Our guest today is the first woman u. S. Military history to achieve the fourstar rank, the first woman to command a battalion in the 82nd Airborne Division, fort bragg first female general officer come in the first woman to command the combined office of support command. For the last four years of active duty now retired she was in charge of the Largest GlobalLogistics Command in the army over 69,000 military and civilians located in all 50 states and 140 countries. She managed the budget of 60 billion. Jealous . And was oversight of approximately 70 billion of Service Contracts for army chief of staff courtier know called her the best decision the army has ever had. And has passed on the strategies she used her this praise of the book Walter Isaacson from the aspen institute, author of the innovators has said that her book shows that occurs zeal for service and did in her real military retirement standing in a crystal calls the book and is operational guide book for anyone trying to make their timor organization better. Please welcome ann dunwoody. [applause] good afternoon. Good afternoon they give for the invitation to be here with you today provide of this institution is an eternal part of our free society where ideas of every friday and expression from Founding Fathers to my humble presentation today find a home. In the military i spend my time at that impressive as the building on the other side of the river. They give for the kind introduction. If my mom was there she would have believed every word but my brothers and sisters would wonder who you are talking about. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to introduce my new book a higher standard. Over two years in the making and 40 years of living i am curious to know how many of you have written a book . , if youre thinking about it . These words are for you. For those at half completed a book that now know how hard that is and if you were thinking about about it speak to those who have. Quite frankly i never thought i would write one when i was elected to the promotion of general it seemed to be a foregone conclusion because everywhere i went people said when will you tell your story . Overtime this reluctant author had to witness i did have a unique Vantage Point with a story to tell. But it is no easy task. A personal investment of time and heart and soul. Without the personal investment we had a book that might have your name on it but it is not yours. Shortly after a retired i was approached by a successful writer from los angeles who was very enthusiastic about telling my story to help me write the book. He held one of my friends right here is a memoir so he was so enthusiastic canvas so excited to help me tell my story. As he described it to my husband he would take 80 hours of interviews than those to be the source documents from there he would create chapters in their proposal. Once that was completed with literary agents and hopefully sell a book to a publisher. After that he said it would be relatively easy we would be done in no time. I didnt want to ride it and i fell for it felt klein sinker. How does that story and . The first draft and the outline comes it was a proposal seen from somebody elses eyes and somebody elses voice and i barely recognized myself as the main character. Try again. Different approach same result. Saw as the calendar pages kept turning a i never thought weaver any closer to writing the book. So my husband and i finally decided there would be no book unless we wrote it. So we set out on their own personal journey with a different writer and editor to publish this book that in our own words recounting our own experiences strongarm conclusions. But i did not want to write a memoir because it isnt about me. This story is about leadership and today i want to talk about my a journey to share the view leadership strategies i believe contributed to my success to spur change and i want to share those experiences to help define that leadership and in the book i try to use the lessons that were not only fundamental to my success, but have the broadest x from battlefields to boardrooms or lessons for leaders that never wanted to stop learning. I try to capture what ive learned and how i learned it and how it makes me a better leader. It is in the book on how to become a general. I am not sure i could write that book nor is it the 10 steps to be a good theater. I dont think there is any magic recipe for leadership. If there were we would buy the recipe and that was it. But we would share the leadership strategies supported by stories of life with the hopes that others would find it useful. It is based on things ive learned as a kid, as sibling, a daughter, wife, a soldier a business person person, and a leader. And my hope is my remarks in this book will challenge people to dream big to find ways to make a difference even in spite of obstacles or traditions that have outlived their usefulness. I chose a higher standard as the title because less than 1 of the American Population will ever served in the military. I think most citizens dont realize men and women in uniform are held to a higher standard. And in our profession retaken the oath to support and defend the constitution we are held to a strict code of conduct that governs our behavior in and out of uniform we have to meet certain standards and the is range anywhere from codes of ethics to military justice to the chain of command and how fast runner how many pushups and how you wear your uniform including your hair in or how many times you can hit a target. Most importantly the reason i chose a higher standard is those that i serve with were held to a higher standard. When i joined the army i assumed i would have to prove myself to exceed the standards to do just that that one realized is that all the good leaders held themselves to a certain standard and they consistently applied Leadership Principles to improve not to degrade or debase and in the army recall that leading from the front a addend the book spent time talking about leaders and soldiers and those who try to exceed the standards. It is the difference between being a student and the c student except in the army it depends on the leadership. Never striving to a higher standard will probably never be a high performing organizations and. When i joined the army in 75 i joined a the Womens Army Corps a separate bridge for women who wanted to serve. To be honest i never dreamed about joining