David Gergen's Blog, page 8

Passion Is What Counts

Son Christopher and his co-author, Stephen Martin, make a key point in this piece: that teams have their greatest impact when they become agents of transformation. At a Harvard Business School conference on leadership this past week, a highly influential leader of business, Bill George, made a similar argument about IBM's recent success: the company has embraced the idea that not only must it have good leaders at the top but must also create a transformational culture throughout IBM. And it is working!
BY CHRISTOPHER GERGEN AND STEPHEN MARTIN Published originally in Newsobserver.comJune 12, 2011

What do the U.S. Marine Corps, Alcoholics Anonymous and Trappist monasteries have in common?

They have all stood the test of time, but unlike most organizations, they don't worry excessively about a shortage of talent, says August Turak, a writer, speaker and entrepreneur in Franklinton. Far more concerned instead with a shortage of passion, they function as what Turak calls "transformational organizations" - powered by cultures that foster commitment, sacrifice and long-term influence.

"Passion is everything," Turak says. "What most of us need is not more talent. What we need is to be galvanized. It's a lack of urgency that is the real problem in business and in our personal lives."

Turak, who dropped out of the University of Pittsburgh in the 1970s to study Zen Buddhism for five years, has spent his career exploring how ordinary individuals and organizations transform themselves into extraordinary ones. After returning to Pitt to earn a degree, Turak carved out a specialty in sales and marketing. He was a founding employee of MTV and moved to the Triangle in 1985, where he launched and later sold software company Raleigh Group International.

In recent years, Turak has mined those entrepreneurial experiences as a writer. His essay about a Trappist monk won the John Templeton Foundation's prestigious Power of Purpose essay contest in 2004. In 2009, he published "Business Secrets of the Trappists," a widely read series on Forbes.com that he is now expanding into a book. (He makes those and other pieces available at www.august turak.com ).

Companies that want to foster innovative, collaborative climates routinely seek his advice. Turak's speaking engagements nationally have included the American Society of Neurosurgeons, SAS and National Public Radio.

"Whenever I meet Marines, no matter how long they've been out of the service, they always end up yelling, 'Semper fi!' " Turak told an audience at the Triangle office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Are you running up and down the halls here yelling 'EPA! EPA!'?"

A big part of the reason they and employees in most organizations are not, Turak says, comes down to culture.

Marines, monks and members of AA are steeped in cultures that focus not only on enhancing overall performance but on literally changing the way people live. And they do it by molding themselves into more selfless individuals who serve causes greater than themselves.

This is a climate sometimes found in start-up companies, which Turak describes as "unconsciously transformational."

MTV was such a place in the early 1980s, he says. The upstart network wanted to revolutionize the way viewers experienced music - and it did. He says the infectious energy and dedication of employees there, despite long hours and the uncertainty of success, happened because they believed they were part of something important.

But as start-ups grow and become more systematized, they have trouble sustaining that passion. AA (founded in 1935), the Marines (1775) and the Trappist order (11th century) are exceptions to the rule because they are "consciously transformational."

Turak points to three reasons that explain their success - principles that modern organizations would do well to mimic. First, all three are grounded in a high, overarching mission or purpose. Second, they communicate that they can and will transform people into better versions of themselves.

Finally, and perhaps most significantly, they have a concrete and extended methodology for making that transformation happen. In AA, it's the 12-step process. For Marines, it's boot camp. For Trappists, it's a two-year novitiate of work, study and prayer.

Other streams of research bear out Turak's theory. The Center for Creative Leadership has also confirmed the primacy of culture in driving organizational success, finding that too many companies believe that fixing faulty systems and processes alone will drive bottom-line performance. In fact, the beliefs that employees, particularly top executives, hold and model about how business should be conducted are just as powerful over the long term.

A great strategy, after all, is worthless if the rank-and-file don't buy into the effort required to get there.

In North Carolina, we have no shortage of start-ups and growing organizations with the talent and ideas to create jobs, tackle pressing social problems and help make our communities stronger. They are still at a stage where their employees are deeply passionate about their organizations' missions. The chance to harness that energy intentionally through well-designed organizational cultures still exists.

Translating that potential into sustained effect calls for taking Turak's insights seriously.

Christopher Gergen is the founding executive director of Bull City Forward, a member of the faculty of the Hart Leadership Program at Duke University, and co-author of Life Entrepreneurs. Stephen Martin, a former business and education journalist, is a speechwriter at the nonprofit Center for Creative Leadership.

authors@bullcityforward.org

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/06/12/1264595/passion-is-what-counts.html#ixzz1PAoKAJVY

Whose voice matters on Anthony Weiner's fate?

By David Gergen, CNN Senior Political AnalystJune 11, 2011 12:07 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTSDavid Gergen: Top Democrats have urged Anthony Weiner to resignPoll found most of his constitutents think Weiner should not resignGergen says Democrats outside the district have legitimate voice in the matterHe says Weiner, who is seeking treatment, owes it to his party to leave

Cambridge, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Who should decide the fate of Anthony Weiner? His constituents in Queens and Brooklyn? Or the leadership of the Democratic Party?

Those questions were thrown into sharp relief Saturday as top leaders of the party, starting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, issued coordinated statements saying that he should seek treatment and step down immediately.

Weiner quickly defied them, announcing that he would seek treatmentbut would only take a leave of absence from the House.

