 Well, good afternoon, Naval War College. Let me begin by just saying what a bummer it is that I can't be with you in person. As Dr. Crook has probably already explained, I'm a little on the clumsy side and have managed to rupture my Achilles tendon. And I know some of you know that pain, so out, and I am likely in surgery as we speak. But through the miracle of technology, I still have the privilege of coming before you to share just a few words of wisdom as it relates to enhancing your standing as a member of the profession of arms, particularly as you continue through your Naval War College experience. The other thing to know about me is that I am a passionate educator. And I just revel in the privilege of being able to help others achieve their successes or even push them beyond their own expectations. And as a passionate teacher and educator, what that also means is that sometimes I get these teaching ahas in the craziest places, like the other day when I was going through the car wash of all places. I was in a going through an automatic car wash. And like most automatic car washes these days, this one had one of those large metal units at the entrance where you can swipe your credit card for payment or intercode if you've already prepaid. Well, this particular unit also had a speaker where a very pleasant voice came through the sound box and provided instructions for how to proceed through the car wash experience. The voice very politely instructs, please put your car in neutral, remove your foot from the brake and please fold in your mirrors. Now if those instructions are properly followed and you successfully maneuver your car onto those rails, which I sometimes have a hard time doing, then the car slowly advances through a series of car wash stages. You know, the pre-soap, the soap, the wash, the rinse, the wax, the dry, all depending upon which level of service is chosen. Ultimately, the expectation is that the car will be in a better state upon exiting the car wash than it was when it entered. Air go, the ah-ha! It occurred to me, doesn't this whole car wash experience accurately describe a year spent at the United States Naval War College? That is, our students enter in one state with the expectation that they will exit a year later, hopefully in a better state. But the more I pondered that analogy, what really stood out to me was not so much this notion of entering one way, getting switched around for a while and exiting another way, but rather the criticality of the instructions themselves for proceeding through the experience. As you have undoubtedly heard numerous times already, one of the primary missions of the United States Naval War College is to develop students into future strategic leaders. We are most fortunate to have some of the best in seasoned and expert faculty to help students do just that. Yet in order to become better leaders upon completing the Naval War College experience, in order to enhance one's standing as a member of the profession of arms, there are some things that students can do as well. As students, you can put your car neutral, remove your foot from the brake, and you can fold in your mirrors. You see, there are certain actions and efforts that will enable you to contribute to your own learning and further your own development as strategic leaders. And as I am certain that Dr. Cook has already expertly argued, it is your professional ethical obligation to do so. So let's take a look at that last instruction first. Fold in your mirrors. Now I would venture to say that most everyone in the room is an overachiever. Clearly you have achieved some measure of success, or you would not be sitting in Spruinthall Auditorium at this world-class institution. Over the course of your career so far, you have developed your technical competence, your tactical expertise, very specific leadership abilities. Some of you have led sailors and soldiers and troops and forces and teams in very difficult and challenging circumstances, while others of you have functioned effectively as significant contributors in very important roles in your services and agencies. Most importantly, I suspect that each of you has upheld your commitments and your oaths to your respective nations with honor, respect, and integrity. Yet this is not the time to rest on those laws. Quite the contrary, the goal here is to strive to become an even better leader to prepare for more complex challenges for higher levels of decision-making and more nuanced ethical dilemmas. You see, the evolution into a strategic leader is less dependent upon past successes or how one excelled previously as a leader than it is on the further development of more advanced abilities. To emphasize that point, let me borrow a phrase from the title of a popular leadership book that some of you might be familiar with. The title of the book is What Got You Here Won't Get You There. Now the general premise of Marshall Goldsmith's book is that as people pursue future successes, they must recognize that certain leader behaviors that may have served them well as lower-level leaders can in fact become hindrances as senior-level leaders. Thus, a complementary set of new skills is required for effective leadership. So let's apply this thinking in the world that we live in. That is the vocal world that Dr. Cook described, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. The vocal world of global security, those who are positioned to be senior leaders, that's all of you in the room, must strive to develop more sophisticated skill sets, a higher-order way of thinking, and broadened strategic perspectives. So where does a fold in the mirror part come in? Think about it this way. The side mirrors on a car are designed to help drivers see what's behind them. They provide a rear-view perspective. Yet in order to build upon existing leadership strengths and personal abilities, it is equally important to spend time developing a forward-looking perspective. During the Naval War College experience, there will be occasions that necessitate folding in those rear-view