Commanding Success with Ken Braithwaite

Today on “Follow Our Lead with Alaina Kearney,” I have the honor of sitting down with the Honorable Kenneth (Ken) J. Braithwaite, former Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway and 77th Secretary of the United States Navy. 

Ambassador Braithwaite shares his career journey riddled with personal antidotes of successes and failures and the profound influence of his family. He also gives us a glimpse into some of the biggest moments in his life, like when he received the call that he’s been selected for the position of Secretary of the Navy. 

As Secretary of the Navy, Braithwaite navigated the department through crises, emphasizing the importance of trust, culture, and leadership in rebuilding and strengthening the Navy and Marine Corps. He shares his experiences with international diplomacy, the strategic importance of maritime power, and his commitment to ensuring the U.S. Navy remains a formidable force on the global stage. He shares his expertise on how to build high-performing teams and the art of compromise. 

Throughout the episode, Braithwaite's stories of perseverance, dedication to duty, and love of country offer a profound glimpse into the life of a public servant who has dedicated his life to the security and prosperity of the United States. Join us as we explore the journey of a man who, through determination and a commitment to service above self, has left an indelible mark on the U.S. Navy and the nation.

 Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times by Donald T. Phillips

This episode is presented by Barsz Gowie Amon & Fultz, a certified public accounting firm specializing in tax, audit, and advisory services for businesses. They have offices in Media, Delaware County and Chadds Ford, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Visit their website at https://barszgowie.com/ to learn more about their services.

Watch the episode live on YouTube!

Transcript

Alaina Kearney (00:00:00):

Welcome to Follow our Lead, the podcast that dives deep into the stories of leadership excellence and the people who define it. In today's episode, I have the privilege of sitting down with a leader whose service and achievements have left an undeniable mark on the fabric of American military and diplomatic history, the former ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway and the 77th Secretary of the United States Navy, Ken Braithwaite. In this episode, Ambassador Braithwaite delves into the leadership principles that guided him through critical moments, his strategies for building successful and cohesive teams, and the profound experiences that shaped his approach to leadership in crisis management. This podcast is proudly brought to you by Barsz Gowie Amon & Fultz, a Pennsylvania based accounting firm that exemplifies leadership in tax, audit, and advisory services for businesses.

(00:00:55):

Ambassador, it is such an honor to have you here today. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet me this morning.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:01:01):

Well, I don't know what an honor it is, but that's very kind of you, Alaina. It's a real pleasure and a privilege to be here with you,

Alaina Kearney (00:01:08):

Especially coming off Veterans Day, so thank you so much for your decades of service. Not going to plug your age there, but decades of service to our country, so really truly appreciate that. I quickly realized as I was researching your background that I wasn't even going to scratch the surface of all your achievements and accolades, so I'm sorry in advance that I'm going to cut you short there.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:01:30):

We're not here to talk about the past. We're here to talk about the present and the future,

Alaina Kearney (00:01:38):

So I want you to take us all the way back to your childhood. What was that like? What was your upbringing like?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:01:42):

My childhood?

Alaina Kearney (00:01:43):

Yep.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:01:43):

Wow. Well, I was born in Michigan. I'm not originally from Pennsylvania, although I've lived here now most of my life. I came here as the Admiral's aide to the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1990, and that's how I got to know Peter Barsz. We became very close friends very early on. But I grew up in a real typical American family. My father, who I'm very proud of, was a World War II veteran. He was in the very first wave at Normandy on June 6, 1944. So if you've seen the movie Saving Private Ryan, you saw what my father lived through. He was severely wounded but came back from the war and thankfully, he was fine and he raised a family, married my mom, and then he brought us up. My dad was a milkman. I come from very modest roots. We lived in a little three bedroom, one bath home. I went to school and watched TV like every other kid. I played baseball. I wanted to be, at a very young age, one of three things. I wanted to be a major league baseball pitcher and pitch for the Detroit Tigers.

(00:02:59):

I wanted to be an Episcopal priest. I've always been very interested in my religion, or I wanted to be a Navy jet pilot. As I went through my life around the age of 14, I got cut from the high school team, so I realized it was never going to be a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers or for any other major league team for that matter. As I was working on my God and Country award in church for Boy Scouts, my priest mentioned to me that he thought I should probably focus on being a Navy pilot. Why he told me that I have no idea.

Alaina Kearney (00:03:33):

I was going to say, is there something we should know about?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:03:34):

It's haunted me ever since. I guess my passion to serve and to be in uniform, I had wanted to go to Annapolis since I was about seven. My uncle who had been a Navy corpsman during Vietnam died, and when the casualty officer came to our house and assisted my mother and my family with all the arrangements, I was just very taken by him, as I was by my uncle when he came home on leave. So with all that, I set my sights to go to the Naval Academy and I never changed. I never wanted to be a lawyer or a doctor or policeman or anything else. I wanted to be a naval officer. I was fortunate, I got appointed to the Naval Academy and went off, and the rest is kind of history as they say. It's funny though, growing up where I grew up, I literally watched TV and thought that Leave it to Beaver or even shows long before you were around, that's the life that I lived. Again, very modest.

