Transcripts For CSPAN2 General Ann Dunwoody On A Higher Standard 20150525

I thought that was very good thing t was very much in our countrys interest. I think it has worked out well. But i think we have to wait and see what the president comes up with. And you know i dont know what that is going to be. I know at the moment the ayatollah and u. S. Congress are not making his life and that effort any easier. But, i i just urge you once again, weve had many estimates of iranian capabilities. Im not persuaded given what i saw in iraq that we know much more about iran than we knew about iraq. I hope we do but i couldnt count on it and im not actively reporting that right now anyway. There is plenty more material in the book. So we hope you buy the book and buy it here in support of the wonderful work that brad and elissa do at politics prose. Thank you all for coming. [applause] booktv is on twitter. Follow us to get publishing news scheduling updates author information and to talk directly with authors during our live programs. Twitter. Com slash booktv. Next on booktv, dunwoody, the first female fourstar general remembers her life and military career. Our guest today, general ann unwoody scored a number of first the first woman in u. S. Military history to achieve the fourstar rank. She was thehe first woman to command a battalion in the 82nd Airborne Division. Fort braggs first female general officer. The first person to command the combined officers support command. Headed u. S. Army material command. Nowa retired, she was in charge of the Largest Global Logistics Command in the army, comprising of 69,000 military and civilians located in all 50 states and more than 140 countries. She manage ad budget of 60 billion. Im jealous. And was responsible for oversight ofht approximately 70 billion in service contracts. Army chief of staff general ray odierno called ann quite simply the best logistician the army has ever had. She passed on some strategies to earnhe this praise in her nee book. Walter isaacson, president andt ceo of the Aspen Institute and author of, the innovators says anns book shows the the the generals commitment and zeal for service ha not ended with her military retirement. Retired army general Stanley Mcchrystal author of my share of the task and team of teamste calls the book an inspirationalan guidebook anyone trying to make their team or organization better. Bless welcome ann dunwoody. [applause] oh. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. I want to start by saying thanks for theth invitation. I know this Great Institution is such an integral part of our free society. P a place where ideas and of every have right. Variety and expression from Historical Documents from our Founding Fathers to my humble presentation today find a home. In the military i spent my fair share of time in the city, albeit most of it in that less impressive building on the other side of the river known to all of us as the pentagon. David, thank you for that kind introduction. If my mom was here, she would have believed every word of it. [laughter] my brothers and sisters, on the other hand, would be wondering who the heck youre talking about. [laughter] now, i really appreciate the opportunity to be here today to introduce my new book, a higher standard. Over two years in the making, over 40 years of living. But im just curious to know how many of you have written a book. How many are you are thinking of writing a book . These words are for you. For the ones that have completed a book, congratulations because i now know how hard that is. But for those who are thinking about it, you might want to talk to those who have before you dig in. Because quite frankly, i never thought i was going to write a book. And when i was selected to promotion for general, writing a book almost seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Because everywhere i went people said when are you going to tell your story when are you going to write your book . And over time this reluctant author had to admit that i did have a unique Vantage Point and also had a great story to tell. But writing a book is no cake walk. Its no easy task. It takes a serious commitment a personal investment of time your heart and your soul. And without that personal investment, you may have a book. Its just a book. You might have your name on it, but it wont be yours. And shortly after i retired, i was approached by a very successful writer from los angeles who was very enthusiastic about telling my story and helped me write the book. And hed helped one of my friends write his biography and his memoirs. And so when we talked, he was so enthusiastic and so excited about helping me tell my story. And as he described it to my husband and i, it would take about 80 hours, 100 hours of interviews, and then hed tape those interviews, and that would be our source document. And from there hed create chapters and then a proposal. And once the proposal was completed wed do the editing and send it out to prospective literary agents, select an agent and, ultimately maybe i should say hopefully sell book to a publisher. Well, after that he said writing the book, thatd be relatively easy and wed be done in no time. And since i really didnt want to write a book and he really did want to tell my story, i fell for it hook line and sinker. And you want to guess how that story ends . [laughter] well the first draft and the outline comes in, and it was a proposal of a version of my life seen through someone elses