Page 214 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

LEADERS LEAD BY WALKING AROUND

to have internal relations perfected before I started external relations. Twice
a week I would drop in on a class—maybe a leadership or ethics class and
then one from another part of the curriculum—and just show up unan-
nounced. Once a week I ate lunch with a random table. I was always out
and about and accessible, and people knew they could talk to me because
I showed a real interest in them.”
Alex Friedman (WHF 98–99), chief financial officer for the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, learned the same technique from his White
House Fellows mentor, General Charles “Chuck” Krulak. As Comman-
dant of the Marine Corps, Krulak had a habit of dropping by bases with-
out warning. He would stroll casually into the barracks areas unannounced
and start talking with the Marines to find out how they were doing. Fried-
man accompanied Krulak on several of those surprise visits and recalled
one particular exchange between Krulak and a Marine at Camp Pendleton
in San Diego. Krulak asked the young man how everything was going, and
the Marine issued the standard reply: He loved the Marine Corps—it was
the best thing ever. Krulak agreed that the Marine Corps was great and
then asked the lad if there was anything he didn’t love about it. The Marine
swore he loved absolutely everything, but Krulak kept encouraging him to
be honest, and finally the man confessed that his knee was hurting and
he thought it might have something to do with his right boot. Krulak
examined the boot and discovered that the heel was worn out. “General
Krulak asked the Marine how many hours a day he spent on his feet, and
the Marine replied it was eighteen hours with a full backpack,” Friedman
said. “Krulak kept talking to the Marine and learned that many of them
were having the same problem with their boots, but their commanding
officer had been ‘too busy’ to deal with it.”
Krulak went back to the Pentagon and started investigating whether
there was a widespread problem with the Marines’ footwear and learned
that, sure enough, faulty boots had been distributed throughout the corps.
Krulak made sure the defective boots were replaced swiftly. “Well, that
story got around the Marine Corps in a nanosecond,” Friedman said. “You
can imagine how impressive that was for an enlisted Marine to have the
commandant himself follow up on his problem and fix it and then send
him a personal e-mail to make sure everything was resolved. Talk about
caring. That sent the message that Krulak actually cared about his people,
and you can be sure they didn’t forget it. I know I certainly took it to heart.”

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