I am honored to be here because the secretary has been involved in the foundation for about 15 years now and it was hard for us when she became secretary of the army because she had to step off the board but now that shes no longer secretary of the r. Air force. Im going to say to introduce debbie and she will be formally introduced by allison of the National Press club, she has been a friend for many years and set the example when she was at scic she was leaving people and was president of the Technical Division of the Largest Division and she doesnt mince words. Shes always there and when she became secretary of the air force, i used to stay up at night watching cspan and she with a decisive leader. She always made decisions quickly and i look forward to being here today where i dont have to watch on tv but have had the opportunity to learn about her leadership style and shes been a role model the last decade. I would like to introduce Alison Fitzgerald kodjak who has been so kind to host us today for this book event. Thanks so much. Good morning everybody welcome to the National Press club, the place where news happens. I am a correspondent at npr news and president of the press club this year. For the cspan public radio audiences i just want you to know there are members of the general public and journalists who if you hear applause or other reactions, that isnt necessarily a sign that journalists are not being objective. We are very happy to have with us secretary deborah james. She left the pentagon and is only the second woman in history to serve as the secretary of the air force. Not bad for some one plan b. If plan a worked out, james would be part of the american diplomatic corps. That was her childhood dream. In her book, aim high, she writes that she was heartsick when she didnt get accepted into the diplomatic corps but she moved on and got a job at the department of the army and then in 1993, president bill clinton appointed her to be assisted secretary defends. They made her a Senior Adviser to the secretary of defense on matters involving 1. 8 Million National guard and reserve personnel worldwide. She offers a budget of 10 billion supervises a staff of 100. So then in 2013, president obama pitched the idea of her leaving the air force. James was in the private sector and funds president technical engineering sector of the science applications corp. Of leading a Major Military service offered a challenge she was ready to tackle. She was arriving at the time the air force was in the center of the fight against the islamic state. She faced a tight budgets and involuntary reductions in force. James beat decisions even before she settled into her new office. She had to force the retirement of a general who overturned the Sexual Assault and conviction of a Fighter Pilot in a firestorm in congress and he was detained in the military involved with wd the officers discretionary power. But the book is about more than leaving the air force, it is about membership. Im sure that this morning we will have a lot to talk about so lets give a National Press club welcome to deborah lee james. [applause] thank you to the whole team. The Credit Union Just one quick word and vote of thanks. Its a really Important Foundation that works for the betterment of our military. It provides 100 of the funding for the overhead i am so honored to be involved with all of you. Thank you. That is a good way to segue into my book aim high, chart your course and plan success. I hope that you will see that there is an awful lot about the importance of doubling down on people. Its why you get things done in very difficult constantly changing or even dysfunctional environment as we seem to find ourselves these days it is a book about why you however you are and whatever your role is in the organization how you can have a big impact and make a big difference with people and within your team. Even if, and particularly if you have a different background than most of the people seated around a table from you. Its a book about how you cannot only survive through all the changing times in this function, but i think how you can actually thrive and achieve that personal satisfaction and fulfillment that you are looking for that i was always looking for. I also have to say i dont have all the answers to all the problems or how to advance in every single profession out there, but i do have a formula that has worked for me as a woman in the maledominated world of the military and national security. Its worked for me as a liberal arts major and grows to oversee a rather technical workforce, a goat in the government as well as the private industry. Its worked for me as someone thats already been a civilian in a sea of th their military uniforms that have surrounded me, and for a good many years early in my life its worked for me as frequently as the youngest of the table and there wer ther, many older people surrounding me in the charge. Note to self, that part is also not the way so enjoy it while youve got it. Im serving up another at the table anymore. I wrote this book, aim high, because i wanted to share the formula with others but i have to admit i got into it and it was a project. More than once i regretted why did i do this to myself and take this on because i had deadlines and i would have writers cramp and i couldnt get it done but at the end of it all i powered through and completed the project. The way i did wa it once i fell back on my lifelong affinity. I dont know there may be some others out there, but i nearly went into a panic attack when the top ten went off of television so im a list maker for everything because thats how i keep track of and makes an of complex or multifaceted things i have to tackle. I ended up writing aim high based on what i consider to be the three essential actions all of us need to undertake. There are underline makes through hiv through these are through actions. Now in the pentagon with the fast forward for a moment when i was the secretar secretary of tr force, one of the first things you learn a certain