Petraeus in 2006: “A leader’s most important task is to set the right tone.”

All eyes are on General David Petreaus this afternoon after the announcement that he’ll take over in Afghanistan. Why did Barack Obama pick him? Lots and lots of reasons. But perhaps coincidentally, he also seems to be on the same page with Obama about "tone"… In 2006, writing for the Military Review, he wrote as ...

By , International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Colombia.

All eyes are on General David Petreaus this afternoon after the announcement that he'll take over in Afghanistan. Why did Barack Obama pick him? Lots and lots of reasons. But perhaps coincidentally, he also seems to be on the same page with Obama about "tone"... In 2006, writing for the Military Review, he wrote as rule #14 for his lessons learned from Iraq: "A leader’s most important task is to set the right tone."

All eyes are on General David Petreaus this afternoon after the announcement that he’ll take over in Afghanistan. Why did Barack Obama pick him? Lots and lots of reasons. But perhaps coincidentally, he also seems to be on the same page with Obama about "tone"… In 2006, writing for the Military Review, he wrote as rule #14 for his lessons learned from Iraq: "A leader’s most important task is to set the right tone."

Here’s a bit more:

"Setting the right tone and communicating that tone to his subordinate leaders and troopers are absolutely critical for every leader at every level, especially in an endeavor like that in Iraq. If, for example, a commander clearly emphasizes socalled kinetic operations over non-kinetic operations, his subordinates will do likewise."

Check out FP‘s interview with Petreaus, as well as his profile as one of our Top Global Thinkers of 2009.

Elizabeth Dickinson is International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Colombia.

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