During General Martin E. Dempsey’s 41 years of service to our nation, he commanded everything from a Cavalry Troop to an Armored Division and went on to serve as Commander of US Central Command as well as both Chief of staff of the Army and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. GEN Dempsey retired from the US Army in 2015.
GEN Dempsey’s address was about leadership. He led off with a rhetorical question of why people follow and showed us this photo of US Marine Private First Class Paul E. Ison running through Japanese fire at ‘Death Valley’, Okinawa, Japan, 10 May 1945.
His answer was, “Trust.” Trust in the mission. Trust others on the battlespace. Trust in society.
GEN Dempsey went on to discuss leadership in the age of “digital echos.” He got to this topic by positing that PFC Ison would have an iPhone on him if that photo had been taken today. With that comes access to information and along with it, increased scrutiny. GEN Dempsey explained that a digital echo is a snapshot in time. A meme, if you will. These digital echos are neutral and can reinforce the best or the worst in us. Leadership is a competetion for trust.
GEN Dempsey stated that it can be difficult to discern between facts and digital echos. This can place leadership in competition with the led. Someone is always competing for hearts and minds. Some of this phenomenon is fed by a need to belong.
A leader must have a moral compass which will help the work to building trust.
Give Them Memories
Give your subordinates and your familes a feeling of belonging. The institition is built for it, with its slogans, uniforms and shared experiences. He advised, “If you do it well, do it better. If you don’t do it, do it well.”
Listen, Amplify, Include
Listen
GEN Dempsey always wanted his supordinates to know that he valued them. He recalled his graduation from CGSC in 1984 and an address by General Otis, who commanded Europe at the time who told them a central theme of his leadership style.
“When is the last time you let a subordinate change your mind?”
Written on a 3×5 card kept in GEN Otis’s breast pocket.
While GEN Dempsey didn’t carry the same card, it resonated with him and he considered ways to connect with his troops.
Amplify
Make your message the most resounding, but don’t pit those you lead against one another. Always remember to instill trust.
Include
Digital access is exclusive, not inclusive. It all goes back to trust and belonging.
Relinguish Control to Preserve Power
The final point GEN Dempsey made was to, “relinguish control to preserve power.” His example was the energy sector and how electric power companies have brought renewable energy and customer control of how they get energy into their networks. He sees this same concept in the defense sector coming with interdependance with allies, because doing it alone is too expensive.
In closing
GEN Dempsey closed by saying that he wants his legacy to be, “a Wwrrior’s heart, immigrant’s spirit and a servant’s soul.”
