Crosslead: Beyond Optimal

TBD

February 07, 2014

08:00 am

08:15 am-11:00 am

NRECA Conference Center, 4301 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA

TBD

Location: NRECA Conference Center , 4301 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA 

Front Desk: 703-907-5939 

Metro: Ballston on the Orange Line. Parking at Ballston Common across Wilson Blvd. 

Please do not park in the NRECA building, it is reserved for those that work in the building. 

8:15-9:00am - registration, networking, Continental breakfast
9:00-10:30am - program
10:30-11:00am - informal conversation time with speaker(s) 

Cost: 
HRLF members: FREE 
Non-Members: $100 

HRLF members may send a substitute to any program they cannot attend and may bring one guest free during their membership year

Since 2001, the American military’s special operations community has undergone dramatic changes fueled by more than a decade at war. The country’s most elite military forces had always enjoyed tactical superiority and facility with highly planned, discrete operations. However, when directly tasked with defeating Al Qaeda, those forces quickly found the terrorist organization to be a more expansive, networked, and adaptive enemy than any they had previously faced. And to combat it, they realized they needed to operate differently: Senior leaders needed the ability to monitor and steer a global enterprise without micromanaging. Commanders on the ground needed the context and authority to make crucial decisions in real time. Leaders at every level needed to keep their forces aligned, excellent, and focused on winning.

David Silverman spent 13 years as an officer in the Navy SEALs, and witnessed those organizational changes first-hand in deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. After leaving the Navy in 2010, he co-founded the McChrystal Group with Gen. (ret.) Stan McChrystal. As the CEO of that company, Silverman has worked to understand and capture the principles of leadership, management, and operation that contributed to the transformation of special operations. His firm has convened talent from across diverse backgrounds: military, consulting, tech, academia. Together, McChrystal Group’s professionals have designed a model of organizational leadership called CrossLead.

Small, skilled teams naturally operate efficiently and can respond quickly to a dynamic environment. The trust and common purpose that these teams display creates inherent advantages, especially in an age of rapid change and information flow. But how can large organizations scale that sort of operational efficiency and realize that level of adaptability? What individual skills and organizational processes are necessary? Most broadly, how should organizations be led in the current information age environment? The mission of the McChrystal Group is to help organizations adapt to the pace of the modern environment by leveraging the CrossLead operating framework. In his talk, Silverman will provide an introduction to the CrossLead model and its insights on these questions.