Leader to Leader Reflections
November 2, 2009

The Leader of the Future Celebration (2009)

Remarks by Frances Hesselbein, Leader to Leader Institute Chairman & Founding President 

This evening we gather to honor a great hero – one of the greatest of our times – and one of the greatest heroes of all times, the former chief of staff of the United States army, and today the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, U.S. government, General Eric Shinseki.

For those of us fortunate to have met General Shinseki, and worked with this authentic leader, we are in awe of his record. You have two pages in our program – it could fill 10.

Upon graduation from West Point in June 1965, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant; company A, 1st battalion, 14th infantry division, as a forward observer, serving from December 1965 to September 1966 – when he was seriously wounded in combat in the Republic of Vietnam. He recovered, went back into battle, and several years later suffered a serious wound, yet as grievous as his injury was, he persevered, determined to continue his service to our country – and he did with great distinction.

Tonight we celebrate his record from commanding General U.S. Army, Europe and Seventh Army; commanding General of the NATO-led stabilization force, Bosnia-Herzogovinia, to the Army transformation campaign.

We remember his advice as Chief of Staff of the Army to his people during the transformation challenge: “If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less.”

The most endearing part of my long and inspiring journey with General Shinseki is how he viewed his soldiers when he was Chief of Staff of the Army; they were never numbers.

Each young man and woman had a name, a face, a presence. They were his soldiers. Today our veterans have names and faces. They are his veterans. Tonight, the mother of a severely disabled army veteran, my son John, who says, from his wheelchair, “I was a soldier, I am a soldier, I will always be a soldier.” I join all the parents of our country’s veterans – the veterans themselves in expressing gratitude for the care our veterans will receive as a result of our new Secretary’s leadership.

One time, when he was Army Chief of Staff, General Shinseki and Patty Shinseki attended a large Drucker Foundation/Leader to Leader holiday reception in this room. I asked General Shinseki if he would say a few words to the gathering. He agreed and after I introduced him, he stood at this lectern. He did not begin with, “I am the Chief of Staff of the mightiest Army in the world, let me tell you about big guns, big tanks…”

No, General Shinseki stood quietly, then said, “I am a soldier and may I tell you about our soldiers, the young men and women of the United States Army.” Then he talked about his soldiers, calling them “our youngsters” several times. It was a moving moment for all of us, there were a few tears.

Later, I was honored to attend his retirement ceremony at Fort Myer. The soldiers had marched in review, two historic army bands had played - Pershing’s Own Band, and the Fife and Drum Corps, and a stirring tribute to him was given. The retiring Chief of Staff of the Army began his farewell address: “I am a soldier, I am an American soldier.”

Our beloved Patty Shinseki, Ric’s wife, shared his devotion to our young soldiers, and now to our veterans. Patty changes lives in the Military Child Education Coalition, meeting at West Point next week. Deeply devoted to their own family, the Shinsekis share that love and devotion with the children of our military families, 2,000,000 children all over the world.

General Eric k. Shinseki has lived Duty-Honor-Country since he was a teenager at West Point. As Chief of Staff, his new U.S. Army Manual had only three words on the cover “Be-Know-Do” which he later adapted for civilians wanting, demanding it.

And “The Warrior Ethos” every soldier wears with his or her dogtag, is General Shinseki’s personal Warrior Ethos, as well. “I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade” -- and he never has. And “mission first” is engraved upon his heart.

This evening, General Eric Shinseki, you honor us as you permit us to honor you – a great American hero – a soldier, an American soldier, we honor, we revere, we love.