(00:04:42):

Our vacations were to the lake. It wasn't going overseas or anything like people do today, but it was really instilled in me a sense of love of country, of what America is all about. I've had the great fortune to travel all over the world. I've been to 80 some countries. There is no greater place on this earth than the United States of America, and that is why there are so many people desiring to come here each and every day. Although, we have our problems and our issues and our challenges, this is still the greatest country the world has ever known.

Alaina Kearney (00:05:18):

I agree. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:05:20):

Yeah, I'm a big patriot, so don't get me going on that.

Alaina Kearney (00:05:23):

So even though you had these humble beginnings, you still had the ability to dream really big. Do you think your parents gave you that kind of ability to see what's out there besides just your suburban life?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:05:34):

Yeah. It's funny because the short answer to that question is absolutely, yes. My father was very involved in his work growing up, and my father was older when he had me, so he was kind of old school dad. I never really had a lot of conversations with him until I was about 15 or 16, and then I used to help him, especially in the summers, I'd go and work with him on his truck. But my mother was an incredible cheerleader who literally was self-taught. She educated herself by reading. There were always a stack of books on every table, by her bed. She was always reading, reading, reading. She literally told me at a young age that, "This is America, Ken, and you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it and you work hard enough for it." You don't know what I'm about to tell you, but I just lost her in August.

Alaina Kearney (00:06:28):

I'm so sorry.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:06:29):

She was 91. She lived a great life. She was my greatest cheerleader until my wife came along, but literally she's the one who I never doubted it. I believed her. I bought it hook, line and sinker. I had no idea that the world was what it was or the challenges, or not necessarily what you know or what you do, but who you know. My parents didn't know anybody. In fact, when I remember telling my parents I wanted to go to the Naval Academy, I remember my dad looking over at my mom and as the years went on, my dad, he didn't know our congressman. He had no idea. Yeah, okay, son, sure, you're going to go to the Naval Academy. My parents never went to college. Nobody in my family ever went to college. So for me to set my sights to go to the US Naval Academy and I wasn't taking no for an answer. I didn't make it right out of high school, I got appointed to West Point, and I know if there's Army people listening, I turned down an appointment to West Point.

(00:07:33):

Which my dad, being an Army guy, he thought I was so foolish to do that. But I told him, I said, "Dad, I don't want to be in the Army. I want to be in the Navy. I want to go to the Naval Academy." I've been saying that since I was seven years old, and so I want a scholarship to go to a prep school down in Alabama. And so I packed up my little suitcase and my parents drove me in their station wagon to a little town of Marion, Alabama where I spent a year preparing and doing everything I could to ... for me it was math, it was always a challenge. So I needed to get my math scores up so that the Naval Academy believed I had what it took to get through the program. Thankfully, I was able to bring my math scores up and then I left Marion Alabama and headed to Annapolis, Maryland and became a proud member of the class of 1984.

Alaina Kearney (00:08:24):

That is so incredible and so courageous.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:08:27):

Not really, when it's what you want.

Alaina Kearney (00:08:30):

It's what you want, but you're leaving a lot behind and there's a lot in front of you that you don't know about. The future is unknown to you, and that's really scary to do, especially being young.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:08:40):

Yeah. But again, if it's all you ever thought about. I never questioned anything. I had no idea. Part of it is stupidity, to be honest with you.

Alaina Kearney (00:08:50):

I don't think so.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:08:51):

Literally, if you don't know what the challenges are, you're like, okay, hey. I remember it snowed this day in February in 1979, so I'm dating myself, when I got my letter of rejection the first time I applied to the Naval Academy. I remember being so demoralized, I was destroyed. It's all that I ever wanted to do. In high school, I worked hard. I was the kid who sat in the front row. I was the kid who had short hair in 1978 because I was in the Navy Junior ROTC program. No girl would ever look at me because I looked like a nerd. But I played on the sports teams and I was an Eagle Scout. I did everything to go to the Naval Academy and I got my letter of rejection. I remember a little later sitting at my kitchen table and I was crying, and my mother came around the corner after talking to my father.

(00:09:47):

Now, my parents didn't have two nickels to rub together, but my mom, she put her hand on my shoulder and she said, "You know, son, if you want to go so badly into the Navy, your father and I will find a way to pay for you to go to VMI's." I had talked about that as a backup, the Virginia Military Institute, a private military school in Virginia. They were prepared to make that sacrifice. About three weeks later, I got my appointment to West Point. And so my dad, he's happy because he didn't have to pay for me to go to VMI. I had heard about this foundation program and I applied to it, and as luck would have it, I got that opportunity to go to Alabama.