eyes, someone elses voice and i barely recognized myself as the main character. We tried again, same different approach, same result. And so the calendar pages kept turning, deadlines approached and i never thought we were any closer to writing the book. So my husband and i finally decided that there would be no book unless we wrote it. So we set out on our own personal journey, joining hands with a different writer and different editor to produce this book. A book in our own words recounting our own experiences and drawing our own conclusions. But i didnt want to write a biography or a memoir per se because this book really isnt about me. The story i wanted to share was about leadership. And today i want to talk a little bit about my journey and share some of the few leadership strategies that i believe contributed in some measure to my success and spurred organizational change and improvement. And i want to share those experiences, obviously truncated from the book, that helped define those leadership lessons. And in the book i tried to choose leadership lessons that were not only fundamental to my success, but had the broadest applications to larger organizations large, small battlefields or boardrooms, lessons for leaders who never wanted to stop learning. In a higher standard, i tried to capture what i learned, how i learned it and how these things made me a better leader. Now, this is not a book on how to become a general. Im not sure i could write that book. Nor is it a book on the ten steps to being a good leader. Because i dont think theres any magic recipe for leadership. If there were everyone would buy the recipe, and that would be it. What i tried to do is share the leadership strategies supported by stories in my life that worked for me with hopes that the others might find them useful in their lives and in their careers. Its based on things i learned as a killed, as an athlete as a kid, as an athlete, as a sibling as a daughter as a wife, as a soldier, as a business person and as a leader. And my hope is that my remarks and this book will challenge people to dream big and find ways to make a difference. Even in spite of obstacles, imperfect bosses or traditions that have outlived their usefulness. Now, i chose a higher standard as a title because less than 1 of the American Population will ever serve in the military. I think most citizens dont realize that men and women in uniform are held to a higher standard. In our profession we take an oath to support and defend the constitution. Were held to a strict code of conduct that governs our behavior in and out of uniform. And we have to meet certain standards in just about everything we do. And these standards range anywhere from adherence to stringent codes of ethic, adherence to the uniform code of military justice respect for authority and the chain of command to how fast you run, how many pushups you can do and how you wear your uniform including your hair, and how many times you can hit a target with variety of weapons. But most importantly, the reason i chose a higher standard is because good leaders that i served with held themselves to higher standards. When i joined the army, i just assumed that i was going to have to prove myself and exceed the standards to be accepted, and and i strove to do just that. But what i realized during my journey is that all the good leaders i served with held themselves to a higher standard, and they consistently applied Leadership Principles meant to improve, not degrade or debase. In the army we call that leading from the front. In the book i spend some time talking about the difference between leaders and soldiers who just met the standards and those who always tried to exceed the standards. And its kind of like the difference between being an a student and a c student. Except in the early lives fend on our performance and our leadership. The leader whos satisfied with just meeting the standard never striving to a higher standard, will probably never lead a high performing organization. Now, when i joined the army back in 1975, i joined the Womens Army Corps. It was kind of like a separate branch for women who desired to serve. And to be honest i never dreamed about joining the army. I always knew from the time i was in Elementary School that i was going to be a coach and a physical education teacher. As a kid i was a tomboy. I dont even know if they use that word anymore. But i loved sports, and i went to one of the top physical education colleges in the country courtland in upstate new york. Now, during my junior year in college the army offered high potential women 500 a month during their senior year in return for a twoyear commitment and a commission as a second lieutenant. Well 500 was a lot of money back then. And even with four generations of west pointers in my family the thought of joining the army had never crossed my mind. But it was an offer i couldnt refuse. So i joined and began my twoyear journey in the army, a twoyear journey that turned into five years ten years twenty years and, yes, 38 years. So when people ask me if i always knew i was going to be a general, i tell them not in my wildest dreamings. When it happened, there was no one more surprised than i was. Except, of course my husband. [laughter] and now you know why they say behind every successful woman this is an astonished man. [laughter] in 2008 when the president of the United States nominated me for my fourth star, i was not prepared for the enormity of the event. It was a