Once again, Weiner is clinging to his position that party leaders can take a hike; he will listen to his constituents. No wonder: a Marist/NY1 poll of 500 of his constituents found that 56% did not think he should resign. Weiner could also take reassurance from Friday's New York Times where columnist Jim Dwyer argued that Weiner should not be accountable to Democratic leaders but only to his constituents. The voters "employ" him and therefore, only they have a right to push him out.

Top Dems tell Weiner to resignRep. Weiner discusses his scandalWeiner's downward spiralHas 'Weinergate' reporting gone too far?The truth is that Anthony Weiner would not be a national figure were it not for the support he has had from his party. --David GergenRELATED TOPICSAnthony WeinerElections and VotingJohn KennedyPolitical PartiesU.S. Democratic Party

Who is right? For my money, Weiner is wrong. Of course, the views of his constituents should count (as do those of his wife). But he bears a heavy responsibility to the Democratic party as well. After all, he would probably not be in the office were it not for Democrats beyond his district and he would certainly not be a national figure were it not for his party.

MAPLight.org, a nonprofit that tracks political contributions, reports that between 2005 and 2007 (the most recent analysis available), 92% of Weiner's campaign contributions came from outside his district, putting him in the top 15% of representatives for reliance on donors outside his own district. Does that sound like a congressman accountable only to his constituents?

Or consider: Media outlets such as MSNBC, CNN, and Fox have called upon Weiner repeatedly to appear as a spokesman for Democrats. His combativeness and quick wit have clearly added to his attractiveness to the media, but does anyone seriously believe he was there simply as a representative of his voters in Queens and Brooklyn?

Did the Democratic National Campaign Committee ask him to send out their official fundraising letter after the passage of the health care bill because he represents that district?

The truth is that Anthony Weiner would not be a national figure were it not for the support he has had from his party.

In his book "Profiles in Courage," then-Sen. John F. Kennedy wrote persuasively of the need for anyone elected to Congress to be accountable not only to constituents but also to party and to conscience. The demands may be conflicting but that's life in the fast lane.

Kennedy wrote, "All of us in the Congress are made fully aware of the importance of party unity (what sins have been committed in that name!), and the adverse effect upon our party's chances in the next election which any rebellious conduct might bring."

Anthony Weiner acknowledges that he has engaged in "rebellious conduct" that could affect his party's welfare. Yes, his constituents matter, but his party leaders have now spoken with a united and powerful voice. Not a single one has asked him to stay. Weiner now owes it to his party and to the House to leave.

