Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" The military likes to figure out how to do something, put it in a manual or an operating procedure, and perfect doing it, and have everyone do it the same way. I don't like that. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Military

Doing

Way

Related Quotes:

" America needs a big idea that plays to its strength. It should look to national service. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

America

Strength

Service

" The basic DNA we've got to implant in leaders now is adaptability: not to get wedded to the solution to a particular problem, because not only the problem but the solution changes day to day. Creating people who are hardwired for that is going to be our challenge for the future. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

People

Future

Problem

" There's this intense media spotlight; there's a need to be transparent, and, 'Oh, by the way, I'm also trying to fight a war at the same time.' It's a challenge, but it goes with the job. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Challenge

Job

Media

" When I became commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force, I was leading thousands of individuals, from Special Forces to the broader interagency effort. I quickly realized that while we had the most best and most effective operators and small teams in the world, we were unable to scale. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Effort

World

Special

" The eight years of war since 9/11 had meant several Christmases away from home for most of these men. For soldiers at war, there's comforting continuity in the traditions and inevitability of Christmas. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

War

Christmas

Home

" Strength is leading when you just don't want to lead. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Leading

Lead

Just

" We need a strong civil society where the connection between different people and groups is firm and vibrant, not brittle and divided. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Connection

Strong

Society

" I think with the beginning of any political administration, you have to build trust, and it takes time. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Think

Trust

Political

" We need to defend against weaknesses within and enemies without, using the tools of civil society and hard power. We don't have to pick one over the other. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Need

Tools

Hard

" You can get knocked down, and it hurts and it leaves scars. But if you're a leader, the people you've counted on will help you up. And if you're a leader, the people who count on you need you on your feet. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Help

Need

Leader

" I knew from history that war comes with frightening regularity, often fought over the same ground and similar causes as previous conflicts. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Ground

Same

Over

" Christmases with Polish and Romanian troops, including religious ceremonies in crude bunkers and huts, were deeply spiritual experiences. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Spiritual

Experiences

Crude

" I think my biggest achievement was being part of a team of outstanding, entrepreneurial military leaders and civilians who helped change the way in which America fights by transforming a global special operations task force - Task Force 714 - that I commanded. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Change

Achievement

Way

" I think every war certainly wears on national will and national patience, particularly a counterinsurgency. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

War

Think

Patience

" There's an art to asking questions. Briefings are valuable but normally communicate primarily what the subordinate leader wants you to know, and often the picture they provide is incomplete. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Leader

Picture

Know

" If who you were was entirely based upon the position you were in or the headlines you got in the newspaper, or you had essentially subcontracted out your self-worth to the judgments of others, then you're going to be like tumbleweed. You're going to be blown. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Newspaper

Others

" Americans enjoy the exciting, cinematic vision of a squad of muscle-bound Goliath boasting Olympian speed, strength, and precision - a group whose collective success is the inevitable consequence of the individual strengths of its members and the masterful planning of a visionary commander. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Vision

Strength

Success

" I spent a career carrying typically either an M16 or an M4 Carbine. An M4 Carbine fires a .223 caliber round, which is 5.56 mm at about 3000 feet per second. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Round

Fires

Feet

" Soldiers fighting a daily battle under frightening conditions can feel their leaders are far removed from their reality. There's no magic cure for this challenge, and soothing words that aren't backed up by action encourage cynicism. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Challenge

Words

Magic

" I don't miss the bureaucracy of being in the Army. But I still love the relationships you can build. And it doesn't have to be in military service - it can be anything you're doing with someone that matters. You develop a bond. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Doing

Army

Bond

" When I was a lieutenant in Special Forces many many years ago, I thought I was getting fat. And I started running, and I started running distance, which I enjoyed. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Thought

Special

Running

" You're going to find out who your friends are. Anything that happens in your life is one of those challenges. It may not be at the level of celebrity, but everybody's going to travel that road. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Challenges

Travel

Road

" How Americans restore trust may be an existential question for their country, then, but it's ultimately a practical one: What U.S. society needs to answer it in the coming years aren't lamentations but practical measures, especially among the emerging generations that will define America's future. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

America

Trust

Society

" As combat infantrymen and special operators, we received thousands of hours of firearms training. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Training

Combat

Hours

" Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Professional

Integrity

Honor

" We are a nation of innovators and problem-solvers who sparked revolutions in democratic government, civil rights, communications, flight, rural electrification and technology. We are a country defined by ideals now in need of rescue. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Need

Government

Flight

" I think, at the end of the day, you do better when you tend toward being transparent, even though there's some risk. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Better

Day

End

" In June 2010, after more than 38 years in uniform, in the midst of commanding a 46-nation coalition in a complex war in Afghanistan, my world changed suddenly - and profoundly. An article in 'Rolling Stone' magazine depicting me, and people I admired, in a manner that felt as unfamiliar as it was unfair, ignited a firestorm. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Uniform

War

World

" By nature, I tended to trust people and was typically open and transparent... But such transparency would go astray when others saw us out of context or when I gave trust to those few who were unworthy of it. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Nature

Trust

" If we are visiting Afghans, typically the Afghan governor, district or provincial governor, we see he doesn't wear body armor, and yet we're walking through his streets. I'm his guest. I think that that's important that I send a message that I trust him and I don't think I am more valuable than I think he is. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

See

Walking

Trust