Dinner Keynote: General Stanley McChrystal

A retired four-star general, Stan McChrystal is the former commander of U.S. and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Afghanistan and the former commander of the nation’s premier military counterterrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command. He is best known for developing and implementing a comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan and for creating a cohesive counterterrorism organization that revolutionized the interagency operating culture.

Throughout his military career, McChrystal commanded a number of elite organizations, including the 75th Ranger Regiment. After 9/11 until his retirement in 2010, he spent more than six years deployed to combat in a variety of leadership positions. In June 2009, the president of the United States and the secretary general of NATO appointed him to be the commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan and NATO ISAF. His command included more than 150,000 troops from 45 allied countries.

McChrystal founded McChrystal Group in January 2011 to deliver innovative leadership solutions to businesses globally in order to help them transform and succeed in challenging, dynamic environments. As founder and a partner, he advises senior executives at multinational corporations on navigating complex change and building stronger teams.

McChrystal is a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where he teaches a course on leadership. He also sits on the boards of Navistar International Corporation, Siemens Government Technology and JetBlue Airways and is a sought-after speaker, giving speeches on leadership to organizations around the country. He is the author of My Share of the Task and Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, which were New York Times bestsellers, and also co-authored Leaders: Myth and Reality, a Wall Street Journal bestseller based on the epochal Parallel Lives by Plutarch. A passionate advocate for national service and veterans’ issues, McChrystal is the chair of the Board of Service Year Alliance, advocating for a future in which a year of full-time service – a service year – is a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the Naval War College. and also completed year-long fellowships at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Council on Foreign Relations.