MoxBlog

Adm. William McRaven:

Well, I had the great good fortune of working with George W. Bush in the Bush White House right after 9/11. And then, of course, I was one of President Obama's commanders.

And, as I have said many times, I didn't agree with either president on a lot of issues, but what I found was, they were both men of great integrity and great character. And certainly, as a military officer, while you may not agree with a policy, it is much easier to follow the commander in chief when you know they are men of great character or great integrity, and you believe that they are doing what they think is right for the country.

So I would offer that whoever is going to be elected in 2020 or whoever the candidates are, character matters. Integrity matters. And if you don't think so, then you have never led an organization, because let me tell you, leadership does start at the top. And if you have a bad leader at the top, it will affect the organization, absolutely.

A leader needs to be driven by three things when he thinks about a decision: Is it moral, is it legal, and is it ethical? Those are three litmus tests for every decision that a good leader has to make.

And if you fail to use that litmus test, then, eventually, you're creating this organization that is a house of cards, and it will collapse at some point in time. Good leadership requires good integrity.

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