Sailing True North Quotes

“The character lesson, when you strip the centuries-old setting away, is that only a leader who is personally disciplined herself or himself can realistically apply significant discipline to an organization.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Zumwalt was frequently and widely regarded as a sailor’s admiral. Extreme loyalty to subordinates was one of the hallmarks of his career. Particularly when he commanded at sea or in combat, Zumwalt drove his people hard but also did what he could to share their experience and make life a little easier on them. As commander of all US naval forces in Vietnam, he was a frequent visitor to both frontline combat units and hospitals, and his efforts to improve life for his sailors ran the gamut from delivering cases of beer in his personal helicopter to spending real time with wounded sailors in hospitals.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Sometimes the best lessons we can study are indeed those we should not repeat: that is the case with Sir Francis Drake. Not the legacy to be wished, and of all the admirals in this volume he would be the least admirable, pun intended.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Decisiveness without facts is madness; but you will never have all the facts. Finding that balance is at the heart not only of leadership, but of character as well, since in the end it is the inner voice to which you must answer for the choices you make.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Character requires both conviction and flexibility.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“it became far easier to take the good and bad in stride, to keep my temper in check, to reduce my ambitions, and to laugh when things went wrong, so often well beyond our control.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“This is the quality of perspective, which leads to a sense of humor and the gift of not taking ourselves too seriously. When we look at the oceans, and the great deep waves, we must understand that eternity is rolling out there in front of us, and our time is brief.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“I try to empathize with different groups in our nation in a way I never did through the buffer zone of military service. Today I think about poverty in a completely different way and wonder how families in the rust belt survive without jobs or, in many cases, hope. I see the injustice in that and try to help energize discussions that can address it.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“In the long twilight of the Cold War, I never doubted (nor do I today) that our values are the right ones—democracy, liberty, freedom of speech, gender equality, racial equality. We execute them imperfectly, but they are the right values.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“ship could blow up at any moment, and be ready with a Plan B. Disbelief, whining, and weakness are unacceptable. Men and women of character display resilience in adversity. But there is another meaning to the painting for me, and it goes to the quality of honesty and”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Poignantly, much of Zumwalt’s post-Vietnam advocacy was directed at securing public recognition and benefits for US service members harmed by exposure to Agent Orange and other defoliants. Zumwalt became firmly convinced that both his son Elmo III’s cancer and his grandson Elmo IV’s severe learning disabilities were attributable to effects of Agent Orange. Though he never recanted his decision to order the use of defoliants, Zumwalt (and Mouza) never fully forgave himself for his son’s death, either.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Always what the Navy calls a “deck plate leader,” someone who is highly visible and close to his subordinates, Zumwalt as CNO continued to listen widely and well to sailors and officers throughout the service in the belief that they knew best what changes needed to be made.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“As he had been at several key points earlier in his career, Zumwalt was “deep-selected” for the position: vaulted over the heads of many seniors and peers. Like the papacy, the CNO’s job tends to be obsessively watched, and the watchers tend to have a strong sense of the likely candidates for elevation when the top job comes open. Zumwalt was not on any of the watch lists, even as a dark horse; when”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“None of this necessarily would require war. Indeed, he said, “force is never more operative than when it is known to exist but is not brandished,” which Roosevelt would recast as “speak softly and carry a big stick.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“In terms of successful lessons, Nelson managed throughout his life to devote himself to the higher purpose of serving king and country. Again, and again, he built highly cohesive teams of subordinates united in common cause with high morale, paid particular attention to the needs of his subordinates (during a period when this was extremely rare),”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“But when the character traits of innovation and creativity collide with established ideas, it doesn’t always work out well. A few years after Deep Blue, I was selected to a fourth star and headed to US Southern Command with a particular vision for the command that had evolved from a series of conversations I had had with then secretary of defense Don Rumsfeld and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Both felt that the old paradigm for a combatant command—a massive, cumbersome organization organized strictly to conduct combat operations—was lacking in relevance in the twenty-first century. Both believed that for both Latin America and Africa, it was highly unlikely that we would be engaged in state-on-state combat operations. So the idea was to push the two combatant commands responsible for those regions to try to adapt with a vision that included combat readiness but with a very heavy dose of “soft power” capability—humanitarian operations, medical diplomacy, rule of law, personnel exchanges, counternarcotics, strategic communications, interagency cooperation, and so forth. Given this mandate, I plunged in with enthusiasm—perhaps too much enthusiasm. I underestimated the strong desire of many within the massive command to continue on its current, traditional war-fighting trajectory. When I completely reorganized the staff, getting rid of the Napoleonic traditional military staff system, it created real confusion and resentment. While most of the team went along, cooperation was grudging and halfhearted in many cases. While I continue to believe we had outlined the right mission for the command, I pushed too hard, creating antibodies, and the project crumbled after my departure—effectively negating three years of demanding work. The lesson I took away is that innovation matters deeply, but even if you have the right answer, you must be capable of bringing along the nonbelievers.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“the military’s approach, which is to make decisions quickly, move out, and then adjust as necessary.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Russians have it in a proverb, it is better to light a single candle than to howl like a dog at the darkness.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“David Foster Wallace, “This Is Water.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“The Cruel Sea by”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Duty.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“On Watch,”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“As he said about responsibility, you can “share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you. If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance, or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Far better to keep your own counsel on personal opinions about others and be careful with secrets both professional and personal.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“All leaders are in the business of dealing with human beings, but not all of them know it.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Having thus worked on the exogenous variables to build a higher level of energy, we need to try to think of energy level as an internal quality of character that we can improve through a variety of means. Several ways to do this include mentally organizing tasks in a coherent, simple, prioritized way in our minds; reading and studying the stories of those who have lived particularly energetic lives (like Admiral Fisher); looking consciously for the good in the people we meet; focusing on the humor in difficult people and situations; accepting the things we cannot change; thinking about the long term and overcoming day-to-day frustrations by keeping them in perspective; and recognizing that the best end to a disagreement is the creation of a win-win outcome.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“We looked closely at sleep cycles, made sure people could take naps when they needed to, and tried to moderate watch teams on the bridge and in the combat centers of the ship in order to improve performance.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“Finding the balance between determination and an open mind is one of the ongoing tests of character for us all.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

“But in many ways the most important innovations in any enterprise are the changes we make in how we prepare human beings to perform.”
― James G. Stavridis, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character