mirrors in order to look forward through future-facing windows. Follow? Okay, so let's take a look at that second instruction. Remove your foot from the brake. Along those same lines, becoming wedded to existing knowledge and know-how is akin to riding the brakes, essentially remaining in the same place. By removing the foot from the, been there, done that brake, the aperture for learning is expanded. Here's what I mean. When it comes to seminars, for example, some students place great, great, great, great, great, did I say great? Great emphasis on how they might be evaluated on their class participation. Now, of course, when you're talking about a room full of competitive overachievers, yes, that would be you just saying, that's to be expected. So what sometimes happens is that students scope out the topics in which they are most familiar or have the most confidence and then actively engage in those particular seminar discussions as well as revert to those same topics whenever possible. Now, don't get me wrong. Such contributions are absolutely central if not vital to the seminar experience. At the same time, however, absorbing and synthesizing new information that is elevating the level of learning requires unlocking the mindset beyond what is already known to allow for the fruitful engagement that will fill in the gaps for what is not known. Now, I know that might seem intuitive. So let me just share one fairly recent example of putting on the learning brakes. I along with my colleague, Captain retired John Meyer. He's the big tall guy probably sitting in the first or second row. Together we teach the critical thinking for adaptive leaders elective. Now the course is intentionally designed to push students out of their thinking and learning comfort zones. The goal is to further develop students' cognitive abilities and mental agility in order to prepare them for the next level of leadership. It's a challenge. The course utilizes a specific teaching method that requires students to be open to new ways of learning and thinking. Now I can recall one student in particular who just simply refused to play. This officer who had an impressive Ivy League background seemed fixated on being able to demonstrate his existing wealth of knowledge so much so that he would do assignments not in the way instructed but in the way he thought they should have been assigned in the first place while also waxing eloquent on tangential subject matter. In another instance, rather than addressing the assigned case questions, he instead turned in an assignment that questioned the credentials and the credibility of the authors who wrote the case who were in fact noted Harvard scholars. I promise you, I'm not making this up. Unfortunately, the student just seemed so resistant to learning in a new way and being challenged to think contrary to expectations that not surprisingly he got very little out of the course and I would venture to say much of his war college experience. In essence, he had slammed on the brakes for developing any further as a member of the profession of arms. And I have to tell you, as a passionate educator, as are many of my colleagues, that's a really hard pill to swallow. Opening the aperture for advanced and expert knowledge allows for learning environments that might be different from what one is accustomed or subject matter that might be unfamiliar or even uncomfortable or perhaps even the reconsideration of certain tactics and techniques that previously have proven successful. Indeed, removing the foot from the brake goes hand in hand with putting the car in neutral. Another student from the same critical thinking elective wrote this on a course evaluation. This course requires an open mind and students willing to surrender their way of thinking to learn even more. I love that. I still recall when this student first made some of the remarks during one of our class sessions. I applauded his insight and I remember thinking what a brilliant piece of wisdom. You see, even though the idea of surrendering might be anathema to a military mindset, what the student hit upon was that in this challenging naval war college learning environment, surrender equals trust, not abandonment or loss. In other words, trusting the process for an outcome that might not be immediately evident. Think about it this way. The car wash is designed to keep the car on track and move the car forward. So when we release the gears and put the car in neutral, we are trusting that the car wash is going to carry us forward to the desired end. And so it is with the naval war college experience. In surrendering, students listen to learn rather than listen to refute. Students become sponges rather than impermeable surfaces. In surrendering, students suspend judgment, challenge their own assumptions, recognize their own biases. In surrendering, naval war college students become victorious because there is so much to be gained from the war college experience. So let me just offer one final piece of car wash wisdom. Who knew that the car wash could provide such great philosophical guidance? The state in which one exits the car wash also depends upon the level of service chosen upon entering the car wash. If one chooses only to be rinsed, then the exiting state is likely to be only marginally better. But if one chooses the full service soap wash and wax, then the exiting state is likely to be considerably better. Most certainly it is the full service option that will allow you as naval war college students to enhance your standing as members of the profession of arms. It's the full service option that best prepares students for senior leadership responsibilities. And it is the full service option that will enable you as future senior leaders to fulfill your professional ethical obligation to be as prepared as possible to meet the needs of the nations you serve. Have fun. Enjoy your journey. A great, great, great, great, great experience lies ahead. Thank you for your time and I'll be seeing you soon. I'll be the one hopping down the halls. Take care and God bless.