Christopher Gergen: Take ownership of your life

Successful leaders are "life entrepreneurs," says Christopher Gergen, a founding partner of an entrepreneurial leadership development company. And life entrepreneurs? They don't simply live a life; they lead a life.More On This TopicQ&AHenry Petroski: The value of failure»Q&AJoe Richman: Everything is about stories »SermonBusy, busy, busy »SermonHemmed in »ArticleWho is No. 1 in religious diversity? Hint: It's not the U.S. »ResourcesLearn more about this topic through helpful links, books and other resources.View resources on Wellbeing » Christopher Gergen gets a run or a bike ride in every day. He puts triathlons on his calendar to hold himself accountable to completing them. And after a long day in the office, he takes the time to play with his two children. All of those things, he said, are his daily renewal habits."They give me a much better sense of the broader perspective of life and what it's all about," he said.The importance of these daily habits of renewal, Gergen said, was one of the surprising patterns that came out of interviews with 55 entrepreneurs for "Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives," a book he co-wrote with Gregg Vanourek. They're the founding partners of New Mountain Ventures, an entrepreneurial leadership development company."I hadn't fully internalized this whole idea of renewal and the importance of it," Gergen said. "And yet that came across very, very loudly and clearly -- that being a life entrepreneur is also about being able to stay fresh, avoid burnout and pick your head up by building in daily habits of renewal."Gergen's entrepreneurship ventures include co-founding SMARTHINKING, an online tutoring provider, and establishing a café in Santiago, Chile, to promote the arts and music. His latest effort, Bull City Forward, aims to establish Durham, N.C., as a global model of economic development through social innovation and entrepreneurship.Gergen spoke with Faith & Leadership about what it means to be a life entrepreneur, what role it plays in leadership and how to create vibrant, intentional communities. The following is an edited transcript.Q: What does it mean to be a life entrepreneur?In terms of the book ["Life Entrepreneurs"] itself, what we were interested in addressing was how people have been able to go from very ordinary beginnings to creating pretty extraordinary outcomes, both for themselves and for the communities in which they live. Our hypothesis was that these were people who had taken a significant degree of ownership of their lives and were demonstrating a number of the traits you see in somebody who would be called an entrepreneur.They have a sense of [who they are] -- what makes them tick, what their passions are, what their strengths are, what their values are and what their purpose is -- and they've done some really important work related to that. They have a sense of the opportunities on the horizon, and they're able to translate that sense of possibility into a vision of where they want to go. They have a deep belief that the future is malleable and that the future is theirs to take. They live and embrace that, [in contrast to] people who are sort of fatalistic in their work.Q: What comes after they have this vision of where they want to go?This goes very much into the entrepreneurial mindset as well. It's saying, "OK, I have a vision of where I want to go, and now I'm actually going to figure out how to get there." They are smart on the execution side of it. They start thinking strategically about how to develop clear goals and how to translate those goals into reality.After asking, "What are going to be my goals and my strategies to pull this off?" then it's, "How do I create a support network around me?" Much like entrepreneurs have boards of directors, [life entrepreneurs] develop a healthy support network around them. We call this the "personal board of directors."Your personal board of directors should be defined by a deep sense of trust and authenticity. There should be a diversity of opinion and perspective so that when you're faced with a difficult question or challenge, you have different perspectives from which to draw.Also, reciprocity is important. Once I understand what your vision is, where you want to go and what your life dreams are, and once you know what mine are, how do we help each other get there?Then -- and the most important thing -- is that life entrepreneurs are willing to go for it and to make a leap. Following the entrepreneurial life path is usually illogical, right? Because you're usually going against the grain. Life entrepreneurs are people who don't simply live a life; they lead a life.Q: What's the difference between leading a life and just living one?The No. 1 thing that most people are scared of is the fear of failure. [But] when we asked people for the book what they were most scared of, their No. 1 fear was regret and not living a life that was as fulfilling, as deep, as meaningful and as purposeful as they possibly could. So there's this sense of making that leap, taking action, being willing to fail, assuming a measure of risk along the way.The other thing that's really important is that it's not about just themselves. It's about this deeper belief in leaving the world a better place. It's not about just serving in a traditional volunteer capacity; it's the way you live life, the way you walk through life, the way you engage relationships in life. It all has a service quality to it.Q: What did you learn from the interviews with the 55 entrepreneurs?There were certain things we were surprised by. I hadn't fully internalized this whole idea of renewal and the importance of it. And yet that came across very, very loudly and clearly -- that being a life entrepreneur is also about being able to stay fresh, avoid burnout and pick your head up by building in daily habits of renewal. It's appreciating the small things and being able to take a deep breath and be quiet from time to time.Almost everybody we talked to had some way of being able to stay connected to who they were, and they were connected to the bigger meanings and questions in life, whether that was through prayer, exercise, meditation or whatever it may have been.And we sort of knew inherently the importance of relationships, but we heard it again and again. People who have been able to embark upon a life that is truly their own are surrounded by a strong support network.Q: Is there a connection between being a successful leader and having the mindset of a life entrepreneur?Yes. You certainly see some leaders that haven't spent enough time on some of these deeper questions of reflection, and they are not entirely clear where their true north is. That type of leadership can be unsustainable.You see time and time again leaders who have gone off track because they don't have a clear sense of who they are and what they're called to do and what their values are. As result of that, they will lead for the sake of leading rather than getting to the deeper question: "For what reason?"I think there's something to be said for bringing these two things [leadership and life entrepreneurship] together. I think that people who are able to be extraordinary leaders are people who know their true north. Bill George and Peter Sims wrote a terrific book about this called "True North," which speaks to the fact that great leadership is often one that has a strong values foundation to it.Q: You talked about having a personal board of directors. Taking that further, what role do networking, partnerships and collaboration play in this concept of life entrepreneurship?I think it's invaluable. It's invaluable to have relationships that are able to open you to new ideas and opportunities, as well as being able to be very smart around resource allocation, for example. If you can work in collaboration with another organization or somebody else on your team, you can often benefit from sharing resources and increasing impact.Another important attribute is that there's an increasing amount of evidence that networks and shared learning breed innovation. One of my favorite books from last year is Steven Johnson's "Where Good Ideas Come From." He talks a lot about this idea of liquid networks -- that there are dynamic networks that you can't always predict, but that's where you get a lot of good breakthrough thinking.That's related to the work we're trying to do around Bull City Forward. Intentional communities can be very powerful, especially if they're cultivated the right kind of way, because it's all about helping people make connections that are relatively unexpected but lead to incredible breakthrough thinking.Q: How do you cultivate vibrant ecosystems or intentional communities?The way I have likened my work over the years -- in terms of my own entrepreneurial path and the work I've done to try to inspire people to be entrepreneurs -- is this idea that we're creating all these healthy seeds. If you plant them in dry soil, for example, they're either going to blow away somewhere else, perhaps to more fertile ground, or they're not going to reach their full potential and their growth will be stunted.What we have begun to question is how do we create this fertile garden? How do we make sure these seeds have a terrific place to be planted? And how do we harvest this garden and grow these ideas?In Durham, we've got a hotbed of all these terrific, bright and creative people. But they typically worked on their own and weren't being connected to other networks, or they were haphazard and accidental in the way that was going. We thought, "If we were able to create this ecosystem of change-makers and make Durham a place where great ideas that could change the world thrived, how would we do that?"We determined there were basically four things we needed to do. The first is to be intentional about the pipeline itself. How do we make sure that we have a lot of good ideas in this soil? That requires building a pipeline of innovators.Once we have that strong concentration of entrepreneurs, how do we also have a smart, enabling environment to be able to help these entrepreneurs and change-makers grow to scale? That's the gardening part of what we're doing.A big piece of that is making sure entrepreneurs are connected to one another, because that's where the real strength in the community lies. We believe that of anything we do, what we need to do right is the dot-connecting piece of it. As soon as somebody comes into our community, we want to be able to sit down with them and say, "What are your goals? Where do you want to go? What are you focused on? What do you care about?" And then, through that conversation, we're able to say, "OK, you should talk to these four or five people who are aligned with your values and are doing some things in your field that you should be thinking about." Usually, some type of partnership begins to unfold from there. We also have a space in downtown [Durham] where people can connect with one another, work out of and hold meetings.The third piece is measure. How do we actually measure the impact we're having? How do we prove that this is lending itself to contributing to the top line and bottom line of the city's economy? And what kind of impact is this collective network having on our community in terms of social change?The final piece is that we advocate on the community's behalf at the local, state and national levels, because there are certain public policies that can be changed and created to help catalyze this community. How do we make sure that dollars are being invested in ways that benefit our economy and environment and are thoughtfully invested?Published originally for Faith and Leadership - Duke University