Alaina Kearney (00:10:41):

I feel like so many people after that first rejection may have went a different route. What do you think made you continue to go, even though you got that rejection? You knew there was that option to go to the school and try to up your scores.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:10:54):

Or I could have gone to West Point.

Alaina Kearney (00:10:56):

Which is incredible. What an honor.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:10:58):

West Point is a great school.

Alaina Kearney (00:10:59):

Absolutely.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:10:59):

And you know what I've come to realize is that it's really very similar to going to Annapolis. The school is a school is a school in they military schools. One wears an army uniform, one ones a Navy uniform.

Alaina Kearney (00:11:09):

Absolutely.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:11:11):

My best friend's a West Point graduate, and it's one and the same really, but I wanted to be a naval officer. I didn't want to be in the Army, and so I was committed. I think again, perseverance. I got cut from the baseball team. It didn't mean that I didn't try the next year. I got cut again. I just continued to try. I tell people that all the time that life is for those who are willing to accept the challenge and are willing to continue to try, try again. There's no reason why you can't succeed if you really are committed. Going back to what my mom told me when I was a little boy, you can do anything you want as long as you work hard and you continue to try. We have a flag at the Naval Academy, you've probably heard this saying, it's become very, very famous. It comes from the War of 1812. There was a captain of a ship off Boston who his last dying words were, "Don't give up the ship."

(00:12:11):

His best friend was a guy named Oliver Hazard Perry, who then a year later on Lake Erie, right off of Erie, Pennsylvania in the Battle of Lake Erie, he beat a British fleet, which was unprecedented at the time. He did it with a flag flown over his flagship, his dying words of his best friend, "Don't give up the ship." That flag, to this day, hangs in our memorial hall, which is our biggest hall at the Naval Academy. And those words are inspirational. They've always been inspirational to me, and I tell people that all the time. I got turned down to be a Navy pilot. So when I went to the Naval Academy, they found out I had a vision issue, so I almost didn't get to fly. So I just doubled down on that one too. I'm like, no. Perseverance, you just keep trying.

(00:13:05):

I tried to ask my wife to go out with me. She's nine years younger than I am, she wouldn't go out with me. Honest to God, Alaina, she wouldn't go out with me. She gave me her number. I met her through my commanding officer. His wife was a school teacher where she also taught. So they introduced us. I, literally, for four months called her. She never called me back. I just kept calling her and eventually, she'd call me back every once in a while on a Saturday night when I wasn't home. This was before cell phones. Literally, I just don't give up if it's something I want or I believe in. We've been married for 27 years.

Alaina Kearney (00:13:36):

So you are absolutely the testament of perseverance in all areas of your life we now know.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:13:43):

Either that or stupidity.

Alaina Kearney (00:13:45):

No, no. We now know. So Ken, you've had a very long journey in public service, so talk to us a little bit about what that journey looked like and how it got you to be the Secretary of the Navy. You were also the ambassador to Norway and many other positions along the way. What did the trajectory look like?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:14:02):

Well, you're asking me some fun questions. I came to Philadelphia and again, so I became a pilot and finally, the vision thing caught up with me. So I was NPQd, that means not physically qualified to fly. I got to retain my wings. It was one of my proudest accomplishments, becoming a Navy pilot, but I could no longer fly airplanes. Talk about being kicked in the gut. I remember I was stationed in Hawaii and my commanding officer gave me the day, so I drove to the North Shore, sat on the beach and cried. Again, I was like, okay, well, I'll come back. I'll figure this out. I didn't want to leave the Navy. So I applied for a special designation and the Navy sent me to school to learn to be a public affairs officer, press officer, to speak, to be a public speaker for the Navy. I did a tour on an aircraft carrier back to sea, and then I came here to Philadelphia to be the Chief of Public Affairs at the Navy base as we were getting ready to close it.

(00:15:10):

But being a public affairs office in the Navy wasn't my ultimate passion, and so I left the Navy, at 10 years. I decided that I was going to go out into the private sector and try my hand. That's when I met Peter and a bunch of other people here in Delaware County, and they got me involved in politics of all things. While we were closing the Navy yard, I got to know many of the political people. I got to know Senator Heinz and Senator Specter and the mayor and a lot of different people. And so I came to Delaware County, now as a civilian. I got a job working for Atlantic Richfield, the big oil chemical company, and I ran as a councilman in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. I became a councilman there with my eye on future public service. I was encouraged by the Republican Party to continue to be committed. I was told, "Oh, they're going to groom you for future roles and whatnot." I was a pretty young, ambitious kid.