maximum, full of acronyms of the pentagon. It isnt a problem or issue that cannot be handled in a lengthy powerpoint. They are all for powerpoint presentations and they all start with one acronym which stands for the bottom line up front and this is the military approach to giving the Key Takeaways right on the first slide and they go through 150 or to giv 150 were e through point to lead up to that blessed day will conclude with. I thought that is a pretty good technique so in that spirit i want to give you my bluff this is the bottom line up front. The three essential actions and they are quite simply you need to chart and navigate the course so that is the case if you are an individual professional or leader of the organization, either way you have to be engaged with charting and navigating the course. Number two, lead and inspire the team, this is the case i if youe the leader of the team or a member of the team you need to embrace the team and be able to work within the Team Environments because everything happens through teamwork. Number three no matter who you are or where you are in your life you are charged with getting things done on the charged with being confident in your current position and building a body of accomplishments in that position. That is how you will need to achieve the next level of leadership. So these are the three essential actions. You heard from the reference it sounds pretty good but theres more to the back story. There are things that went wrong and things i learn a from negative experiences select you hearwhat i considered to be a to be in the state department. I took all of what i considered to me to the ultimate path, but at the end of the day for whatever reason i crashed and i remember going to bed and crying for days but i had to have a child an and i did get a job ate department of the army and the organization at the time i have no interest in, knew nothing abou, itbefore i knei discoverel security that i havent given much thought to end the work i was doing so, it was giving me that feeling of now i was finding it from a news source a great grou. Number three my gread lights a boss that not only counseled and advised me that opened up the as you heard you might have guessed it was one of those doors opening and one of those connections that lead me to the House Armed ServicesCommittee Opportunity went from someone who knew nothing about the military ten years later on the House Armed Services committee. Now i was and objects into the. That led me tand i was pretty yf public presentations that is our mothers and fathers told us about practice makes perfect if you force yourself and do it and you also learn how to not leave people in that position. 17 years in the government, i must have i decided i would try my i wajustand heres wher. I goa couple of jobs that were not the right not every job you choose will everso i came across a couo this was going to b and i they introduce. By the 20 years by but there is the power of keeping up with people and over the courswhich i hesitated an and they told in decision but athelead. Amazing people in the air force. Today i serve on corporate do some consulting and is my professionathat youwould be wros a lot more. Im on the way i have a difficulty getting that we have to hang in there with positivity the personal front. I raised two beautiful children who are now in i did that as a and sometimes at. Canteaching mwy baby granddaughter three keep a close eye on her way and learn how i have a very ful what in te world have i learned from all of thesstrategy is whereverof. Of, you always have to have another ope many years later whi was the secretary of the air force, was the secretary of state mind, and it for myself, 35 years ago because i cant imagine othebepartcompensationad by your to attach yourself to something been so important in my life and i would urge all of the network and keeping in touch with sure that you pay it forward when you go int touring. The otheeven if at times you have to fake it i and positivity. And i learned that before saturday night live turned making it work foat least for a whileand then e experience. Its hard to do i in the moment but theres alway the no matte e models you things with. His communication skills i on. Beinshow some ive had a couple of frontrowst happens when someone feels too entitled, cheats, lies, whatever it may be. Ethics is crucial and i said that embraces change earlier on at least for a while, not a citizen to front end of the situation. Da situation. Two reports, dont let it go by. Ethics is both an individual and team sport we have the obligation ethically as well as report on things making us uneasy in the environment. Last, i will say the importance of people. Generally we talk about technology and process and innovation. It falls apart if you dont get the people part of the e. Creation directly so i am a bbb for in doubling down on the things the Employee Workforce cares about most, the people issues and defend the importance of playing to your own strengths and a team environment. We are strong at certain things. None of us are stron strong at everything and none of us is as smart as a collective smarts of the total team so remember the team work always. Third is get things done. Ive been in environments where reworking is happening in the company or in a government where we are constantly on edge because they are making proposals and maybe the congress isnt going along. Hell does one work through these environments and advance the ball, tacklin the tackle the pr, get things done backs i maintain there is a five step process any of us can use ive used it in business and government and in the book i take case studies from my time as the secretary of the air force about how even in difficult and challenging environment you can advance the ball to get things done. The five step process is first you have to investigate and get as many of the facts as you can possibly get and talk to the stakeholders at different levels, get used to ambiguity because people never hav they wl of