Soft Leadership Skills: June 7, 2021

Title: Leading or Managing? From the Military to the Business World

Presented By: Mark Kimmitt, Brigadier General, US Army (Ret.); Former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, State Department; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy; West Point/Harvard Business School/School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS). 

Description: The goal of this webinar is to develop a clear understanding of the differences between “leadership and management.” Drawing on personal experience from the command of military units ranging from 40 soldiers to 15,000 soldiers, we will examine the critical differences between “leading people” and “managing things” from the lowest level of supervision (the shop floor) to the highest levels of management (the C level). Each of these levels demands different skills, different human interactions and different means of communication. We will examine the old adage, “Are leaders born or made?” and the question, “Can you teach leadership?”

Learning Outcomes:

• Participants will be able to develop a clear understanding of the differences between “leadership and management.”
• Participants will be able to examine the critical differences between “leading people” and “managing things” from the lowest level of supervision (the shop floor) to the highest levels of management (the C level).
• Participants will be able to examine the old adage, “Are leaders born or made?” and the question, “Can you teach leadership?”

Biography: Brigadier General Mark T. Kimmitt, USA (Ret.) served as Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs from 2008 to 2009. In that capacity, he was responsible for State Department political-military policy, with particular emphasis on security assistance and sales of arms around the world, as well as serving as the primary liaison between the Departments of State and Defense. He was also instrumental in recent counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia, and negotiated the groundbreaking arrangements for the prosecution of pirates abroad.

From 2006 to 2008, Kimmitt served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy, responsible for defense policy development, planning, guidance and oversight for the region. He was involved in every key defense deliberation during that period, to include the change in U.S. strategy for Iraq in 2006, participating in the Status of Forces negotiations with Iraq and leading DOD efforts to enhance security in the Middle East through the Gulf Security Dialogue.

Kimmitt served for over 30 years as an officer in the United States Army in a wide variety of command, operational, and policy positions with extensive operational experience abroad before retiring with the rank of Brigadier General in 2006. His assignments included Deputy Director of Strategy and Plans at United States Central Command from 2004 to 2006 and Deputy Director of Operations and Chief Military Spokesman for Coalition Forces in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. He has led soldiers and paratroopers at every level of command in the artillery.

Kimmitt is a graduate of the United States Military Academy. He holds a Masters Degree (with Distinction) from Harvard Business School. He also earned Masters from the School of Advanced Military Studies and the National Defense University, and a professional certification as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He also served as Assistant Professor of Finance and Economics in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy.