No group understands leadership better than the United States Navy SEALs.

This most elite group continuously trains its leaders to perform at the highest level whether they’re protecting ships from pirates off the coast of Somalia or eliminating Bin Laden, the person who planned the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. SEALs are recognized as outstanding models of bravery, discipline, and focus. Tragically, a number of SEALs lost their lives Afghanistan earlier this month, and our Country lost some of its best leaders.

Rich Rodriguez is a friend of The Berke Group and a captain in the SEAL Reserves, a rank just below admiral. He recently temporarily left behind his family and his career to serve in Iraq when he was called to active duty. Many of our blog readers know Rich, as he has also been a leader in the construction industry and has held senior roles with companies such as Centex, Arvida, John Laing and, currently, with Pulte.

Rich sent me the letter below, which is an appeal to support the families of the SEALs who have given their lives for our country. While we all have causes we support financially, we are hoping Rich's letter will move you to make a donation to the SEAL families. I urge each of you to forward this to others who value the service, leadership, and sacrifices of the Navy SEALs.

Dear Martin,

As you are aware, Aug. 6 was a terrible day in Naval Special Warfare history — 17 SEALs and 5 Special Warfare support personnel were killed when their helicopter crashed in Eastern Afghanistan. I was notified early that morning about 2 hours before I was to speak to a local high school varsity football team preparing to begin their two-a-day practices. The Head Coach at CHHS had asked me to give a talk at their kick-off breakfast about “team” and what it meant to belong to a group that was known for giving everything they had to mission success, for never giving up, and for always being there for their teammates.

Needless to say, I pushed aside most of my prepared remarks and spoke of the fallen SEALs and what makes “common men do very uncommon things for their love of country.” Of course, the coach, players and parents attending the breakfast did not know of the tragedy as the news had not yet hit the mainstream. But once they did hear about it, I hope my words gave some context to the tragedy and the individual SEALS involved.

In the days that followed, I have been in contact with many of the volunteers at the Navy Seal Foundation, a group that Americans like you, Andy Hannigan, Tim Eller, and Bob Hillmann helped get off the ground back in 2004. The NSF was founded in response to a number of SEALS being killed in action.

Since that time, the Foundation has grown and succeeded in taking care of numerous SEALs who have been wounded in action as well as the families of over 50 Seals who have given “their last full measure of devotion” to keep our freedom since 9/11. Most of these are individuals the press and general public never hear about.

The events of Aug. 6 have left 21 children, along with two yet-to-be-born babies, fatherless. The foundation will take action (remember: NSF has no full-time, paid employees) and is already working to assist these families with their losses. I am requesting your help in getting the word out to the construction industry as well as your clients and business associates that the foundation needs their help.

For those who can offer some support to the families of our SEAL brothers, the foundation’s website provides information on the organization, its work, and how donations can be made. The link to their website is: www.nswfoundation.org

Martin, I’m very grateful for the support you’ve provided the SEAL Foundation in the past and appreciate your getting the word out regarding their current needs.

Thanks so much for your help,

Rich Rodriguez

Please consider making a donation to the Navy SEAL Foundation today. Click here to donate.

Martin Freedland co-founded Berke Assessment and is president of Berke Consulting. He’s been helping organizations continually improve the way they recruit, hire, train, manage and motivate their people for more than three decades. He has personally worked with hundreds of companies throughout the United States to assist them in increasing profits and productivity through better people management practices. He can be reached at martin@berkegroup.com.