Photo by Larry Sorcher Maj. Gen. George Weightman speaks to the Silver Caduceus Society at their monthly meeting in January.

For their January meeting, members of Fort Detrick’s Silver Caduceus Society gathered at the Communities Activity Center to listen to Maj. Gen. George Weightman’s ideas on leadership.

Weightman’s presentation began with ‘‘Leaders have that sense of where the culture is going to be, where the organization must be if it is to grow.”

Weightman then discussed the role of a leader and leadership philosophy.

He said that ‘‘successful leaders identify their subordinates’ strengths and help them be successful.”

He reminded the officers of the Silver Caduceus Society always to think of their Soldiers first and always to be fair by treating everyone the same.

Weightman also had some advice for these hectic days of technology in the workplace. He said in this information age leaders must manage their e-mail with daily or hourly triage sessions.

When there is doubt about the content of an e-mail message or how effective such a message will be, call the person or arrange a face-to-face meeting.

Never send an angry message. Let it sit for a couple of hours before you make a final decision about sending it.

Summing up his thoughts on leadership, Weightman said that ‘‘Someone is always watching.”

He advised always living ‘‘the Army values,” and he said that the bottom line, the most important tenet of leadership is to always lead by example.

After his presentation, Weightman was presented with an honorary membership in the society, only the second person to be so honored, according to Maj. Victor Suarez, former vice president of the society.

‘‘There were some very important things I took away from General Weightman’s presentation,” Suarez said.

‘‘The biggest is that leaders must be adaptable to their environment. He brought out the whole concept of understanding the fast-paced, media-centric environment where information flow is faster than it has ever been. Leaders must be on top of the information and get it to their folks in a timely manner.”

‘‘Another important thing I took away from this is always to recognize and praise in public and criticize in private” added Suarez. ‘‘I will try to do more of this. When you create a positive environment for your people, you will inspire them.”