first but id been blessed with a lot of firsts in my life. But being nominated for a fourstar general was a different kind of first. And i didnt appreciate the significance of the promotion until the tidal wave of cards and letters and emails started coming my way. I heard from moms and dads who saw this promotion as a beacon of hope for their own daughters an affirmation that in america anything is possible with hard work and commitment. And when i was nominated i heard from Women Veterans of all wars many who just wanted to say congratulations, some just wanted to say thanks, and still others just wanted to say how happy they were this day had finally arrived. It was a humbling experience, to say the least. When the promotion ceremony finally happened, i said i might be the first but i certainly wont be the last. And today im happy to report there are three other female fourstar officers, two in the air force and one in the navy, with more in the making. But this is not just about more promotions. Whats really exciting is women are flying jet fighters in combat, women are commanding ships in the navy, and now the first group of women highly qualified women are starting Ranger School. As readers will see in my book, the leadership journey begins with an introduction by Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of facebook. Shes author of the National Bestseller lean in, and a true champion of womens equality. Now, you might think that we sound a bit like the odd couple two people from entirely different worlds sheryl a west coast hightech social media superstar and me, an east coast, low tech muddy boots soldier. The reality is that we had more that the things we had in common way outweighed anything we didnt. And the principal thing among those things we had in common was the desire to make a difference in organizations and the lives of people. And im glad to call her my friend and kindred spirit. Sheryl sandberg has championed several National Campaigns from getting women to achieve greater positions in the workplace and getting men to recognize the support, to support these talented women. And ive been in support of both campaigns. And ive a been fortunate that i have such a supportive husband whos a hero in his own right with 26 years in the air force as a combat controller. Hes been a linchpin in my journey. I can assure you its a lot easier to lean in when you have someone to lean on. On my toughest days, my husband was right there kind of like a coach in the corner of a boxing ring. He would pick me up, dust me off push me back in the ring and say go give em hell. And when my when craigs mother finished reading the book a higher standard, she told craig i yet the impression that ann i get the impression that ann really likes you. [laughter] now, the number one question i always get is why you . Why were you the first female to attain the rank of fourstar general . And the second question i get is how did you succeed in this maledominated profession . How did you manage to claw your way to the top in this mans army . And i try to answer both of these questions in the book and i think most of you would be surprised by the answers. My journey to the top was far more interesting than a career of struggling and fighting my way through the ranks. It would have been easy and probably expected by some that i would write a book on how i, like wonder woman kicked my way to the top shattered glass ceilings and broke down doors. But the reality is my journey was more about leadership than gender. Not just leadership for people in the army, not just leadership for women, but leadership for people period. I didnt just skip along the yellow brick road in the land of oz and find myself at the end of the journey, at the end of the rainbow as a fourstar general. There are bumps in the road there are obstacles in the road, but there are people all along the road that wanted to help, and many of these were men. But i think these bumps, these obstacles and these people that are willing to help can be found in all walks of life and in any profession. Now, like many of you my leadership skills initially came from my family my education and from fitness. When i say fitness, i mean mental fitness, physical fitness, emotional fitness and spiritual fitness. These form the foundation that allowed me to achieve things i never thought possible. I came from a valuesbased family. I had best mom and dad a kid could ever ask for. In fact, i know much who i am today is based on what i learned from them. My decide, proud soldier my dad, proud soldier, father, patriot who served his country for 31 years and fought in three wars. We just celebrated his 96th birthday. Mom is the unsung hero in our family. She pretty much raised six kids on her own while dad was serving our country. Mom was a devout catholic, she was the most selfless, gracious and caring person i ever knew. And no matter what the forecast she said its never going to rain on our parade. My participation in sports was character building, to say the least. I keeped in gymnastics and tennis in college, and i learned as much from losing as i did from winning, and i learned that Team Performance was far more important than individual performance. And i learned that performing in front of large crowds can be scary and intimidating. But competing in sports taught me priceless lessons and how to turn surprises into experiences and challenges into opportunities. And my education gave me the intellectual skills to be technically