United States Southern Command Spotlight

I am deeply grateful and happy to be here at the United States Southern Command. The SOUTHCOM Area Of Responsibility is one that has always fascinated me, and I am excited to be a part of this fine team!

The world is moving fast. As we work together over the next few years to face today's and tomorrow’s challenges, I want to provide a handful of character traits that I’d like us collectively to embody in this combatant command. I also want to share my “Top Four” command focus areas with you. The traits and the “Top Four” are fundamental to my approach, and I think they will serve us well in the years ahead. I do not anticipate changing them.

Character Traits - If we all strive to make these a part of our individual characters, they will become SOUTHCOM’s defining organizational characteristics.

-	Civility: Be kind. Share credit. And keep your sense of humor! Above all, please don’t lose your temper – it only clouds your judgment and diminishes performance of everyone around you. I will not raise my voice in anger at any point in this tour, and I ask you to take the same approach.

-	Quiet Confidence: Work to establish a superb reputation through deeds and our low-key professionalism. Be calm and steady always, without overselling, bragging, or letting ego become part of the equation.

-	Creativity: Be a sparkplug. Always ask the question, “How can I do this better?” Send your ideas forward constantly. Think your way through problems by innovating.

-	Teamwork & collaboration: Work together. What we do requires collaboration across staff sections, areas of expertise and organizational boundaries. We are far more effective working as a team than as individuals.

-	Determination: I respect people with true grit. It’s easy to shine when everything goes your way, but the true measure of a professional can be found in observing how one reacts to and overcomes failure. Never,never give up.

-	Honesty and Integrity: Don’t ever do anything that violates law or regulation. Tell the truth unflinchingly. Above all, these two qualities must define our team.

“Top Four”- Everything I do personally will be measured against these top four command focus areas. I will be developing assessment metrics and clear goals that align with them, and my intention is to divide my time equally between the four areas.

-	Serve our People: Leadership at every level must focus on caring for and empowering our people. In particular, think about recruitment, retention and advancements. By carefully managing them, we can do the most to contribute to the quality of life and service of our people.

Innovate to Improve: An organization that is stagnant and accepts the “status quo” approach is flawed. In our business, this can literally be a lethal failure. Our combatant command should strive constantly to invent new approaches in every area -– from tactical execution in operations to more efficient training methodology to creative ways to improve retention. I intend to solicit ideas constantly from each of you that we can turn into actionable initiatives.

Conduct Operations: There is no accurate way to predict exactly where or when we will be called upon to undertake operations in our geographic area of responsibility. We must always be ready to conduct prompt and sustained operations as directed by national authorities -– wherever and whenever needed. We must be well and truly ready when called.

Plan for Contingencies: Our ability to coherently plan for certain contingencies is fundamental to our ability to succeed. We must think through what is needed for major contingencies in our area of responsibility and then be ready to execute on order, continuously adapting plans to address actual conditions. An excellent planning process should be central to our organizational ethos.

Our mission is critical. I will work hard for you and alongside you in fulfilling it. I believe in a conversational style of command, and I will be actively soliciting your ideas on how we can best contribute to the security of our nation.

I look forward to meeting each of you soon, and working with you at SOUTHCOM.