books during his year at the Sergeants Major Academy, “Pulling the String” and “Too Cool for Mentorship,” both about leadership principals. They are the latest entries in his “Pocket Sized Leadership Collection,” which also includes “Artificial Allies” and “Exceed the Standard.”
“I write about leadership and the importance of team building,” said DeJesus. “I draw inspiration from my military experience, and I strive to provide short form leadership development insight for busy professionals. When I write, I try to envision the leadership development needs of the first-line leader who was just placed in charge of 10 people.”
DeJesus contributed his impressive schedule of attending college level classes full time and writing books to being and early bird. “I wake up around 03:00 daily and dedicate the first hour of each day to writing, reading, and researching. Writing provides me a ton of positive energy and it’s truly an important part of my holistic health.”
When it comes to writing, DeJesus tries to focus his writing on themes he knows well. “My themes include leading with authenticity, having the courage to be vulnerable, the importance of the human connection in leadership, acknowledging the collective power of a team, and the emergence of artificial intelligence as a game-changer for leadership development.”
His most recent paper for the Army University Symposium, “Modernizing Professional Military Education in the Digital Age,” puts forward the idea for the Army to modernize its educational experience by implementing artificial intelligence to attract, train, and retain young Soldiers.
DeJesus looks at writing as more than a hobby or homework, but as a way to hone his leadership skills and to overcome his personal limits. “Writing provided me with a protected platform to exercise my creative and critical thinking, and through writing, I’ve gained the ability to thoroughly analyze my thoughts and better identify any illogical fallacies or biases that I may have. The expression that is widely used is “Leaders are readers”, but leaders are writers too.”
DeJuses received news he has been accepted into the Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik Writing Fellowship, a fellowship established by Army University Press as a non-resident writing fellowship program to encourage military professional writing and discourse on topics that contribute to the military and national security professionals.
Social Sharing