General Tony Zinni is a retired Marine Corps officer who commanded US Central Command and was a special envoy involved in the Israel-Palestine peace negotiations. Tom Clancy co-wrote a biography of Zinni in Battle Ready (2004).
Here are two excerpts with valuable leadership insights.
Zinni set up several novel training programs within the Marine Corps. During one program, he had an unique assessment system.
"First, the assessments were only given to the commanders training there and never to their superiors. So they could test their limits and work on their weaknesses without fear of report cards. This allowed me to be brutally honest about their shortfalls and it allowed them to fail and improve."
When Zinni was selected to be the Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command, he received some good advice from Ed Fugit, an adviser for the previous commander.
"Connect personally with both the leaders and the people. 'But you can take that even farther," he continued, "by showing interest in their culture and society. Do that and you build trust and confidence.' I warmed to this approach. Too often we get caught up in the crises, rushing around with requests, programs, and policy positions, without taking the time to listen to the concerns of the people who have to live with our decisions."
Reference: Tom Clancy with General Tony Zinni (Ret.) and Tony Koltz, Battle Ready (New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2004).
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