(00:16:17):

Melissa and I met, got married during this time. Then, I was going to run for county commissioner. They told me that. Then, towards the filing deadline, they came to me and told me I wasn't going to run for county commissioner, they had somebody else, an older gentleman who had been around and had paid his dues. So I was like, okay, well, I get that. I'm still young. I refocused in other areas. I still had my day job. All along, I had joined the Navy Reserve because my father, he was apoplectic that I was going to leave the military because I loved the Navy so much. I went into the reserves and for six years it was standard one weekend a month and a couple weeks in the summers. I knew enough people in the Navy where I would get these really cool overseas assignments, so I was going to Italy or Germany or Hawaii. It was a pretty good life.

(00:17:19):

Two years later, the county told me they were going to run me as a county councilman. I got prepared and they did it again, they decided at the last minute to pick another candidate. My wife was so upset and me, I was like, okay, well those are the rules of the game. Again, I come from a very hierarchical background being a naval officer, right, okay. She's like, "Ken, no, no." This is one of those learning moments in life. She said to me, she said, "I have to think that you'll have so diluted your opportunities to do this or do that." In other words, I was in the Navy Reserve, I had a full-time job, we had gotten married, wanted to start a family. I was councilman and I just was spreading myself so thin. It was Melissa who told me that I should rethink my calculus and focus on something that she felt that I would benefit from.

(00:18:30):

She's almost 10 years younger than I am, she's nine years younger, but she told me, she said, "I don't know what your generation thinks about, but my generation believes that somebody who serves our nation in uniform is pretty special. I believe that if you focus your attentions on your Navy Reserve career, in addition to being my husband, having a family, and holding a regular day job so we can afford the mortgage on our house and the food on our table, that one day you could be an admiral." I said, "Okay." And so I took her at her word. I withdrew from elective service and focused on my Navy career, and that was probably 1999, 2000. Shortly thereafter, I got my first command in the Navy and then September 11th happened and I was recalled to active duty, Alaina. And had not my wife really encouraged me to focus on that, I went off to Iraq and my life just accelerated after that.

(00:19:46):

I came back from there and was assigned to Joint Forces Command where I worked for General Jim Mattis and I dedicated my life back to the Navy until I eventually became an admiral, which is there's no guarantee that's going to happen. Again, I attribute that to my wife.

Alaina Kearney (00:20:07):

Pretty amazing that she had that foresight and she really believed in you and saw the potential you had and realized that politics, at that time, maybe wasn't for you.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:20:17):

Well see again, what she thought was choose. Either choose the Navy or choose politics, you can't have both. For me being charge up the hill, don't give up the ship, I thought I could have it all. I probably wouldn't. I probably would've been a mediocre politician, a mediocre naval officer because you only have so much bandwidth that you can dedicate to anything. So I dedicated my life back to the Navy, which turned out to be a phenomenal exercise in application because having become an admiral, directly led me to being a candidate. When I retired in 2011, I went out became a healthcare executive, and I did that for a while, but always with public service in the back of my mind. And sure enough, then I ended up coming back into public service. Originally, I was going to go into the Pentagon and work for General Mattis who was going to be our new Secretary of Defense. And then I get a call from the White House asking me if I wanted be the US Ambassador in Norway. Again, being smart, I called my wife.

Alaina Kearney (00:21:28):

Smart guy.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:21:29):

And she's like, "Call him back right now," because I thought I was going to go into the Pentagon and work for General Mattis. But no, the next thing I know we're the US Ambassador to Norway living in a 28,000 square foot mansion that the Nobel ... if you've ever heard of the Nobel Peace Prize ... the Nobel family built. It was like lifestyles of the rich and famous. We were there for about two and a half years. I've always had a background in crisis affairs, crisis communications, and the Navy hit the rocks hard with two ship collisions in one year. We had a Seal scandal, and then we had the COVID debacle aboard the USS Roosevelt. I was asked to come back once they fired my predecessor. The president fired my predecessor, and then I was asked to come back and be the secretary of the Navy. No greater job for a Navy guy than to be the Secretary of the Navy.

Alaina Kearney (00:22:23):

No. What was that moment like?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:22:24):

It was surreal. I'd had been given a hint that something was going to happen. And this one dear friend of mine who's very, very close to the president had been whispering in the president's ear like, "Look, if you need a Navy secretary, I got the guy." I was attending the Navy home football game. I was back in the States. Remember, I'm the Ambassador to Norway. I had come back to speak at the Naval War College, and meanwhile the news is just terrible about the Navy and the Navy Secretary is just in battle trying to hold on, and the president decided that he was going to fire him. I got a call from the Secretary of Defense while I'm standing on the side lines of the Navy football game, and he said, "Where are you?" I said, "Well, I'm at the Navy SMU game." He goes, "Get somewhere quiet." So I went back into the locker room and Secretary of Defense asked me if I wanted to be the Secretary of the Navy. My answer again was, "I'd be honored to do that, but can I check in with my wife?" He's like, "Well, yeah."