competent and credible. A bachelors degree and two masters degrees only sharpened my creative and Strategic Thinking skills. Family fitness and education the cornerstones of who i am. In the book i tried to be as honest and candid about the challenges that i faced as well as the opportunities i was given. I tried to put a human face on leadership. I remember back in the 80s or i think in 1984 i was stationed in germany, and i had just been selected to command, parachute rigor detachment. I was a young captain, and this was my dream job. But since the primary function of a parachute detachment was to pack parachutes and rig loads of supplies and equipment for air drop, one of the requirements of the commander was to be certified jump master. Now, jump master is the person whos responsible to check equipment, check parachutes and make sure that there are no malfunctions during a drop. Well at the time i only had 12 parachute jumps, and im not sure if there were any fall jump masters in the army at the time or not. But my boss said, hey youre the best qualified and as long as i passed Jump Master School, the job was mine. As it turned out the only place to go to Jump Master School in europe was with special forces in germany. When i received my orders, i was so excited. Germany is a beautiful place, southern germany south of munich surrounded by mountains, and i was going to get to go to Jump Master School. It used to be the fortress that was built in world war ii time frame and was the Training Center for hitlers ss officer corps the most trusted and ruthless of the third reich. But in 1984 it was the american headquarters for the First Battalion tenth special forces group. And i showed up on a sunday afternoon ready for training on a monday morning, for monday morning. And when i reported in, i handed my orders to the duty officer. He looked at me, he looked at my orders he looked back at me. Then he handed me a room key and pointed me down the hallway. Never said a word. Off i went to find my room. When i found it and opened the door, there was this young male paratrooper lying on the other bed. Now, he looked at me, i looked back at him and we were both stunned. In those days it was two to a room but it was not coed. Its still not coed. There were several officers in anxious conversation and they said we thought your orders had a typo. We were expecting andy dunwoody. Well no one was smiling no one was laughing. It was like what are we going to do about her . Well, as you can imagine, that was the only time Something Like that happened in my career. But i did get my own room, i did attend the training and im also happy to report that i graduated from the course, something only 40 of the jump master students do on the first try. Now, in my book i talk about my very first platoon sergeant who taught me a lot of things. But one of the most enduring things he taught me was to never walk by a mistake. He said if you walk by a mistake you just set a new lower standard. A mistake could be something as simple as picking up a piece of paper or trash off the ground instead of just walking by or picking it up, or it could be something serious as failing to properly clean and maintain your combat equipment. Now, in the army failing to enforce the standards can be a slippery slope that leads to poor performance and people getting hurt. The same principle can happen in civilian life. Think about it. If people of General Motors hadnt turned the other way when they discovered the defective ignition switch in the cars they may have saved billions of dollars from investors and possibly saved the lives of those who were crashes caused by the faulty ignitions. If the veterans administrations employees and leadership had highlighted the patient backlog versus trying to cover it up, they may have been able to help more veterans, not delay or prevent the care they needed. Now, never walking by a mistake briefs well, and its easy to say, but its hard to do. It takes courage, it takes resolve, and it takes consistency. Those who doggedly refuse to walk by mistakes are sometimes thought of as tbrum by or inflexible grumpy or inflexible, but the principle can help everyone, because if something is worth doing, its worth doing right. Another principle i learned early on is that big dreams can come true with hard work and commitment. You can be anything you want. Now, i know i said i always wanted to be the phys ed teacher and a coach. Though i didnt really realize it at first thats exactly what i ended up doing. I just ended up doing it in a different classroom. I ended up teaching and coaching soldiers in a very physically demanding environment on and off the battlefield. Now, many folks are surprised when i tell em i never worked for a woman. I worked for men that either believed in me or didnt. Male leaders who saw something in me and gave me opportunities that if left to the institution, may have never happened. That said, ive had many women role models, one of em sitting right in the front row here, and mentors aa long the way. Women who were along the way. Women who were pioneers in their own right. Women i looked up to. When i was growing up my mom and my coaches were at the top to have list. Top of the list. Now, as you can imagine, ive witnessed a lot of change during the last four decades. Its hard for millennials to even fathom the 1970s reality of an all Womens Army Corps an allmale west point or rotc programs that excluded women. I witnessed the disestablishment of