NATO Escalates Air Strikes in Libya

Transcript from John King USA aired June 8,2011

KING: Let's discuss this with our CNN senior political analyst David Gergen. He's advised four U.S. presidents. David, I want to start with something you wrote this morning on cnn.com. You have been on this program.

You've been critical of the administration essentially taking a back seat, letting others in the NATO alliance be on the front lines of the fighting. You wrote this, this morning, I was among those who would have preferred stronger, more assertive American leadership, but if Gadhafi falls, Obama will have bragging rights that his way worked better than critics like me thought.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, John, I think there have been a lot of signs here in recent days that Gadhafi is coming toward his end. I think we've entered -- remember when Nixon's final days in that famous book by Woodward and Bernstein?

I think we've entered Gadhafi's final days. Don't know how long they're going to last. I think it could end quickly despite his sort of raging. But the intensification of the airstrike on Tripoli, they've basically destroyed much of his compound. He's essentially a fugitive in his own capital now. Trying to get away from any place they can bomb him.

The Russians have turned against him. The Turks have turned against him. Russia has now sent an envoy there to begin negotiations, to mediate, to get him out of there and very importantly, the inner circle is starting to crumble. There are more people who are now -- generals and others who are defecting, as well as ministers.

So I think he's getting down to his, as I say, I think he's going down to his final days. In terms of interpreting how this was done, if -- Obama took a risk. If Gadhafi had been there for six months, I think he would have lost that gamble and he would have been seen as ineffectual. If he brings him down soon, I think it's going the other way. John, you know, they got Bin Laden. If they get Gadhafi too, that's a pretty good summer for President Obama.

KING: About three months right now. What's interesting, David, I don't think any tears will be shed if Gadhafi goes. No tears will be shed. The question would be, how is the transition plan, but do you find it at all striking -- you just heard the NATO secretary- general there, Mr. Rasmussen, saying that essentially it's time to plan for the post-Gadhafi era.

This comes after they dropped 50 bombs in one day on Tripoli, 40 of them aimed at the compound of Gadhafi. The United Nations resolution says nothing about regime change and yet NATO now openly, even though at the beginning it said the mission was not about regime change, openly talking about we're going to bomb you until you go.

GERGEN: John, it's a really good point. This mission has clearly morphed. It's been done without, you know, without anybody really questioning it. That's one of the reasons why it's important that the Russians have turned against Gadhafi.

Because they were the ones who were, you know, along with the Chinese who were really protesting the NATO mission to start with. And said, you know, this is going to morph and now it's morphed and they're coming with us. A lot of things have changed.

You have to say that if we get him, if he is toppled -- and I do think he's going to be toppled, either dead or alive, I think he's going down and going down fairly soon. That with U.S. playing a secondary role, one which I have gone the other way, I would prefer the U.S. in a more muscular role, but if the Obama approach works, you have to give him credit for it.

There is, John, this continuing question about who's going to run the place after it's over. I do not think our intelligence knows as much as they would like about who the rebels are and what kind of government they'll have.

We've been, you know, there's been disappointment in the administration about the directions that Egypt is tending toward. And there could easily be disappointment on Libya.

KING: Post-Gadhafi Libya would present a whole new set of challenges. I think, David, you're right, the administration would prefer to deal with those than continued Gadhafi holding on.

Our senior analyst, David Gergen. Appreciate your insights tonight.

Are we seeing Gadhafi's final days?

Libyans take journalists on a guided tour of destroyed buildings where Moammar Gadhafi had his base in Tripoli

Cambridge, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Four months after he began ruthlessly repressing dissent in Libya, Moammar Gadhafi appears to have entered his final days. Dead or alive, he seems very much on the verge of giving up power -- perhaps as early as this weekend, perhaps a little longer.

That proverbial noose we have heard so much about is finally strangling his regime. NATO forces have not only called in helicopter gunships but have also intensified bombing to terrifying levels -- just recently, as many as 10 or 12 explosions a night were heard in Tripoli; yesterday, the rubble bounced even higher, with more than 80 bombs raining down on the capital in full daylight.

Much of Gadhafi's compound is gone and he is a "fugitive in his own capital," according to The New York Times.

Not surprisingly, the circle around him is now crumbling. Generals and civilian officials alike are defecting in growing numbers. He still retains the loyalty of some tough troops, but it is difficult to see how they can hold out much longer.

David Gergen

Financial and diplomatic pressures are escalating, too. It has been significant that in recent weeks, both the Russian and Turkish governments have turned against Gadhafi remaining in charge.

We have not yet heard much from talks with a special Russian envoy who arrived in Libya this week to try to mediate an end, but he very much bears watching.

The fall of Gadhafi will not be the end of the story, of course. U.S. intelligence sources continue to tell American journalists that they know less about the rebels than they would like.

