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31 with General Stanley A. McChrystal, retired US Armed Forces LEADERSHIP IN TIMES OF CRISIS By Sgt Wayne Fitzgerald Highly decorated retired four-star General Stanley A. McChrystal US Armed Forces speaks on leadership values. On the 29th July 2020, I took part in an exclusive webinar with General McChrystal, titled 'Leadership in times of crisis' which was organised and hosted by City Security and Resilience Networks (CSARN). CSARN is an award-winning UK based not-for-profit business security and resilience membership network, that brings public and private sector leaders together. This was the fourth webinar in a series with others titled: #1 Pandemics without borders - protecting our people; #2 COVID-19 / Critical discussions for the new normal and #3 Are we fully prepared for the next biological event? The webinar had over 150 participants from around the world that included private companies, government organisations, members of the UK Armed Forces, UK Police Forces, An Garda Síochána and the Irish Defence Forces. General McChrystal, a graduate of West Point and the Naval War College has served in the following theatres of war: Operation Desert Shield, Gulf War, War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. He has commanded US and international forces in Afghanistan with NATO's International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF), which included 150,000 troops from 45 different countries. The General was previously the commander of the US military's counter-terrorism force JSOC or Joint Special Operations Command. He has been described as 'creating a cohesive counter-terrorism organisation that revolutionised the inter-agency operating culture' in Afghanistan. During a very impressive military career, he commanded a number of elite organisations, including the 75th Ranger Regiment. From the aftermath of 9/11, he was deployed in a number of leadership positions in combat over a 6-year period. His awards and decorations include the Defence Distinguished Service Medal (2), Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defence Superior Service Medal (2), Legion of Merit (3) and a Bronze Star Medal. General McChrystal retired from the US Armed Forces on the 1st August 2010. General McChrystal was more than happy to be called Stan during the webinar by the host Brett Lovegrove MA FRSA FSyI FICPEM, who was the former head of counter-terrorism for the City of London Police Force and is the Chief Executive of CSARN. General McChrystal started by discussing the challenges he faced in leading JSOC through one of the most difficult periods in his country's history, most notably the war on terror after the 9/11 attacks on the US. He then went on «The temptation to lead as a chess master, controlling each move of the organisation, must give way to an approach as a gardener, enabling rather than directing. A gardening approach to leadership is anything but passive. The leader acts as an 'Eyes-On, Hands-Off' enabler who creates and maintains an ecosystem in which the organisation operates." – General Stanley McChrystal, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World v Four-star General Stanley A. McChrystal, US Armed Forces.Photo: US Department of Defence v General McChrystal at the Pentagon giving a briefing regarding the Iraq War, in April 2003. Photo: www.defense.gov Afghan and American soldiers blew up a Taliban firing position in the village of Layadira, in Kandahar Province, in February 2013. Photo: Bryan Denton/The New York Times US Army soldier on patrol in Iraqi suburb in 2007. Photo: Spc. Daniel Herrera, 55th Signal Co. (COMCAM)/US Army LEADERSHIP IN TIMES OF CRISIS

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