General George Casey on Leadership

Last week, I attended a presentation by General George Casey, Army Chief of Staff. General Casey discussed his current role and their goal of restoring health to the Army. He shared the challenges around the kind of warfare we are involved with today versus the past.

General Casey discussed Strategic Leadership. He said “Strategic leaders guide the achievement of their organizational vision within a larger enterprise by:

1. Directing policy and strategy
2. Building consensus
3. Acquiring and allocating resources
4. Influencing organizational culture
5. Shaping external environment
6. Communicating

“They lead by example to:

1. Build an effective organization
2. Grow the next generation
3. Energize subordinates
4. Seek opportunities to advance goals
5. Balance personal and professional demands; a. Read, b. Sleep, c. Exercise, d. Think, e. Personal passion (Hobby, sport)

On reflection, I think this is good stuff. I prefer building commitment to a plan rather than consensus but I suppose this could be semantics. Acquiring and allocating resources is probably more significant in large government organizations. At Nortec we focus more on saving and reducing resources consumed. Culture should probably be at the top but not sure this is supposed to be in order of importance. In business, shaping external environment, I would relate to front line selling and this is clearly key to business success. Communicating the vision is necessary so everyone knows the right direction to be going and this is where clear metrics come into play.

I am a big believer in leading by example and inspiring the team. I enjoyed the presentation and I think General Casey does a great job highlighting the key components to successful leadership.

Now, if I can track down that photo they took of me with the General...

CEO2GOV Summit Event Information:
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