the army. I knew from the time i was in Elementary School i would be a coach and a physical Education Teacher as the kitten was a tomboy but i want to one of the top physical education and colleges is in the country. During my junior the rv offered high potential witness in 500 a month during theyre senior year for a twoyear commitment as a commission as a Second Lieutenant and 5 was a lot of money and even with four generations of west point graduates the thought of joining the army never crossed my mind. But it was an offer i could not refuse. Slide began my twoyear journey that turned into five years, 10 years, the 20 years and 38 years. So when people ask me if i knew i was going to be a general, i tell them not in my wildest dreams. There was no one more surprised than i was. Except of course, my husband now you know why they say behind every successful woman is a man. [laughter] in 2008 when the president nominated me for the fourstar i was not prepared for the enormity of the event it was the first but i have been blessed with a lot of first but to be nominated for the fourstar general was a different kind of first for or did not appreciate the significance of the promotion and tell the cards and emails started to come my way. From moms and dads seesawed this promotion as a beacon of hope for their own daughters and the affirmation that in america anything is possible with hard work and commitment so when i was nominated i heard from women from veterans many wanted to say congratulations and others wanted to say how happy they were they had arrived it was a humbling experience to say the least. When the promotion ceremony happened i said i may be the first but certainly will not be the last. But this is not about more promotions but what is really exciting is women are commanding ships now the first group of women are starting rangers school. As you can see in my book the leadership journey begins with an entry and introduction of the operating officer of facebook author of the National Bestseller lynen. We may sound like the odd couple. To people from the entirely different world hightech media superstar and the east coast soldier the things we had in common outweighed anything we did not and the principal thing among those was the desire to make a difference in the lives of people i now call her my friend and kindred spirit. Cheryl sandberg has championed many campaigns for women to achieve greater position in the workplace getting into recognize the support of the women and i have been in support of both campaigns. I have been fortunate of the of president who is in his own right a linchpin in richard a. I can assure you it is a lot easier to leave it in when you have someone to lean on. My husband was right there leica coach in the corner of the boxing ring. He would lift me up to push me back and say go through hell. When craigs mother finished reading the book she told him i get the impression that she really like shoe. The number one question is why you . Why you the first female to irritate the rate of the fourstar general . The second is how did you succeed in the mail dominated profession how did you call your way to the top . I try to answer both of these questions in the book and i think he would be surprised my journey was far more interesting than fighting my way through the ranks it would have been easy and probably expected how i kicked my way to the topic and shattered glass ceilings there broke down doors. The reality is it was more about leadership they and gender. Not just for people in the army or for women but people. Period. I did not skip along the of yellow brick road to find myself at the end of the rainbow as a fourstar general. There were bombs and obstacles is the road but people all along though way wanted to help and many were then. These People Better willing to help but were from all walks of life and in any profession. My leadership skills initially came from my family, my education and fitness. I mean mental, physical and the emotional and spiritual fitness. Please formed a foundation that allows me to achieve things that i never thought possible i came from the value family with the best mom and dad a kid could ever ask for. In fact, i knew as much of what i have today is based on them my dad proud soldier patriot research is country 31 years and fought three wars just celebrated his 96 birthday. Mahon is the unsung hero in my family who could not raise six kids while dad was serving our country mom was a devout catholic the most selfless and gracious and caring person i ever knew and taught me the class italys be hassled to say it will never rain on our parade. My participation was character building at the least i learned as much from losing as much as winning and that Team Performance was far more performance in performing in front of large crowds could be scary and intimidating but competing taught me prices priceless lessons with opportunities. With my education with intellectual skills to be confident incredible with a bachelors degree and two masters only sharpened by Strategic Thinking skills. Family, a fitness and education is to i am and i try to be as honest and candid but i remember i was stationed in germany as a young captain but a sense of primary function with the equipment for the airdropped it was to be a certified jumpmaster the person who is responsible to check the equipment and parachutes to make sure there are no malfunctions during the drop but at the time miami had 12th parachute jumps and i am not sure if theyre in a female job masters at the time or not but they said i was the best qualified as long as i passed the job was mine. But the only place to go to Jumpmaster School in europe was with special forces is in germany. It is the beautiful town there was told surrounded by the mountains and i would get to go to reject mr. School Jumpmaster School and then i would get to go against the third reich where the first Headquarters Special forces group i showed up on a sunday afternoon ready for training for monday morning i handed my orders to the duty officer. He looked at me and my orders and back at me then he handed me a room key and pointed down the hallway. There was the young paratrooper on the end of the bed. Helix eppley ive looked at him we are stunned. I marched back down to the office now and anxious conversation we thought your orders was of a typo we were expecting andy. So whether we going to do about her . As you