washington business
The current generation of workers has different
expectations compared to previous generations.
Why do you believe that young Americans should
spend a year working in a service program?
I believe that citizenship in America has deteriorated, and I don’t
think it’s the fault of a single generation. If we go back to what Tom
Brokaw identified as the Greatest Generation, they went through
the Depression, and then they went through the Second World War.
Some people think that because they won the war, that’s what made
them the Greatest Generation. I think what Tom was really saying
was those experiences of serving and being part of something bigger
than themselves, changed them fundamentally. Therefore, they
became the Greatest Generation. We owe that opportunity to young
people today. One idea is to give everyone a year of paid, national
service in something from health care, education, conservation, or
maybe the military. I believe this would fundamentally change them
and their relationship to each other.
being the smartest person in the room; it’s about being the person
that people want to listen to and the person with whom people want
to stand shoulder to shoulder.
How do the students react to that? Is that different
than what they’re used to hearing?
I don’t think the generation of students I interact with has had
enough focus on it. I’m not sure there are enough opportunities for
someone to sit down and discuss what leadership is really about,
and why people follow leaders. But, they’re very open-minded about
it. When I first arrived, I expected young people to come in with
very hardened political attitudes, either conservative or liberal, or
you name it. They don’t. They come in very malleable and centrist,
a little skeptical of the current environment, and of what they see.
They’re looking for people who will make reasonable decisions, and
I think that’s what we’re all looking for.
Can you elaborate a little on how this might work and
where the funding will come from?
You were stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Can you tell me what years you were there and what
your experience was like living here in Washington?
What we’re trying to do under the Franklin Project, which is an
Aspen Institute program, is create a service year. The program would
be funded partly by the Serve America Act, which is government
funding. We have 80,000 paid positions under the Serve America
Act and AmeriCorps. The original idea was to have 250,000. The sad
part is for those 80,000 positions, there were 580,000 applicants.
The demand is there. The much greater gift is the experience of
serving alongside other Americans. What we get back is many times
any investment.
I came to Fort Lewis in 1994 to take command of the Second Ranger
Battalion, and, when I did, I contacted my father. He said about
three houses over from mine is where he lived when my grandfather
was a lieutenant colonel at Fort Lewis before the Second World
War. And Lieutenant Colonel Dwight David Eisenhower was here
as well. My father knew his sons. So there was this continuity to go
back through my father’s and then my grandfather’s experiences.
I spent a little less than two years there and had a wonderful time.
I fell in love with the Northwest.
I imagine you are closely watching the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs. Are you involved in that in any way,
or are you an observer?
I’m not directly involved in the Veterans Administration, but the
new secretary was a lieutenant who served with me in my first
assignment, Robert McDonald. He’s a brilliant guy, and I think he’ll
be a great leader. But the Veterans Administration, most people
need to understand, is a huge infrastructure. By necessity it has
a lot of different pieces and bureaucracy to it. Regardless, what it
needs to do is provide first-class medical care to our veterans, and
provide it in a way that doesn’t feel difficult.
What else are you working on? Can I dare to ask you
about politics?
I believe very much that politics are important, but I’m not involved
personally in politics. I teach leadership at Yale University. I teach
young people how to deal with the complex role of leadership, to
develop in students an understanding that you can have the right
answer, but it’s irrelevant unless you can get people to listen to you.
Leadership is mostly about interacting with people. It’s not about
stanley mcchrystal at a glance
Education: Bachelor of Science degree from the United States
Military Academy at West Point, graduated in 1976. Master’s
degree in national security and strategic studies from the
United States Naval War College. Master’s in Science degree
in international relations from Salve Regina University.
Military career: A 1976 graduate of the United States Military
Academy at West Point, he is the former supreme commander
of international and American forces in Afghanistan, retiring as
a four-star general in 2010 after a 38-year career in the Army.
Post-military: Senior fellow at Yale’s Jackson Institute
for Global Affairs where he teaches a course on leadership;
co-founder of the McChrystal Group; head of the Aspen
Institute’s Franklin Project; and author of the memoir
“My Share of the Task.”
Family: Wife, Annie, and son Sam.
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