How to Teach Soldiers to Make Decisions Under Uncertainty

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When i was a brand new lieutenant, i asked my father, how would i know, if somebody that i worked for, were for me, was going to be a good commander in combat. And he said, you won't you won't know. Because people have capabilities or or coping mechanisms that in peace time look fine that don't play well in war. Good commanders know when they've got to take a risk. There's no such thing as 'the right course of action', there is only the correct one.

Retired United States Army General Stanley McChrystal calls on more than three decades of military experience to discuss the fundamental tenets of leadership, and practical advice for taking calculated risks and making important decisions. This wide-ranging conversation includes insights on mitigating risk, making decisions under uncertainty, why civilian leadership is tougher than military leadership, developing mental toughness, teaching discipline, and so much more. A veteran of four U.S. wars in the Middle East, McChrystal was a four-star general best known for his command of Joint Special Operations Command from 2003-08, when he oversaw special operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. His troops were responsible for both the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and the 2006 death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. After retiring from the military in 2010 he joined Yale University as a Jackson Institute for Global Affairs senior fellow, and in 2011 he founded a consultancy firm, McChrystal Group, which helps organizations tap into human potential in service of stronger business outcomes. --

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