ADM McRaven delivers another epic speech

[Marauder06]

... this time at the University of Texas.

http://www.havokjournal.com/nation/2014/5/25/socom-commander-delivers-life-lessons

More about McRaven’s speeches in a bit; first, let’s talk about the man and not his words. At a time when flag officers in the military are making headlines for all the wrong reasons, it’s great to see someone getting it right. McRaven’s speeches are topical, timely, inspirational, encouraging, and full of humility and self-deprecating humor. He really understands how to reach people, something I saw firsthand in Iraq and Afghanistan when he commanded our Special Operations Task Force. In a military often rife with intra-service parochialism, McRaven is not afraid to give credit and praise to the other branches of service, particularly to erstwhile arch-foe Army. For example, in the West Point speech, McRaven observed “there is no more noble calling in the world” than to be an Army Soldier, despite the fact that he himself is in the Navy. This is a man of great humility, who jokes about his poor undergrad GPA but remains silent about his graduate degree work as the prestigious Naval Post Graduate School, where he wrote a masters’ thesis on Special Operations that was so compelling it was later written into a book that is still studied today. He is careful to laud the accomplishments of others, but never mentions his own.

Nor does he need to; his accomplishments speak for themselves. He was the man who as the commander of JSOC oversaw the raid that got Bin Laden, a guy who was a contender for Time’s Man of the Year, but can still take the time to answer a six-year-old kid’s question about who’s quieter- ninjas or SEALs (for the record, it’s the ninjas).

And oh yeah, he can deliver the hell out of some speeches.

Admiral William McRaven’s Ten Rules to Change the World

1) If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
2) If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
3) If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.
4) If you want to change the world, get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.
5) If you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.
6) If you want to change the world, sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.
7) If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
8) If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.
9) If you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.
10) If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring that bell.