Alaina Kearney (00:23:42):

You're good.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:23:43):

No, no, not good. He says to me, he says, "Well, yeah, go ahead, give her a call." I'm like, "Well, I can't. She's back in Norway and it's six hours difference." And this was like 6:00 PM right in Annapolis, Maryland. And he says, "Well, wake her up. This is pretty important, and the president's waiting for my answer." I said, "Yes, sir." So I called Melissa. Of course she didn't answer the phone. She's sleeping, it's midnight. So I called the Secretary of Defense back and I said, "I can't get ahold of my wife." "Well, don't you have security there at the house? Can't somebody go up into the ..." The ambassador's residences are a lot like the White House, the first floor are all official public rooms. You live upstairs in an apartment. And so I told Secretary of Defense, I said, "I don't think that's a good idea. Having the security people knock on my wife's door, they're going to think something terrible ..."

(00:24:40):

He says, "Yeah, that's a good point." He says, hold on a minute. So he leaves me hanging on the phone for about 5, 10 minutes and he comes back and he said, "I just talked to the president and he said, you got till noon tomorrow." And so by the next morning I called my wife. I don't think she was ready to leave. As I mentioned to you before our interview started, she had gone to yoga school while she was in Norway and she had really created a community. It was hard for her at first, but again, my wife being very patriotic and very committed to our country, she's crying. She said, "I know you can't say no. You have to say yes."

Alaina Kearney (00:25:22):

It's going to make me cry.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:25:23):

And the rest is kind of history.

Alaina Kearney (00:25:23):

No, it's so amazing. And I think sometimes we forget how important families are in the decision-making process for big positions like this. You had to move to Norway, you had to-

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:25:34):

That was no easy feat.

Alaina Kearney (00:25:35):

Right.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:25:36):

Although you're the US ambassador, you think that they make everything work for you. They try to do their best, but we had to take my children out of school and my daughter was in high school at the time.

Alaina Kearney (00:25:51):

Thank you to your family for everything they have done as well because it is a lot on them, especially being young and having to make all those sacrifices.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:25:58):

Yeah, my poor son. We live here in Chads Ford, we've been there in our home for 22 years. He had attended four schools in five years. Now, he's like, "Mom, dad, you can do anything you want, but don't move anytime soon." I said, "We've been here 22 years, buddy. I don't think we're going to go anywhere."

Alaina Kearney (00:26:20):

Yeah, absolutely. For people who don't know what the Secretary of the Navy does, could you give us a little bit of a synopsis of what does the Secretary of the Navy do and what are your day-to-Day responsibilities? What did that look like?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:26:31):

Well, the Secretary of the Navy is the CEO of, not only the United States Navy, but also the United States Marine Corps. The Marines are part of the Navy, and my responsibility was to run that enterprise, both the Navy and the Marine Corps. I'm the first ever, I didn't realize this at the time, but one of my Annapolis classmates called me up and said, "Ken, you're going to be the first ever admiral to be a confirmed Secretary of the Navy." There have been interim admirals who have served temporarily as a secretary, but to be the secretary, I'm the 77th secretary of the Navy of all those 76 before me, never has one ever been an admiral. The Army's had a couple generals who have served after they retired as generals, they became Secretary of the Army, but I'm the first ever former admiral to be the Secretary of the Navy. It's funny because Secretary John Warner of Virginia, who had been Secretary of the Navy in the Nixon administration, he called me up the night before my confirmation hearing and we got talking about this.

(00:27:37):

He said, "Well, we don't really want generally an admiral running the Navy because that's like putting the fox in the hen house. We want somebody from the outside." He says, "But with your blended experience of having been both in the service and out of the service, we think you're going to be pretty well qualified to go in and know where the buck stops when some admiral's trying to pull the wool over on you." The job itself was phenomenal, but remember, I had inherited organization in crisis. I believe that the best way to build back from a situation that truly has been catastrophic is to build back trust. I'm a person who believes in culture. Culture is everything. If you think about every organization you've ever been part of, the organizations that are the ones that perform best are the ones with the best culture. That's one of the reasons why America is so great because we have great culture in America. I also knew that in order to double down on that culture that I needed to re-instill trust in civilian leadership.

(00:28:58):

We had had a number of secretaries during the time that had been there and had a lot of difficulties. So I embarked whether I felt I had 10 months or 10 months and four years to try to reestablish those bonds with sailors and Marines. So I traveled the world and I met as many sailors and Marines as I could and instilled in them a hope and a belief, or I tried, that we were going to come back, that these were bad days for us. But few bad days, those don't identify what the organization is capable of. They may be challenging, but you can get past those challenges. I had many great leaders during my time in the Navy that helped teach me the essence of leadership and trying to re-instill in people a belief that we will come back and so that's what I did. It's funny, if you look on my Wikipedia page, I've been beaten up on that because I use the assets that the United States government gave me.

