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#70: General (Ret.) Stan McChrystal — How to Lead Well in All Areas of Your Life

August 14, 2021 by Cal Walters in Intentional Living, Leadership
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This episode is brought to you by HigherEchelon, Inc. HigherEchelon is a leadership development & organizational performance consulting firm providing human capital and technology services to optimize performance. HigherEchelon can help prepare your organization to meet the rapidly changing, complex and often ambiguous requirements of today’s world by developing Resilient and Adaptive leaders, modernizing and enhancing processes, and implementing transformational technology solutions. Visit HigherEchelon.com to connect with the amazing team at Higher Echelon and learn more about how they can help you and your team. Check out this great interview of HigherEchelon’s President, Dr. Joe Ross, on the Beyond the Uniform podcast.

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General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal founded McChrystal Group in January 2011 to deliver innovative leadership solutions to businesses globally in order to help them transform and succeed in challenging, dynamic environments. As Founder and a Partner, he advises senior executives at multinational corporations on navigating complex change and building stronger teams.

A retired four-star general, Stan is the former commander of US and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Afghanistan and the former commander of the nation’s premier military counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He is best known for developing and implementing a comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, and for creating a cohesive counter-terrorism organization that revolutionized the interagency operating culture.

Throughout his military career, Stan commanded a number of elite organizations, including the 75th Ranger Regiment. After 9/11 until his retirement in 2010, he spent more than 6 years deployed to combat in a variety of leadership positions. In June 2009, the President of the United States and the Secretary General of NATO appointed him to be the Commander of US Forces Afghanistan and NATO ISAF. His command included more than 150,000 troops from 45 allied countries. On August 1, 2010 he retired from the US Army.

Stan is a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where he teaches a course on Leadership. He also sits on the boards of Navistar International Corporation, Siemens Government Technology, and JetBlue Airways. He is a sought-after speaker, giving speeches on leadership to organizations around the country. In 2013, Stan published his memoir, My Share of the Task, which was a New York Times bestseller; and is an author of Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, which was a New York Times bestseller in 2015. Stan also co-authored Leaders: Myth and Reality, a Wall Street Journal Bestseller based on the epochal Parallel Lives by Plutarch.

My Share of the Task: A Memoir
By McChrystal, Stanley Gen.
Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World
By McChrystal, Gen. Stanley, Collins, Tantum, Silverman, David, Fussell, Chris
Leaders: Myth and Reality
By McChrystal, Stanley, Eggers, Jeff, Mangone, Jay

A passionate advocate for national service and veterans’ issues, Stan is the Chair of the Board of Service Year Alliance. In this capacity, he advocates for a future in which a year of full-time service—a service year—is a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans.

Stan is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the Naval War College. He also completed year-long fellowships at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Council on Foreign Relations.

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On this episode, we talk about:

  • General McChrystal’s father, Herbert McChrystal

  • How to keep your ego in check as a leader

  • How he was able to turn around his time at West Point through the inspiration of a mentor

  • How he was able to successfully transition into the private sector after an unexpected end to his military career

  • The balance between confidence and humility

  • What he views as the most important leadership trait

  • Why leadership is always a choice we make

  • Leadership as a entrepreneur

  • How he thinks about meetings

  • His views on decision making

  • The habit, routine, or ritual that has made the biggest positive difference for him

  • His top marriage/relationship advice

  • His top parenting advice

  • His top advice to a graduating college student

In October 2021, General McChrystal’s new book will be released, Risk: A User’s Guide.

Risk: A User's Guide
By McChrystal, Stanley, Butrico, Anna
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August 14, 2021 /Cal Walters
Leadership, Self-discipline, Confidence, Humility, Ego, Resilience, Meetings, Decision making
Intentional Living, Leadership
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