Learning from thought leaders and aiming high with the CEO Club of Boston and Deborah Lee James

On Wednesday of this week, I had the honor of attending the Chief Executive Officers Club of Boston event that featured author Debbie Lee James, the 23rd Secretary of the Air Force under President Obama.  Before diving into my takeaways from Debbie’s remarks, I want to send a shout out to Ken Lizotte and his colleagues for organizing the event and providing an opportunity for its members and guests to up their game in the thought leadership world.   The format includes roundtable discussions with SME’s from across the spectrum.  Do you want to get published? Speak at more conferences? Be a better storyteller, Use more “flair,” – etc.  All the experts were there to provide small group coaching.  Thanks to Greg Stone, Steve Markman, Tom Rose, Elena Petricone,  and Jim Poage.  Debbie (her preferred name) was interviewed by Greg in a fireside chat format and treated us to the inside view of her recent assignment and writing her book to tell the story.

In her role, Debbie managed 660K military personnel and a budget larger than the GDP of at least 120 countries (from 2014-2017).  I learned a lot from her Q&A – for one that this is a civilian post and having served in the military was not a requirement.  Clearly Debbie was an anomaly as only the second woman to hold this post.  But what’s really striking is her humility, good humor, and genuine interest in using her experience to help others in a very real and practical way to help others.  The external challenges of the job (Russia in the Crimea and terrorist groups sweeping across the Mid-East, for example) were matched by the complexity of the internal management tasks, negotiating with Congress for funding and dealing with layers of unknowns in every corner and identifying many areas for improvement.

Her approach boiled down to a few key driving ideas – Have a plan A, but be ready with Plan B (a/k/a – the ZigZag) , Lead and Inspire the team, and Get Things Done.  She played to her strengths and let others help her learn when she was in unfamiliar territory.  She shared her experience of breaking down complex situations into manageable chunks and thoroughly investigating every angle.   She entertained us with tails of military style presentations and important acronyms like BLUF and words that have likely missed the Scrabble dictionary like Queep!  But most importantly, she created a path to the future for others to say “yes” when called upon to take a position like this one where one can really make a difference.   Her continued work with LeanIn and the women’s leadership initiative at Bain & Co., are just a few examples of her dedication and influence.  The book is available here, but try to find her at a book signing or talk in your area!