Stanley McChrystal (Part 2)
Retired U.S. Army General; Founder and CEO, McChrystal Group
This episode will air May 29, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. ET
We have the opportunity in America to be whatever we want to be. That's the extraordinary gift about this place. We have agency. We can be as good as we decide, or we can be as mediocre as we accept.
Summary
In this episode of Leadership Matters, Alan Fleischmann sits down with General Stanley McChrystal to discuss his latest book, On Character: Choices That Define a Life, and the urgent need for a national conversation around values, purpose, and leadership. McChrystal reflects on his decades of military service, the discipline and humility that define true character, and the importance of consistency, integrity, and relevance in leadership. The episode explores personal anecdotes, the nature of patriotism, the dangers of disinformation, and why national service could be the key to rebuilding civic trust.
Mentions & Resources
Guest Bio
A retired four-star general, Stan is the former commander of US and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Afghanistan and the former commander of the nation’s premier military counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He is best known for developing and implementing a comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, and for creating a cohesive counter-terrorism organization that revolutionized the interagency operating culture.
Throughout his military career, Stan commanded a number of elite organizations, including the 75th Ranger Regiment. After 9/11 until his retirement in 2010, he spent more than 6 years deployed to combat in a variety of leadership positions. In June 2009, the President of the United States and the Secretary General of NATO appointed him to be the Commander of US Forces Afghanistan and NATO ISAF. His command included more than 150,000 troops from 45 allied countries. On August 1, 2010 he retired from the US Army.
Stan is a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where he teaches a course on Leadership. He also sits on the boards of Navistar International Corporation, Siemens Government Technology, and JetBlue Airways. He is a sought-after speaker, giving speeches on leadership to organizations around the country. In 2013, Stan published his memoir, My Share of the Task, which was a New York Times bestseller; and is an author of Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, which was a New York Times bestseller in 2015. Stan also co-authored Leaders: Myth and Reality, a Wall Street Journal Bestseller based on the epochal Parallel Lives by Plutarch.
A passionate advocate for national service and veterans’ issues, Stan is the Chair of the Board of Service Year Alliance. In this capacity, he advocates for a future in which a year of full-time service—a service year—is a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans.
Stan is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the Naval War College. He also completed year-long fellowships at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Transcript
Transcript will be uploaded upon the episode’s premiere.