Nation-building could be expensive and, as we have seen in Egypt, could well lead toward a government that is less friendly than we would like.

NATO making progress in Libya?New lies from Gadhafi's regimeRELATED TOPICSLibyaMoammar GadhafiLibyan PoliticsNATOBarack ObamaDavid Gergen

Even so, Western governments -- especially the French and British, but let us be honest, the Obama administration as well -- will have earned considerable credit if Gadhafi is brought down.

The Brits and French led the way in forging an international coalition, and their military forces have been more effective than skeptics expected.

As for President Obama, he took an unorthodox approach to the episode, applying military might up front but then carefully drifting back to let others do the heavy lifting -- and keeping the U.S. boots off the ground.

I was among those who would have preferred stronger, more assertive American leadership, but if Gadhafi falls, Obama will have bragging rights that his way worked better than critics like me thought it would.

Obama still has to prove that his leadership will create jobs and economic growth. But bin Laden and Gadhafi both? Not bad for a summer's work, not bad at all.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Gergen.

Who is Dr. Fix-It, Obama or Romney?

Sec. Gates talks leadership with graduating Midshipmen

31 May 2011
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When Robert Gates retires at the end of June, he will be remembered as arguably the best Secretary of Defense since George Marshall. That's partly because both men cared about many of the same values—responsibility, integrity and leadership. Gates has repeatedly spoken out about the importance of strong, effective leaders in civilian and military life. His commencement address at the Naval Academy on May 27, his last at an academy, captures many of his thoughts. I believe that two points are particularly worth noting—his argument that an emphasis upon team-building is overdone in leadership teaching (ultimately, he says, leadership depends upon the quality of an individual) and his argument that rising leaders must take adversity in stride (see his story about Admiral Mullen). No one in public life today walks the talk on leadership better than Bob Gates.

—David Gergen

Here's an excerpt from Secretary Gates's address to this year's graduating class of the U.S. Naval Academy...

Forty-six years ago this month I graduated from college also having committed to public service. In the decades since—in the Air Force, at CIA, in the White House, and now at the Pentagon—I served under eight presidents and had the opportunity to observe many other great leaders along the way. From this experience I have learned that real leadership is a rare and precious commodity, and requires qualities that many people might possess piecemeal to varying degrees, but few exhibit in total.

As you start your careers as leaders today, I would like to offer some brief thoughts on those qualities. For starters, great leaders must have vision—the ability to get your eyes off your shoelaces at every level of rank and responsibility, and see beyond the day-to-day tasks and problems. To be able to look beyond tomorrow and discern a world of possibilities and potential. How do you take any outfit to a higher level of excellence? You must see what others do not or cannot, and then be prepared to act on your vision.

An additional quality necessary for leadership is deep conviction. True leadership is a fire in the mind that transforms all who feel its warmth, that transfixes all who see its shining light in the eyes of a man or woman. It is a strength of purpose and belief in a cause that reaches out to others, touches their hearts, and makes them eager to follow.

Self-confidence is still another quality of leadership. Not the chest-thumping, strutting egotism we see and read about all the time. Rather, it is the quiet self-assurance that allows a leader to give others both real responsibility and real credit for success. The ability to stand in the shadow and let others receive attention and accolades. A leader is able to make decisions but then delegate and trust others to make things happen. This doesn't mean turning your back after making a decision and hoping for the best. It does mean trusting in people at the same time you hold them accountable. The bottom line: a self-confident leader doesn't cast such a large shadow that no one else can grow.

A further quality of leadership is courage: not just the physical courage of the seas, of the skies and of the trenches, but moral courage. The courage to chart a new course; the courage to do what is right and not just what is popular; the courage to stand alone; the courage to act; the courage as a military officer to "speak truth to power."

In most academic curricula today, and in most business, government, and military training programs, there is great emphasis on team-building, on working together, on building consensus, on group dynamics. You have learned a lot about that. But, for everyone who would become a leader, the time will inevitably come when you must stand alone. When alone you must say, "This is wrong" or "I disagree with all of you and, because I have the responsibility, this is what we will do." Don't kid yourself—that takes real courage.

Another essential quality of leadership is integrity. Without this, real leadership is not possible. Nowadays, it seems like integrity—or honor or character—is kind of quaint, a curious, old-fashioned notion. We read of too many successful and intelligent people in and out of government who succumb to the easy wrong rather than the hard right—whether from inattention or a sense of entitlement, the notion that rules are not for them. But for a real leader, personal virtues—self-reliance, self control, honor, truthfulness, morality—are absolute. These are the building blocks of character, of integrity—and only on that foundation can real leadership be built.

A final quality of real leadership, I believe, is simply common decency: treating those around you—and, above all, your subordinates—with fairness and respect. An acid test of leadership is how you treat those you outrank, or as President Truman once said, "how you treat those who can't talk back."

Whatever your military specialty might be, use your authority over others for constructive purposes, to help them—to watch out and care for them and their families, to help them improve their skills and advance, to ease their hardships whenever possible. All of this can be done without compromising discipline or mission or authority. Common decency builds respect and, in a democratic society, respect is what prompts people to give their all for a leader, even at great personal sacrifice.

I hope you will keep these thoughts with you as you advance in your careers. Above all, remember that the true measure of leadership is not how you react in times of peace or times without peril. The true measure of leadership is how you react when the wind leaves your sails, when the tide turns against you.