(00:30:13):

The budget for the Department of the Navy and the Marine Corps, it's $220 billion. The use of an aircraft to fly to naval bases, Marine Corps stations, it's not cheap, but you need to get around as much as you can, that's why they provide that to you. I believe very strongly that you can't lead an organization in crisis from behind a desk, remotely from where your people are. So I traveled the world and I met with as many as I could because, again, I knew that they would talk to another shipmate, who talked to a ship mate, who talked to a shipmate and the culture came back. I'm a big history guy as well, and re-instill all the great achievements of those who have gone before us in the Navy to every sailor. Again, going back to the early questions you asked me about, I stood on many a flight deck on many a pitching deck on a ship and told sailors my story, that everybody can persevere and we can come back and you too could be the Secretary of the Navy one day.

Alaina Kearney (00:31:26):

In terms of your leadership style, how would you describe that?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:31:30):

Very hands-on. I am more comfortable in front of a group of people working with them than I am behind a desk signing a bunch of papers. It's just the difference in what motivates me, what energizes me. I literally, I love people and I love being in groups and organizations and doing things, setting goals. You asked me a little bit about the average day. There was always a crisis du jour, and then you have to understand how to handle those crises. You accept the responsibility and based upon your experiences, you chart a course and say, this is what we're going to do and this is how we're going to build back from this. I also felt that the challenges to our country today they're dangerous. We don't realize that here in our comfortable existence in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, here we are in Chester County, Pennsylvania, I guess. We don't recognize the threats that are just over the horizon, but the world's changing. It's changing around us at breakneck speed and nothing ever stays static. Although America has enjoyed this period of prominence, that prominence is starting to erode.

(00:32:58):

I am the proverbial optimist. I get up every morning with a smile on my face and believe the cup is always half full, not half empty, but I'm also a realist and I see the challenges that are coming, and it's a different way of life that others believe in. If we're not vigilant for what those challenges are, we will soon find ourselves eclipsed. So you ask me what my days were like, I was focused on building a new Navy, a Navy second to none. Because I'm also a person, again, being a bit of a history buff, that the greatest nations in the world have always been maritime nations. They've always been those nations that have been able to command authority on the sea because everything we do is through trade. The sea lanes of communication are so important to our freedom, to our national security. Today, the US Navy is no longer the largest Navy in the world. We're now the second largest. The largest is the People's Republic of China's Navy. They build about 14 ships to our 2 in any six month period.

(00:34:13):

We need to rededicate ourselves. And then I get asked a lot of questions, "Well, are you a hawk? Are you a warmonger?" I'm like, "No, the last thing I want to do is ever go to war." I was on the sailing team at the Naval Academy and one of my coaches had fought at the Battle of Midway during World War II, if you've seen that recent movie. What he told us all those years ago is he said, "You know, gentlemen, ours is a job that we train to do every day, that we pray to the Almighty we never have to perform." And that's it, that's the truth behind it. But the way to protect your way of life is to deter those who would want to change it. And the only way you do that is with a strong military capability.

Alaina Kearney (00:34:59):

You've had to build some of the most elite teams in the world. What strategies do you utilize when you're trying to build high performing teams?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:35:11):

That's a great question. Well, I've been fortunate to be on many of those same kind of teams, and I watched other leaders look for what's most important. I will tell you that I just happened recently. I was in Awawa, and the cashier was so upbeat that I handed her my business card and I told her, I said, "Wherever you want to go in life, you're applying to college or whatever, let me know because I'll write a letter of recommendation for you. Your personality is contagious." What I mean by that, Alaina, is just in getting to know you, you're a person who brings positive perspectives into the organization. I look for that before I look for anything else because you can have a wicked, brilliant person, but if they're a Debbie Downer and they come in and they infect the culture that you're trying to build by being a naysayer, that doesn't work for me and it doesn't work for most high performing organizations.

(00:36:21):

So when you're looking for those who can add to the fabric, you always look for that, at least I do, first and foremost. Now, you have to have a background, you have to have experience, you have to have the things that you need on your team. The other thing that I would say as a leader, you don't have all the answers. That's why you bring people together. No matter how smart you are, how wise you are, how old you are, doesn't give you necessarily the insight in certain situations that others may have. So I think a smart leader looks to their team to derive that perspective. Also, I don't like, yes people. You come on a team and you're just like, "Yes, sir. Great, that's great." That doesn't help give you a perspective that's kind of outside the box.

(00:37:19):

Lincoln on Leadership is one of my favorite books, and he was a person who created a team of rivals. If you know the history, he brought people onto his team, into his cabinet who had run against him. The guy who was his biggest adversary became the guy who cried and held his hand next to his bed when he was assassinated because he realized that that person brought a perspective that he didn't have. That's what really builds a team, is seeing things from different places.