the facts you want and then understand how critical it is to act or not. Other times you have to react within a day or two or three to understand the time sensitivity communique and this is a continual proces process of thet element of communication is unique to communicate the reason for action in the first place pe what is thbut is the imperativeg the change, why are we going to make some changes here we need to bring people along on a journey. The journey. Third is activate. We have to change. What exactly are we going to do you have to have a series of initiatives and things you are going to try. Number four is reiterate because everything you come up with to change you can bet your Bottom Dollar you will not get it right 100 on the first pass. Some things will work, others will not. And you need to add new ideas so you are iterating. You might be compromising or negotiating. And last his relentless followup because nothing ever happens the first time it is directed particularly if it is a big change for people they may not understand or they may outright resisted the change you have to keep at it when it comes to communicating and following up. Again these are the principles ive tried to live by when i was the secretary of the air force and some of the case studies we dealt with in the Nuclear Enterprise fighting the Sexual Assaults in the military and defend something that might seem mundane but we face it in the military world it is a nuisance and a morale buster and that is trying to stop doing something, doing away with unnecessary trainings or regulations or what most people would call red tape so these are some of the case studies i have in the book and there are many stories and data to amplify the stories. I thank you very much for being here and hope you will enjoy the book. I hope you enjoy the book. Thank you. [applause] thank you so much, secretary. Its great to have you here. We are going to have everybody join in the conversation. We would love to have your questions. Please wait if you have a question raise your hand and wait for a moment for the microphone to reach you so that our audience on cspan will be able to hear what you have to say. Im going to start with you hate on this a couple of times and said you have to zigzag. Tell us what you call this theory. Its mainly relates to the need to be agile in your life. I think many of us have dreams and its fantastic we need to dream and dream big but as you heard in my back story, i had such a singular dreams, and my eyes were shut to the rest of the world and what other opportunities could be interesting. What i now know looking back when i try to counsel people is the dont know what will be interesting to you until you try and you should be willing to try different types of professions and different types of. They find that they dont like the profession, they find that it doesnt bring them to enjoy and they have to switch and be agile for other reasons. So the zigzag is a reflection of the fact of life is not a straight line. It isnt linear. It is this way and that way and you have to be prepared to pay that. Were the second woman to serve in the secretary of the air force. We had a year or so ago general kate who was in the army and talked a lot about the challenges facing women in the military. Obviously didnt serve in the military, but led. Can you talk about the role of the women it seems to be a push and pull going on about the role of women in the military. First, a few statistics. Women are still very much the minority. We have close to 20 women so we were kind of believers. We had the greatest number. The other services were less than that so still very much a minority until recently women were not permitted to serve in all capacities in the military. That changed and some of the most difficult are now open and there are fewer numbers of women entering only if they can qualify me for stringent requirements so whenever youve are a minority with a much larger majority around you isnt as to working with you, that will present challenges. Some would say that its harassing and others would say its not. And of course Sexual Assault which affects men and women. This is another big problem. I try to work on that i it in sl areas. Retention of women, recruitment of more and retention of those women we have because as i said 20 of the overall number you can imagine the higher up the leadership chain you went, the fewer we had and thats because women were attracting. Can we work on some of those issues, worklife balance, so all kinds of changes were made to things like maternity policy, things to make a little bit more flexibility for women and men. That was one area. Another was Sexual Assault, part of my platform, something i talked about all the time was weve got to stop Sexual Assault. Assault. We got the money for programs. It is a leadership imperative for me tracking the statistics. Did you expect when somebody said would like to serve as the secretary of the air force, did you expect Sexual Assault to be one of your major initiatives . I did because there was a major scandal at the lack of an air force Training Base a year or two before i became secretary of the air force and there already were congressional hearings that were being held. Overture to get the Service Chiefs were called then and there was an iconic picture in the post. All these men seated at the table being questioned by several female members of congress about the assault in the military. So i did know that i was going to be a major issue. I knew people issues in general were going to be very important. I will open up questions right back here. A recent report came out from recruiting and that is i think 71 of young graduates are not eligible for the military either through obesity, lack of fitness, drugs, other things. What can we do as a nation to sort of open with the availability of people coming into the military . Even with that statistic and that is telling if anyone thinks that todays military isnt selective, we are not looking for the absolute best, they would be