Just to get accepted to the Naval Academy, most of you have probably succeeded—in many cases brilliantly—at pretty much everything you've done—in the classroom, on the playing field, or in other activities. I know this institution has challenged you in new ways. But from here on out it just gets harder. The risk of failure or setbacks will only grow as your responsibilities grow, and with them the consequences of your decisions.

So know this. At some point along your path, you will surely encounter failure or disappointment of one kind or another. Nearly all of us have. If at those times you hold true to your standards, then you will always succeed, if only in knowing you stayed true and honorable. In the final analysis, what really matters are not the failures and disappointments themselves, but how you respond. About 40 years ago, a young ensign ran his gasoline tanker into a buoy, fouling the propeller in the process—typically a career killer. I work with that same naval officer every day. He is now the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen.

To be able to respond to setbacks with perseverance and determination should apply as well to the military institutions you lead. I will never forget the night of April 24th, 1980. I was executive assistant to the CIA director at the time, and was in the White House during the secret mission to rescue American hostages in Iran. I had been in on the planning from the beginning and, while the operation was clearly risky, I honestly believed it would work. It did not. Soon, images of burnt helicopters and the charred remains of U.S. servicemen splashed around the world. It was truly a low ebb for our nation and for a military that was still recovering from Vietnam.

But then the special operations community, and the U.S. military as a whole, pulled itself together, reformed the way it was trained and organized, took on the corrosive service parochialism that had hobbled our military institutionally and operationally.

And so, just under a month ago, I once again spent a nerve-wracking afternoon in the White House as a risky special operations mission was underway. When word of a downed helicopter came back my heart sank, remembering that awful night thirty years ago. But this time, of course, there was a very different result:

A mass murderer was brought to a fitting end;A world in awe of America's military prowess;A country relieved that justice was done and, frankly, that their government could do something hard and do it right; andA powerful blow struck on behalf of democratic civilization against its most lethal and determined enemies.

I want each of you to take that lesson of adaptability, of responding to setbacks by improving yourself and your institution, and that example of success, with you as you go forward into the Navy and the Marine Corps you will someday lead.

The qualities of leadership I have described this morning do not suddenly emerge fully developed overnight or as a revelation after you have assumed important responsibilities. These qualities have their roots in the small decisions you have made here at the Academy and will make early in your career and must be strengthened all along the way to allow you to resist the temptation of self before service.

As I mentioned earlier, this is my last address to America's service academies, my last opportunity to engage the future leaders of our military as your defense secretary. As I look out upon you this morning, I am reminded of what so struck and moved me when I went from being a university president to U.S. Secretary of Defense in a time of war. At Texas A&M I would walk the campus, and I would see thousands of students aged 18-25, typically wearing t-shirts and shorts and backpacks. The day after I became Secretary of Defense, in December 2006, I made my first visit to the war theater. And there I encountered other young men and women also 18 to 25. Except they were wearing body armor and carrying assault rifles, putting their lives at risk for all Americans. And I knew that some of them would not make it home whole, and that some would not make it home at all.

I knew then that soon all those in harm's way would be there because I sent them. Ever since, I have come to work every day, with a sense of personal responsibility for each and every young American in uniform—as if you were my own sons and daughters. My only prayer is that you serve with honor and come home safely. I personally thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service. Serving and leading you has been the greatest honor of my life.

May you have fair winds and following seas. Congratulations.

Secretary Gates's entire speech is available on the U.S. Department of Defense website.

Economy: Jobs main concern ,not deficit

NY-26: Big impact on deficit fights

NY-26: Big impact on deficit fightsBy David Gergen, CNN Senior Political Analyst

STORY HIGHLIGHTSGOP's Christopher Lee resigned from Congress last year after shirtless picture e-mailedThe special election to replace him is reframing deficit debate, says David GergenElection complicates possible bargain on entitlements before 2012, he saysRELATED TOPICSDavid GergenFederal BudgetBuffalo (New York)

Editor's note: David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has been adviser to four presidents. He is professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Business.

Cambridge, Massachusetts (CNN) -- When a young GOP Congressman stripped off his shirt, took his picture and e-mailed it to a woman, he did more than end his career -- he set off a political ripple that probably ends prospects for resolving the nation's growing debt crisis before next year's elections.

The clumsy seduction attempt by Christopher Lee forced him to resign from Congress late last year, unexpectedly setting up a special election this week in NY-26, a district that runs between Buffalo and Rochester in New York state.

In stepped Democrat Kathy Hochul with a hard-hitting campaign against Paul Ryan's plan to overhaul Medicare and easily grabbed one of the country's reliably Republican seats. Ordinarily, a special election for a single House seat wouldn't mean much -- and this one has been over-interpreted -- but by all appearances, it is quickly reshaping the landscape for deficit reductions.

For both Republicans and Democrats, the message has been the same: Mess with Medicare at your peril.

Republicans have been gambling that, with a deficit picture so bleak, a majority of Americans will be willing to reduce the benefits of Medicare and Social Security in order to save the programs. If Republicans come up with a better message, they may yet prevail in that argument, but clearly they haven't yet. In NY-26, "Medi-scare" won hands down.

For Democrats, who paid at the polls last November for their own reductions in Medicare, the New York victory provides a sharp incentive to put the Ryan plan at the center of the 2012 campaign. They see blood in the water.

In the short term, all this may be good for the country: It may make it easier to reach a bipartisan compromise that cuts deficits and raises the national debt ceiling before August 2 of this year.

