The Accidental Admiral: A Sailor Takes Command at NATO by James Stavridis

Author:James Stavridis [Stavridis, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Intergovernmental Organizations, Military, Naval
ISBN: 9781612517827
Google: v6t-BAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00NLOFR8W
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 2014-10-01T03:00:00+00:00

What did I take away from these four high-level cases? I would answer by telling you about a painting that hangs on the wall in my office. It depicts the turn-of-the-last-century battleship Maine. It is a gorgeous painting: the ship, trim and freshly painted, lies at anchor in Cuba, flags flying gaily in the breeze, huge guns pointed out to sea. Maine blew up in Havana Harbor on February 15 (my birthday, by the way), 1898. It sank within minutes, killing hundreds of the crew. Suspecting Spanish saboteurs, the United States declared war on Spain. The world spun dramatically on its axis, with combat in both Cuba (where Teddy Roosevelt led the charge up San Juan Hill for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor) and the Philippine Islands (where the U.S. Navy destroyed the Spanish Pacific Fleet in Manila Bay). Maine was immortalized in the battle cry “Remember the Maine.”

Why do I display a painting of a doomed ship in my office? Simple. To remind me that anyone’s ship can blow up at any moment. Life has a way of sending us down hidden paths. The Spanish say, “Nunca sabe los caminos de Dios,” which literally means “no one knows the roads of God” but might be better translated “you never know.” No matter how well things appear to be going, no matter how hard you are working, no matter how careful you are, no matter your virtues (or your sins), the ship can blow up at any time. Life can change dramatically in an instant.

The lesson for me is this: wherever you find yourself, no matter how high in the organization, you have to maintain your balance and perspective; recognize that things will go wrong; do your best to tell your side of the story and admit your mistakes when they do; then move forward with your life, correcting and adjusting as you go.

Throughout the trials I describe above, all four of us kept our perspective, focused on the tasks at hand, and did our best to sail forward. What else could we do?

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.