the [inaudible] and the integration of women into the regular army. It truly helped facilitate the major diversification of our ranks, but policy change alone didnt necessarily mean immediately change in mindset. Twenty years ago i had the opportunity to accompany the chief of staff of the army, general rye her to our communications and electronic command in new jersey. Thats a very hightech command as you can imagine, mostly scientists engineers and communication experts. I was Lieutenant Colonel back then and was there to take notes for the generals trip report. We walked into the Conference Room and i couldnt help but notice that everyone sitting around table was a white male. The only women in the room beside myself were serving coffee or refreshments. I thought, whats wrong with this picture . Last year Sheryl Sandberg gathered over 1500 women from her company for a leadership conference. Imagine, 1500 women from facebook offices around country and the world, and i had the privilege of talking to this group about leadership. I couldnt help but think about the room with zero women in the engineering business back in 1995 to the auditorium filled with women who are writing Software Programs Building Engineering applications in this new and exciting business. It gave me goose bumps, actually. But then i recently read a newspaper article that reported that talented, welleducated women in High Technology careers were deciding to leave because of a hostile work environment. Their male counterparts didnt think they belonged. As you can imagine my journey wasnt without similar confrontation. Not everyone was glad to see ann dunwoody when i showed up and reported at Airborne School back in fort benning, georgia, home of the infantry, in 1976 as one of the first females to go to Airborne School. Or when i reported into the 82nd Airborne Division in 1988 as the first female field grade officer. It was usually the same old what on earth are you going to do with this what are you going to do with this woman . But i believed by staying on the moral high ground, by not lowering my own standards or stooping to counterproductive tactics like name calling gossip or innuendos, that i would prevail. And i truly believe whether youre male or female that if we let others unduly influence or make decisions for us, they win. If we let others drive us away from our passion or something that we believe in, they win. Were there times when it would have been easy to run in the face of adversity . You bet. But at the end of the day id ask myself the question if i quit, if i take the easy road and dont continue to try to make a difference whos the real winner and whos the real loser . And for me, the insurmountable challenges turned into opportunities, and at the end of the day, it was all about leadership. While juicy gossip stories and throwing people under the bus makes for good reading and sells a lot of books, i tried to do neither. I tried to give credit to those who served as role models for me and i tried to describe leadership styles that were effective as well as those that no one would want to emulate. The truth is we learn from both good and bad leaders. When i was serving as the commander of Army Material command, i had the opportunity to meet muhtar kent the president and ceo of cocacola. And he invited me to talk to his work force. I was surprised how much his organization and mine had in common. We both had over 60,000 employees, we both had organizational footprints in 140 countries and were both in the distribution business. The main difference between our missions was that the good people of cocacola werent normally operating under threat of getting ambushed, shot at or blown up while theyre distributing their product. But we face similar leadership challenges. How do you diversify your work force . Not just in race and gender, but diversity of thought. How do you build a bench and develop future leaders . How do you create a positive working climate . One where everyone gets a fair chance . How do you execute succession planning . Or how do you create a vision for the organization in its future . I talk about all of these leadership strategies because i think these are the kind of things that contributed to my own success. When i became the commander of Army Material command i remember thinking if all 69,000 employees came to work every day clearly understanding how important he or she was to the the accomplishment of mission, and if i could reach out and get the next generation of leaders to believe they could be anything they want with hard work and commitment, what a powerful thing that would be. Creating the Strategic Vision one that empowered people, made them feel important made them feel good about themselves and their role in the organization allowed me to do just that. And by the time i left command, i believed there wasnt anything my employees didnt think they could do. As i said during my four decades, nearly four decades in the service i witnessed a lot of change and a lot of doors opening. But the conversation shouldnt stop there. Because there will always be more to be done. Youll see in this book if not from my remarks today i loved being a soldier and i loved leading soldiers. I never sought to be the first female anything. I sought to serve my nation and the army the best way i could. I always wanted to be the best officer i could be, not the best female officer. And i guarantee you one thing if i ever thought i was selected for a job or a promotion