Page 203 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

CHAPTER 20

LEADERS ARE

PROBLEM SOLVERS

When I was a twenty-four-year-old Air Force lieutenant, I was assigned to
work as special assistant for General John R. Galvin, Commander of the
U.S. Southern Command in the Republic of Panama. I had the honor of
serving in that capacity for two years until I was selected to be a White
House Fellow in 1988. General Galvin, who went on to become NATO’s
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, turned out to be one of the greatest
teachers and mentors I’ve ever known. Throughout my career I have tried
to build on the lessons I learned from him, and I’ve even taken the liberty of
borrowing some of his outstanding techniques for shaping future leaders.
General Galvin started teaching me the ways of leadership on my very
first assignment. He explained my task to me in his typically friendly
manner and then dismissed me to go get it done. Several days later I
returned to his office brimming with questions. As I stood on the opposite
side of his desk and rattled off a list of inquiries about who, what, when,
where, why, and how I ought to go about completing the various challenges
I had encountered in the assigned task, I saw the general becoming increas-
ingly agitated. Suddenly he adjusted his reading glasses, stood up, strode
around his desk, and looked down at me. He sternly asked, “Lieutenant!
How many stars do you have on your shoulder?”
Like a fool I glanced down at my shoulder, looking for stars. “None,
sir,” I replied sheepishly.
“And how many stars do I have on mine?”

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