Republicans have been asking for large reductions in Medicare as a price for that debt extension. They are likely to lower their expectations now, and with that, Democrats could also lower their hopes -- unrealistic -- for a significant increase in taxes. The deficit reduction plan won't be anywhere near as big as we need, but if the parties work together, it could be respectable.

The challenge that arises because of NY-26 is that it makes it much harder to reach a "grand bargain" on entitlements and taxes before the 2012 elections.

Democrats clearly want to wave the Ryan plan at Republicans as a possible way to save the Senate and re-gain the House. Republicans will face a dilemma over the Ryan plan: Should they go into a fierce offense or should their presidential nominee come up with a different plan behind which the party can rally?

Either way, major Medicare reform isn't going to happen before the elections, and that, in turn, means that Washington won't make the hard choices on spending, taxes and the like until 2013-2014 -- if then.

But politics-as-usual has become a highly dangerous game these days. Not many in Washington like to point this out, but only just over a month ago, Standard & Poor's warned that if the country does not adopt a serious, credible plan on deficits BEFORE the year 2013, there is a one-in-three chance that S&P will reduce the nation's AAA credit rating.

We are playing with fire.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Gergen.

David Gergen Speaks At Bentley University

First Posted: 05/24/11 02:02 PM ET Updated: 05/24/11 02:49 PM ET

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On Sunday, May 21st, political commentator and presidential advisor, David Gergen gave the commencement address at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

In his speech Gergen stressed, "This country – all of us here – need you to leave here and step up to become leaders in a generation that will save America. You have earned a right to make a great living; now you must make a great life."

FULL TEXT BELOW:

President Larson, Trustees, Faculty, Staff, Families, Friends, and best of all, Members of the 2011 Graduating Class from Bentley University!

What a privilege to join you on this occasion as we celebrate these graduates – 1005 strong. Those of you in cap and gown should be very proud:

Through hard work and talent, you earned a right to come here to one of the nation's finest business universities, increasingly recognized the world over.

Through hard work and talent, you have now earned a Bentley degree that will serve as a calling card for decades to come – a sturdy foundation upon which you can build a career, a family, a life.

Through hard work, talent – and perhaps a little luck – you have also found what many others in your generation are still seeking: jobs. Within six months, nearly every single graduate will be working or heading to graduate school.

Warmest congratulations to one and all!

You are surrounded here today by family members who have lovingly supported you through these years – and are more relieved than you know to see you graduate. In appreciation for their support, may I ask all of the graduates to rise, turn and give your families a Bentley cheer!

I won't detain you long today. We have research from the department of psychology at Harvard that if a college commencement speaker drones on for more than 15 minutes, only about a quarter of students continue to pay attention; another quarter drift off the sleep; and the other half – these being undergraduates – engage in sexual fantasies. So, let's keep it short.

My message to you today is simply this: this country – all of us here – need you to leave here and step up to become leaders in a generation that will save America. You have earned a right to make a great living; now you must make a great life.

Exactly a half century ago this month – May 25, 1961 – another son of Massachusetts – John F. Kennedy – issued a call to greatness for his generation. Americans, he declared, would become the first people in the history of the world who would put a man on the moon. And they would do it within 10 years. It would be "a great new American enterprise".
Experts scoffed – they said it couldn't be done, that we didn't have the science and technology, and it would take decades. Well, we not only succeeded but we did it in eight years. The world was astonished.

That mission to the moon represented the true spirit of America – we are by nature a restless people, dreamers who believe that we can climb any mountain, reach any frontier.

I hardly need remind you how many giants arose here in Massachusetts – from John Winthrop to John and Abigail Adams; from Thoreau and Emerson to Alcott and Longfellow; from abolitionists to inventors, scientists, and business leaders. Because of their efforts, Boston today is a vibrant world center for high tech, finance, biotechnology and many other industries – industries that many of you will one day lead.

As graduates this morning from Bentley, you are the rightful heirs of the spirit of America and the traditions of Massachusetts.

But as you leave this university, you know as well as I do that growing numbers worry that the American spirit is dying, that our dreams are fading, and we are drifting into decline.

With reason, people worry whether our political leaders still have the courage and wisdom to pull us out of our slide into a debt crisis. Today the federal government must borrow 40 cents out of every dollar it spends; foreigners now own nearly half of our public debt and China has become our biggest single creditor.

With reason, people worry whether we can create enough middle class, well-paid jobs in the future. In the 1990s, we created more than 20 million new jobs in the 1990s; in the past decade, we have created less than one tenth as many.

The story of men and jobs is jarring: among men 25-54 today, one in five is looking for a job; when the recovery takes hold, says economist Larry Summers, we will still have one in six men looking for work. Now consider this: forty years ago, only one in 20 males of that age were looking for work. Something has gone badly amiss.

With reason, people worry whether we can close the growing gap between the rich versus everyone else. Even as multi-million bonuses are returning to Wall Street, we live in a nation where 40 percent of babies born today are eligible for Medicaid, the program for the poor.

With reason, people worry whether we are educating our kids for the future. A third of our children fail to finish high school, a third finish but are not ready for college or a 21st century job; you are among the top third who have made it through college, but think how many friends of yours from high school are already adrift.