simply based on being female and not being the best qualified for the job i would have turned it down in a heartbeat. Things i learned along the way along my journey made me a better leader and a better person. But if i had to do it all over again, i wouldnt change a thing. Regardless of your profession or your lifes work i hope this book will assist you in accomplishing whatever it is you set out to do. Much more set out in the book but in order to know what those things are, youre going to have to read the book or ask me a question right now. Thankthank you very much. [applause] so good to see i. You. All right. First brave one. Im a little nervous. But thank you general dunn wooddy appreciate it for your insight. I look forward to reading your book. But i have a question about power and and, arrogance. And issues that you experienced as you made your way through your career. How you deal with people you need to manage who dont respect you how to earn their respect. Probably in the book but anything you could elaborate on without being or catching the disease yourself, staying grounded as you progress in your career . Thank you. Thats a great question and i do talk about it in the book because its, it is something, most people experience. And in my book i describe three groups of people that i kind of categorize folks that dealt with in the army. That was advocates. As people who believe in you. And, support you and advocate for you and try to see your worth and your value and they are advocates throughout your career. There is what i call facers or pay pronoisers. We all have them. People are nice to your face. What a good job or behind your back and they will, final category is the detractors. There are people that dont like you no matter what. You will not make them like you. What has the army come to you have women here and you might not change your mind and but you might change your mind. The first is to recognize who youre dealing with. Second thing stay on the moral high ground. Dont stoop to backstabbing or namecalling. Deal with them as an individual. Stay on the moral high ground. Show that youre professional and strife to lead to a higher standard. What i found that those who strife to exceed the standard you bring credibility and support from folks. People dont know, some are just havent had the experience to work with you before. When i say you i mean all of us. Youre coming to a new organization. People are giving you, i wonder if he is good or bad. If she is good or shes bad and you always have to prove yourself. What i found staying on the moral high ground, not the arrogant. There is another section of the book at that talks about people that started you know, believing all we are what is written about them, how wonderful they are and there is phenomenon called hubris. They all of sudden think theyre above the law. Not just organic to the military. Population in general. People start believing theyre better than. They get away with and those laws dont apply to them. It is unfortunate but that happens. And, you have to deal with that as well or talk to those folks. I believe, you cant ignore the stuff and you always should pull people aside when you see this behavior good bad or ugly. Because you cant correct it if you dont know. We all have blind spots. I try to stay on the moral high ground. Dont get hooked into the bad behavior and start exhibiting it yourself. General, in recent days, it has come up in the news that the military is planning to, or thinking about lowering the standards for the special forces navy seals things along those lines to make it easier to get more women involved into those sections. Is this something you would agree with. Beat your boots. There is no lowering the standards. The guidance was, that the services would lift the ban on previously prohibited occupations for women and that they would have to do their homework and determine what the standards were for those occupations. And there is not standards. We have requirements but it doesnt necessarily mean those have been studied and those requirements are the absolute necessary standards for each profession. And, so there there is a lot of work being done. A lot of studies being done. The last thing we could do, the worst thing we could do is lower the standards to accommodate i would then call a social experiment. We are not were a dangerous profession and each occupation has requirements, has standards that must be met. Now i tell people, when i went to Airborne School i was one of the first women going to Airborne School and that wasnt a popular decision. People didnt like it. I had the black hats yelling at me. I had fivefinger tattoos on my behind. You demonstrate youre capable and ended up being honor graduate of thatq class, four out of 260 people. Youw3 demonstrate xu i didnt want c be ranger. I didnt want to special forces. I wanted to do my job in peace and war. But there are women who believe and want toxdw3 enter the combat arms go to Ranger School, be in the9 ei i believe that if theyre capable of doing that, lowering without a normally exceed the standards, then we should allow them to do that. I know had i not had the opportunity to go to Airborne School, i would have never had the opportunity to command a parachute rig gore detachment, and i probably wouldnt be standing here today. That badge, that master blaster that allowed me to do things that nonairborne people would not have been able to do. And today if women, we have eight women in