can imagine that is that the only time that happened but i did get my own room and attend the training and happy to report i graduated something only 40 to of the first try. That i talk all my first platoon sergeant to never walk by a mistake. If you walk by a mistake you set a lower standard. Click the add something as picking up a piece of paper off the ground or something serious to failure to properly clean the combat equipment. In the army failing to enforce the standards that leads to poor performance and people getting hurt. The same principle principal are in the civilian life. If people in General Motors did not turn away with the defective ignition switch they may have saved billions of dollars for investors and possibly lives of those that were in the crash for the faulty ignitions. If they had highlighted the backlog forces trying to cover it up they may have been able to help more veterans. It is easy to say but it is hard to do. Takes courage and resolve and consistency. Those who refuse are thought as grumpy or inflexible but it can help everyone because of something is worth doing it is worth doing right. Another principle i learned is big dreams can come true with hard work and commitment you can be anything you want. I said i wanted to be a physical Education Teacher and a coach but i did not realize it at first that is exactly what i ended up doing but just in a different class reminded that teaching and coaching soldiers in a physically demanding environments on and off the battlefield many folks are surprised when i tell them i never worked for a woman either men that believed me they saw something in me to give the opportunities and had many women will models women who were pioneers in their own right women i looked up to my mom and coaches read the top of the list as you can imagine i have witnessed a lot of change during the last four decades it is hard for millenials to even fathom the 73 reality of the all with our resource or the rotc programs that excluded women by a saudi integration of women into the regular army. It truly help to facilitate a major diversification of the ranks, the policy changes to really change the mindset. To the communications of hightech command from communication experts we walked into the Conference Room i cannot help but notice that everyone sitting around the table was a white male the all the women in the room were serving coffee or refreshments. I thought what is wrong with this picture . Last years Cheryl Sanford gathered over 1500 women in her company for a leadership conference. Imagine 1500 women for facebook around the world i had the privilege to talk to this group about leadership. I could not help but think about the of back in 1995 in an auditorium filled with women writing Software Programs or applications a kiss me goosebumps actually. But talented women in High Technology careers had to leave because of a hot style worked environment the counterparts did not think that they belong to. As you can imagine it was without similar confrontations. That everybody was great to see ann dunwoody in fort benning in 1976 as a the first females to go to air force school or what i reported to the 82nd Airborne Division 1988 as a first female officer. What on earth will you do with this woman . But i believe tuesday of the moral high ground to stoop to a the counterproductive tactics like namecalling but i would prevail. And i truly believe male or female if we let others unduly influence to make decisions for us they win. If rillettes others drive us away from our passion they win. There are times it is easy to run for diversity . You bet. At the end of the day if i quit or take the easy road who is a real winner or who was a real loser . For me the and surmountable challenges at the end of the day is all about leadership and throwing people under the bus makes good reading and sells a lot of books i try to give credit to those to serve as our role model and those were effective as well as those you know, intimately. Theyre both good and bad leaders as i was commander i had the opportunity to meet the president and ceo of cocacola he invited me to talk. I was surprised how much his organization and mine had in common with both had over 60,000 employees footprints in 140 countries and both in the distribution business. But the good people of cocacola will were not under the threat of being ambushed or blown up while distributing product but we faced a similar a leadership challenge. How do you diversify the work force . But diversity of thought . How you develop future leaders . Have you create a positive working climate . Have you execute a Succession Plan or create a vision for the organization and the future . I talked about the strategy is because these are the kind of things that contributed to my own success. When i was the commander of ulterior command i thought if all 69,000 employees came to work every day clearly understanding how important he or she was to the accomplishment of the mission and if i could reach out to get the next generation of leaders to believe they could be anything they want, what a powerful thing that would be. Creating Strategic Vision that makes people feel important, a good about themselves allowed me to do just that. There was anything my employees didnt think they could do by the and. Nearly four decades in the service side saw a door is opening but the conversation did not stop there. You will see in the book that i loved being a soldier and leading soldiers. I never thought to be the first female anything but to serve my nation and the army the best way that i could i always wanted to be the best officer i could be not the best female officer and i guarantee if i ever thought i was selected for a job or promotion based on being female and not the best qualified i would have turned it down in a heartbeat. The thing is that ive learned along the way make me a better leader and a better person. If i have to do all over again i would not change of saying. Regards as a profession or lifework by hopes it to accomplishes whenever you set out to do. Much more in order to know what day are you have to read the book. Thank you very much. [applause] arrival will nervous but thank you general dunwoody for your insight. I look forward to reading your book but i have a question about power and arrogance and the issues that you experienced as you made your way through your career high you deal with people to manage you