Alaina Kearney (00:37:59):

Absolutely.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:37:59):

On that, diversity is very important. I like to talk about it, because we in America, it has become such a new way of life for us, but it's not a new way of life for us. I told sailors and Marines, as the Navy's going through this transformation and, "Does anybody here have a dollar bill?" Looks in your eyes like, "Yes, sir, I got one here." They pull it out. "What's it say there on that little ribbon in the eagle's beak?" It says, "E Pluribus Unum. Does anybody know what that means?" It's Latin for "From many, one." Well, who put it on that dollar bill? How long has it been on our currency? Since the formation of our country, so our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, those people put that on the currency of our country. Why? Because they knew we were peoples from many walks, and many cultures, in many places that had all come together to create a new nation on earth that had a blending of culture, and that enriched us to make us as capable as we are.

(00:39:15):

So that diversity enriches the organization, the enterprise, the team, the nation. As General Mattis used to tell us, he goes, "What's the best dog on the playground?" "What do you mean, General?" He goes, "What's the best breed of dog on the playground?" Marine, right. Like, "German Shepherd?" "No, wrong." "Labrador retriever?" "No, wrong." "Border Collie?" "No, wrong." "Okay, General, I'm lost." "The mutt. The mutt, Ken." And who's the mutt of the world? We're the mutt of the world, America is, because we are blending of all cultures of all people. That's why we're so creative. That's why we're so great.

Alaina Kearney (00:39:54):

I love that. I absolutely love that. You've had to utilize techniques to build relationships with foreign governments and diplomats who have diverse backgrounds, different from us, different from our way of thinking. What are some techniques that you utilize to try to formulate relationships that way?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:40:12):

Wow, that's a great question. I love to tell stories, right? So whether it's the parables in the Bible or Lincoln on Leadership, Lincoln was famous for weaving these stories of frontier life into the halls of Washington and working with people who were, as they believe, much more sophisticated than Abraham Lincoln, but he was running circles around them and they didn't know it. I think through those lessons that you experience in life, for instance, I had a discussion with the Prime Minister of Norway, and one of my objectives when I went to Norway was to get the Norwegian government to pay 2% of their gross domestic product towards the defense of NATO. So NATO is a alliance of mostly Western European nations and the United States that look to defend the interests of Europe. Back in the day, created to be a bulk work against a rising Russia and a Soviet Union. That was its objective when it was created in 1949. But over the years, America has been the one to subsidize NATO.

(00:41:25):

So the president decided that we had enough of paying everybody else's lunch and dinner bill that it was time for everybody else to step up. In 2014, the agreement had been made between the NATO Nations that everybody would pay 2% of their GDP. Well, your GDP is multi trillions of dollars like the US's is. It's a little different story, we pay more, but everybody pays a percentage that's equal to what they're capable of paying and that was agreed upon. But now we're four or five years later and nobody has met, a few countries, there were a handful that had hit 2% of their GDP, but Norway hadn't. So I sit down with the Prime Minister and I'm sitting there before I went in to meet with her, and I had met with her several times prior to this, but this was my big ask. I asked her if she owned a house, and she looked at me and she goes, "Well, of course I own a house." I said, "Well, I'm just asking."

(00:42:22):

I said, "Do you have homeowner's insurance on your house?" And she said to me, she said, "Well, of course I have homeowner's insurance." I said, "Well, why do you have homeowner's insurance?" She goes, "Well, if something happens to the house, I've protected my assets." I said, so "That's an insurance policy." She goes, "Yeah, no, absolutely." I said, "Well, Madam Prime Minister, the way I look at it is a military is an insurance policy to protect your interests. If you don't have that, when the enemy comes calling, as it did here in 1940, when Nazi Germany overran Norway, you can't defend your interests." I said, "So 2% cent of your gross domestic product to pay towards defense of your nation to be prepared should that challenge ever come, that's just like paying for your homeowner's insurance. You pray you never have to use it, but it's there if you need it." She kind of looked at me and smiled. She said, "You know, nobody's ever really put it like that."

(00:43:29):

Again, it's those small stories that I think you can connect with people and people can see things in a different light. Also, respect, so you respect other cultures. When I was Secretary of the Navy, I went to India and I wanted to ensure the Indians knew how much we valued them. There've been instances in our existence as a nation where that's not always been the way. But I offered to India the use of US Navy assets. In other words, our airplanes would go aboard their aircraft carrier and vice versa. Because again, I believe that if somebody is your friend and your ally, that you should figure out that interoperability and that's respect.

