Stan McChrystal was a huge baseball fan when he was young. He grew up in the Midwest. Naturally, “Stan the Man” Musial was his hero.
McChrystal is a retired four star general in the United States Army. Having attended West Point, he followed in his father’s footsteps. His dad, Major General Herbert J. McChrystal, served with General Eisenhower in Europe. Stan served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Married to “Annie,” they have a son named Sam, who grew up playing ice hockey. The family lived in Boston and, like most military brats, a number of other places (the word brat is sometimes an acronym for “born, raised and trained).”
Forked Tongue
I heard him speak at an ATD (Association for Talent Development) meeting a few years ago. I can assure you that he didn’t hold back.
He now runs a leadership consulting firm in the DC area called The McChrystal Group. The group’s main areas of focus are Talent Management, Leadership Development and Teambuilding. The Team of Teams strategy has worked everywhere from hospital emergency rooms to NASA. It has the power to transform organizations large and small.
He has written a number of books, including Leaders: Myth & Reality, Team of Teams, and My Share of the Task: A Memoir. He also wrote the foreword to One Mission: How Leaders Build a Team of Teams by Chris Fussell and C.W. Goodyear.
McChrystal served 34 years in the US Army, rising from Second Lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division to four-star general, in command of all American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. He came to realize there isn’t a simple answer to the age-old question: “What makes a leader great?”
The Great Plutarch
With Plutarch’s Lives as his model, in Leaders, he profiled 13 former leaders in business, politics and the military.
Walt Disney and Coco Chanel
Maximilian Robespierre and Abut Musab al Zarqawi
Boss Tweed and Margaret Thatcher
Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr.
And, his military hero, General Robert E. Lee.
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The co-writers of the book are Jeff Eggers, a former U.S. Navy Seal, and Jason Mangone, a former marine.
Accolades
Simon Sinek said about Leaders: Myth & Reality, “Anyone who considers themselves a student of leadership must read this book.” Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs, said, “At a time when Americans yearn for leaders we can admire and respect, this book shows what qualities are truly important. It will help you think differently about both leadership and our history.” And Ken Langone, of Home Depot fame (and author of I Love Capitalism), said, “Leaders is a must-read for all leaders – whether they’re just beginning their careers, or whether they’re already leading an entire organization.”
Similarly, Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of Leanin.org, said, “Leadership reexamines old notions of leadership – especially the outdated view that history is shaped by great men going it alone. General McChrystal shows us that leadership can take many forms, leaders often have different strengths, and great leaders can come from anywhere.”
After that,Wired UK Magazine said, “To hear McChrystal talk about leadership is like hearing Steve Jobs talk about innovation or Henry Ford talk about productivity.”
Seek First to Understand
McChrystal himself said “Leadership is extraordinarily complex but it’s something we have to struggle to understand.” He goes on to say, “My entire life I’ve been fascinated with leaders and leadership.”
Evidence that he is, in many ways, just a regular guy, is that he wasn’t real studious growing up. His favorite movie is Talladega Nights. And he used to run across the Brooklyn Bridge.
On the other hand, while he was at Ft. Bragg, he was known to have run 12 miles every morning, eat only one meal a day, and sleep less than 4 hours per night. He spent five years running the Pentagon’s most secretive black ops.
McChrystal is a senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs
Above all, here’s a link to his TED Talk, entitled Listen, learn … then lead.
About the Author
Frank Felsburg is a ghostwriter, publisher and content marketer, living in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