Ranger School right now that have qualified. I understand that a attrition rate is about the same as men but that badge is more about leadership than jumping out of these leadership schoolings. And if women are capable of doing that, i think they should be allowed. But i do have full faith in the leadership of the military that once the analysis investigation and the studies are done that well come up with the right answer whatever that is. Thank you, general, for your service to america. Were all so incredibly proud of you and your leadership. So having said that in all the great things that you done, whats in your future . Where are you going to make a difference next time . Well, thanks, thats a good question, and i think we always want to continue to try to make a difference in our lives, and the military is a place that the opportunity and privilege of leading soldiers and serving with soldiers, i dont know if ill ever find something that im as passionate about in my next life. But do want to try to make a difference, and i hope that through this book that it inspires young whether in Elementary School thinking about what they want to dream to be or deciding what their whole life in front of high schools going to be that this book gives them something to think about inspires them to dream big and not be dissuaded from whatever it is that they want to do and that they have the personal courage to pursue that. So i think through the book im trying to reach a different population of folks to share my experiences from the military that worked for me. And as i said, its not a recipe. Its no secret. Its what worked for me and i hope, works for other folks. The other area im hopefully trying to make a business is serving on boards. Governance of Defense Companies nonDefense Companies and notforprofit to share leadership experiences and business experiences from running the organizations i did in the military and how they complement and can be transferred into the civilian world. Thank you for the question. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. When tourists come to washington, d. C. , one of the most visible presence of the United States army is the time guards at the Arlington National cemetery. These time guards are virtually all men. I, frankly, have never seen a woman as a time guard in spite of the fact this there have been four in the past. What answer will you give to an eighth grade girl who says why arent there women time guards . Okay. Good question. I believe there have been, and i think weve seen a picture, and one of the things about the military is the standards. And ill tell you, when i was in uniform, i wanted to be look like a soldier. I didnt want to look like a female soldier, i wanted to look like a soldier. And when i looked at my formations i saw soldiers. I didnt see black, white, men women, i saw soldiers because theyre held to a standard and the standard is what you look like. And the uniform im sure i dont know if it was army times of a female who was wearing the same cap as the men, hair pulled back doing can pulling guard duty at the time of the unknown soldier at a time when i entered the army we didnt have we couldnt even have women in the 82nd chorus. I mean really . You couldnt be in the band. So the doors what i have seen, continue to open. And ill tell those eighth graders what i witnessed through my journey is that the doors continue to open from a wec corps to a fourstar general. My niece is an a10 pilot dropping bombs on afghanistan. The doors continue to open and i believe that with hard work and compassion and dedication that they can be anything they want to be. I have to share one more story. I have a picture, two pictures in my office. Ones a sixth grader and ones a fifth grader. And they wrote me a letter, they did a book report on me, and they sent me a picture of themselves. One in her acus with four stars, u. S. Army and dunwoody and her black beret and the other one acus, dunwoody fourstar u. S. Army and her cap with four stars up there saluting, and i thought, my god. I couldnt even imagine that growing up. I couldnt even ever dream that. And heres these young kids that now know they can be anything they want to be and things that we cant even imagine in this room just like i could never have imagined being where i am. Thanks. Youre welcome. My friend and hero [applause] Brigadier General [inaudible] [applause] and to my friend and i want to talk about things and more relevant that helped me be successful. Why i spent a lot of time talking about thinking about what do you want to take away . What do you want to share . And on leadership with individuals . There are some. There are thousands of books written on leadership as i realized as i started on this journey. How do you make it different . And, my, what i tried to do is pick those leadership lessons that i thought were most relevant but also, put a human face on with the stories behindut those leadership lessons, that, my first story and, was about my first time i had to stand in front ofcw3 audiences as a lieutenant and read award citation for battalionor commander. I was a first lieutenant. And, i was sitting there and i started shaking and ind wasi hanging on to the thing and ithi took me forever to get this citation. Seemed like three hours, it was three minutes. Those things happen, but you learn from those things. And this commander, he could have fired me, but he said, hey, that was your first time, youll get better. Nothing like that ev