Past Events

ICTS Seminar - Al-Qa’ida: Sixteen Years after 9/11 and Beyond
ICTS Seminar - Al-Qa’ida: Sixteen Years after 9/11 and Beyond
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies International Center for Terrorism Studies As we mark the 16th anniversary of 9/11, is the worst yet to come? Will al-Qa’ida and its expanding network continue to threaten global security concerns? And what are the prospects of the U.S. and its allies to ult...
ICTS Seminar - Combating Biological Terrorism: Roadmaps for Global Strategies
ICTS Seminar - Combating Biological Terrorism: Roadmaps for Global Strategies
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies International Center for Terrorism Studies August 24, 2017 Biological security concerns are a permanent fixture of history, ranging from Mother Nature’s infectious diseases to man-made threats. Recent epidemics, such as Ebola and Zika, and the potential dan...

In an interview with EntreLeadership, Senior Fellow and distinguished retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General, George Flynn, gives invaluable advice on what it means for “leaders to eat last.”  LtGen Flynn has served in the highest levels of leadership in the military, and has decades of experience leading Marines on the ground. In “Developing Trust with Your Team,” he discusses being adjustable across environments, trust, taking risks, mistakes, integrity and being a role model.

Communication is the theme throughout, “the key thing for people to understand is the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of what you’re going for”, Flynn says. This is not unique to military leadership where ranks mandate command and subordinates have to follow you, but is effective to facilitate working relations in all organizations. Here he says, “Resources and authority are the only things needed to lead with a task, but actual leadership is hard because it’s about building relationships with people to get them to do things they normally wouldn’t want to do, and leaders have to build those relationships.” Ideally a leader gets a point where he or she doesn’t have to check behind them after they tell those they’re leading to “follow me.”

Listen to LtGen Flynn’s full talk on developing trust here.

Currently LtGen Flynn is the Director of the Center of Adaptation and Innovation (CAI) at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. The Center was established to assist senior defense leaders grappling with the most demanding issues and problems posed by a complex and uncertain security environment.