dont respect you how to earn their respect and it is probably in the book but anything to elaborate without catching the disease herself twostage grounded as you progress in your career . I do talk about in the book because it is something that most people experience. In my book i describe the three groups of people that was advocates, the people believe did you and support you those to see your work and your value. The patronize hours and we all have people that are not chaste you to your face but then the final category is the detractors. They will never liked you no matter what they think women dont belong in the army but they might change their mind to recognize who you deal with. Dont stoop to backstabbing or namecalling show that you are professional and leave as a higher standard. Those to strive to exceed that standard to bring credibility and support. Some just didnt have that experience. I mean all of us wondering if he is good or bad but to prove yourself but what i found on the moral high ground it talks about people who believe how wonderful they are with their hubris that people start to believe they are better and think it does not apply to them. It is unfortunate but it happens. You should always pull people aside with a good bad or ugly because you cannot correct yourself if you dont know. That is so i tried to stay on the moral high ground. Dont get hooked into that bad behavior. In recent days that of us at a military will lower the standards for the special forces of navy s. E. A. Ls to get more women involved is this something you would agree with . There is no loring of standards the guidance is the services would lift the ban on previously prohibited occupations for women and they would have to do their homework to determine what the standards were for those occupations which doesnt mean those have been studied the there is a lot of work and studies done. The last thing we can do the worst thing we can do is lower the standards of a social experiment of those standards that must be met when i went to Airborne School i had the black cats yelling at me but and to be an honor graduate to demonstrate to be a special forces to do my job in the peace anwr but some in the combat arms and i believe if they are capable of doing that that can meet and exceed the standards we shall allow them to do that had had the opportunity to go to do Airborne School and i probably wouldnt be standing here today. That allowed me to do things that others could not do. I understand it is the same as men but these are leadership schools they should be allowed but i do have full faith in the leadership of the of military that once the analysis is done we come up with the right to answer no matter what that is. They did general for your service to america. We are incredibly proud of you. And your leadership. Having said that what is in your future . Where will you make a difference next time . I see it really is what to continue to make a difference in our lives. And serving with soldiers i dont know if i will ever find something i never as passionate about but i want to try to make a difference then inspires thinking what they want to dream toward deciding life from highschool that inspires them to dream big they have the courage to pursue that with a different population of those that share my experience it is an end a recipe and what works for other folks. The other area is to serve on the board of governance of Defense Companies and not for profit to share experiences from running organizations and how they compliment to be transferred into the civilian world. Good afternoon. When tourists come to washington d. C. And the most visible presence is the guards at the Arlington National cemetery. Day are virtually all men i have never seen a woman but i have been told there have been for in the past what answer will you give . I believe there has been in there is a picture with the military standards have wanted to look like a soldier not a female soldier when a book that my information i saw soldiers not black or white or men or women because theyre held to a standard that is what you look like with the female and then to pull the guard duty at a time we cannot even have women in the 82nd corps. So when i have seen is the doors continue to open. That they will continue to open from the fourstar general with mace dropping bombs on afghanistan the doors continue to open i believe with hard working and compassion they could be anything they want to be. I have to share one more story. To pictures in my office one of the six and a fifth grader. They wrote me a letter with the book report and send me a picture of themselves of the fourstar in the black beret fourstar u. S. Army and i thought i could not even imagine that growing up for ever dreamed that then here are these kids that know they can be anything they want to be just like i never could have imagined it to be where i am. My friend and he wrote. [applause] hero. Did you keep a diary in wasnt any help when you wrote a book can you still run every day . [laughter] i do keep a diary. That is one of the reasons i wanted to do a book on leadership because i really didnt want to do a memoir or have a big book that people used to hold the door open and. I want to talk about the things our more relevant to help me be successful which is why i talk about and think about what do you want to take away or share . There are thousands of books that realized how you make it different . I tried to pick those lessons that i thought were the most relevant but also the stories my first story was the first time i had to stand in front of the audience with a Battalion Commander turquoise started to shake and it took me forever. It seemed like three hours but it was three minutes. This commanders said that was the first time you will get better. That had never happened in my life i was so caught off guard. But you learn when you have leaders that dont fire you were say you will get better. Practice. It never happens again but i think about it. If they say the general is revealing with the things that i have learned along the way we are human and we make mistakes and learn from others and that is what i tried to do. I got a new hip for christmas the doctor told me no running right away. Stein is running right now. Identify keep my promise but i do something every day. Thank you for your questions. And your service. Have the great day. [applause] [inaudible conversations]