For the first six decades of the 20th century, Americans were the most educated people in the world, but today, we rank anywhere from 10th to 15th to 25th among nations in international education scores. As citizens of this commonwealth, we are rightly proud that Massachusetts has the best school scores in America. But think of this: if Massachusetts were a country, we would rank only 7th or 8th in the world – and we're the best in the U.S. By contrast, if Shanghai were a country, it would be number one in the world – and blowing everyone else away.

When you were born, America was supreme. Scholars said that not since the days of ancient Rome had any people been as powerful in economic strength, military strength, political strength and cultural influence. By the time many of you reach 30, the International Monetary Fund says that China may pass us by as the number one economic power.
Nations do not become great because they are lucky; they become great because their citizens work hard, pull together, and care about their children. And when they go astray, they can go down fast. Consider the fall of Britain. When Queen Victoria celebrated her golden jubilee in 1898, every person who lived within the British Empire was given the day off in her honor. No less than one out of every 4 people on the face of the earth took the day off – that's how big and sprawling its reach was. But Britain went astray – it allowed its schools to deteriorate, it drifted into marginal wars, and it sank deeply into debt. Sound familiar? It should because that also describes America, too. And guess what: a half century later, Britain had become a second class power – poof, it vanished from greatness.
Some think we don't really have to worry. After all, as Bismarck once said, God looks after fools, drunkards and the United States of America. But that was back in the 19th century. I am not sure China, India, and Brazil pay much attention to Bismarck these days. They are gaining on us, and gaining fast.

I would like to think that my own generation can rise to this challenge, that we can rebuild America, but I am not as hopeful as I once was. We know what great leadership looks like: we are the sons and daughters of the World War II generation, the one Tom Brokaw called the greatest generation. But somehow we have never lived up to the standards we inherited: many of us were spoiled as kids, we splintered apart during the 1960s and 1970s – a few served in Vietnam, many others protested and ducked; we are now deeply polarized in our politics. I keep hoping that we will grow up as a generation and turn things around. But I am not holding my breath.

What is clear, however, is your generation represents rising hope for America. I believe you are different: that you care about changing we way we live, that you think this polarization is stupid, that you want to pull together, that you are determined to turn over a new America to your own children. Not all of you, but enough of you to count.

I see your generation bringing a renaissance in the American spirit.

Your generation showed what you are made of just a couple of weeks ago when helicopters full of young men, not much older than you, flew as Navy Seals into the heart of darkness. There, deep into Pakistan, they masterfully found and dispatched the world's leading terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. It was an extremely dangerous mission, but they showed the courage and grit of a new generation of Americans.

Across America, college students poured into the streets, joyful, proud, chanting "USA! USA!" Some were offended by the demonstrations, arguing that we should not be proud of taking another life. But the critics got it wrong: these students – many of whom, like you, were in 7th grade on 9/11 -- were cheering because America had once again shown it had the resolve and the know-how to accomplish another great enterprise.

Across the country, many other young people are showing that same determination and devotion to country as they volunteer in droves to serve as teachers, mentors, and helpmates to young children. This spring, Teach for America is selecting some 4600 graduating seniors to start working in public schools this fall. What a hard selection it is because

Teach for America has received applications from no less than 47,000 outstanding seniors from universities everywhere, including Bentley.

Indeed, I see a renaissance of the American spirit right here at Bentley among those of you graduating today. Your president, Gloria Larson, is immensely proud of you – as are your faculty – for the promise that you hold.
You should hold your head high as you enter business – because you will be the producers of this society, people who create new jobs as well as goods and services. We live in a day when an estimated half of our population receives more from government than they pay in. It is morally right to support those in need, but it's time we also honor those who create the jobs and the wealth that makes compassion possible. As Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas told us, it doesn't make sense for anyone to love employees and hate employers.

Gloria Larson points out that because of your education at Bentley – the way you integrate the liberal arts with business classes, ethics with accounting and finance -- you are also a generation setting out to redefine the role of business in society. You understand that business does share in the responsibility for the devastation wrecked upon millions of families by our recent financial crisis. There was too much greed, too much recklessness.

Yours is the generation that must bring fresh leadership to business –leadership that is socially responsible and accountable. Many of you have shown a social commitment here at Bentley. No less than 1350 Bentley students were working this past year in almost 100 community service projects right here in Waltham and in other sites. Bentley is the first university in the country to partner with City Year, a marvelous national service organization started here in Boston. I am also very impressed and pleased that Bentley is launching a Center for Women and Business and that President Larson has had the wisdom to recruit a dear friend and former colleague, Betsy Myers, to become the founding director. Betsy is a ball of fire who will prepare thousands of Bentley women to play leading roles in years to come – as they should!

So there is much to celebrate here at Bentley this morning. Right here in the heart of Massachusetts, you are helping to revive the American spirit.

A little over a century ago, another son of Massachusetts, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. reflected on his own generation. Holmes had volunteered for the Civil War, and was wounded three times; he went on to become Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court and then a famous member of the U.S. Supreme Court. Looking back, Holmes said of his generation: "Through our great good fortune, in our youth, our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing."

Members of the Graduating Class of 2011: You are entering a world that is deeply troubled, a world that worries whether America still has the right stuff, whether we could embark on an impossible dream like going to the moon. But your generation, I believe, is one in which hearts are again touched with fire. All of us here today wish you well and hope, fervently, that you will become the country's next great generation.
Good luck and God speed!

Originally posted in HuffPost- AOL News