The Courage to Take Command: Leadership Lessons from a Military Trailblazer

INTRODUCTION

My Story

There aren’t many kids who get to say that one of their parents is a spy. It’s the stuff of television shows and movies and games kids play with each other. But for my father, it was a career. He was an infantry officer who conducted military intelligence operations for the United States Marines at the Pentagon. I thought his job was the coolest thing ever.

He would disappear on secret missions that he never told the family about. Even my mother didn’t know where her husband was going or what he was doing when he got there, and she was supposed to just deal with that kind of uncertainty until he showed up again. For her, I’m sure it was nerve-racking. Although I missed my father when he was gone, I didn’t worry—I was too ...