Sublime

I nodded. “Well, Mike, I’ll take your word on that. And I give you my word that I’ll make my decision about Stan’s proposal based on the Pentagon’s advice and what I believe best serves the interests of this country. But until I do,” I said, leaning in for emphasis, “I’d sure like to stop having my military advisors telling me what I have to do on

This was illustrated brilliantly to me by Professor Bill Meehan, who spent thirty years with McKinsey advising CEOs and senior leaders on strategy and now teaches a class called “The Strategic Management of Nonprofits” at the Stanford School of Business.

Our leaders did not direct us but rather invited us to be part of this cultural and operational excursion.

And as I learned in that 2003 S-Team meeting, if you started caveating or waffling about why you were not hitting objectives, Jeff wouldn’t hesitate to tear that kimono off for you.

Contrary to a common misconception, leaders are not stuck in any particular position. Leaders must be free to move to where they are most needed, which changes throughout the course of an operation.

“In a society where mediocrity is too often the standard and too often rewarded,”

Here, we conclude with a few of the strategic insights that we find most instructive from this quiet, articulate, supremely confident, yet remarkably modest man from whom we have learned so much.

Our standing guidance was “Share information until you’re afraid it’s illegal.”

“If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan your mission properly.” —Colonel David Hackworth