Alaina Kearney (00:44:23):

As someone who served in both diplomatic and defense roles, how do you balance the needs of diplomacy with the requirements of national defense?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:44:33):

So national defense is the backstop. It is never where you should negotiate from, but it is definitely where the other side should know that you can negotiate from. For instance, if you are weak and incapable of backing up what you're asking or what you're requesting or what you're trying to decide upon, then in this world, you're just going to get run over. But going back to what I said, we should always as the United States, seek a diplomatic solution first. I just spoke recently over in Germany at NATO on the situation in Ukraine, and a diplomatic solution is the answer, warfare is the last. The last act of diplomacy is military conflict because then you failed. Any nation goes to war literally is putting themselves at risk. In the modern 21st century, that's just foolish. So you should figure out a way to negotiate and you should be willing to make that negotiation fair.

(00:45:57):

I worked for a while for Atlantic Richfield, and I had the good fortune to negotiate with unions, and I was always the guy who wanted to lean in and figure out, okay, we need to give something up to get something. I believe that in any situation. I've talked a lot about different things here today, but that's what really made our country great, not wearing a red baseball hat says, "Make our country great again." What really made our country great is the art of compromise. It's the art of coming together as peoples and negotiating between yourselves to come up with a solution. It may not be everything you want, but that's how we do it around our kitchen table with our significant others. I'll ask an audience, "Okay, so you're married. How long have you been married? And you get everything you want, right?" Everything you want is what you get as a spouse, as a significant other? No, we compromise and we should compromise in America to advance ourselves.

(00:47:02):

That's part of the problem today in our nation is, we have lost the ability to compromise. We believe that there is only one answer, that's our answer, the way we believe. Well, that's not necessarily true. Sure, we all like to get our way. We all want what we want, but when there are many minds, and many perspectives, and many desires, and many interests, you have to negotiate. Whether you're negotiating around your kitchen table, or you're negotiating in the halls of Congress, or you're negotiating between different sovereign nations, it's compromise.

Alaina Kearney (00:47:41):

You're exactly right, it's so hard now. I feel like we're so polarized, especially with social media. I see them on TikTok and I see-

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:47:48):

That's the problem.

Alaina Kearney (00:47:49):

It's unbelievable. People are so opinionated and they have so much to say. Some people are knowledgeable, but many are not. You're getting your information, you're not knowing who these people are. You've no idea what their background is or-

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:48:02):

True.

Alaina Kearney (00:48:02):

... what biases they bring to those videos. With those algorithms, you're seeing more and more and more of the same viewpoint, of the same types of videos. I often find myself, if I'm watching something, I want to see the other side. I want to learn about what are other people thinking about it. I'm also not getting all my news sources from TikTok, I will just add, but I'm using that as an example. But really I feel like it makes you more polarized because you're only seeing viewpoints from the lens in which you want to watch, and that's kind of scary.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:48:32):

Alaina, isn't it interesting that TikTok is owned by a company called Bite Dance. Bite Dance is a Chinese company. We are so open in America and we are free to debate and decide, but don't think that others don't exploit that freedom of expression and don't think that others are looking to the technologies that exist today to try to influence that debate and try to break us down. I mentioned earlier I worked for a US Senator and I would watch the art of the game on the floor of the US Senate as he would negotiate against Senator Ted Kennedy. But there was an understanding that, okay, Massachusetts saw things differently than Pennsylvania did, but that was the beauty of our founding fathers. The thing in 1996, '97 was it wasn't splashed across all these social media sites, which didn't exist back then. So they could have the art of debate, and they weren't called down for their compromise. Today, anybody serving in government, if they represent a constituency who doesn't believe in compromise, because they're so adamant that their way is the only way, that's so dangerous and that's what's happening to America.

(00:49:48):

I don't mean to be an alarmist, but as I mentioned here to you and Eric, our producer, before we started, that's one of the problems with our nation today is we've become so entrenched with our perspective that we can't have a discussion anymore. Some of these issues are very emotional. Trust me, I get that right. That's the other problem is others, even here domestically, are exploiting that emotion. They drive you to go and vote based upon one or two issues. Those issues are not the most important issues. I hate to tell people this all the time, but if we don't maintain our sovereignty by a strong national defense, we will seek to have the freedom of expression. We will seek to cease to have the freedom of education, the freedom to believe as we want to in our religion. We will lose our freedoms. There won't be any discussion about immigration anymore. There won't be a discussion about the right to bear arms or pro-life or pro-choice or any of that anymore. All that'll go away. That's how important the overriding issue is, but yet everybody in America has lost focus on that.

Alaina Kearney (00:51:09):

We did talk a little bit about emotional tolls and how social media can play onto the emotional side of things, but in terms of the decisions you've had to make over your career, many of them impacted American lives. How are you able to balance your responsibilities but also your personal life and then the emotional toll that must have taken on you?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:51:31):

Well, there's nothing more sacred than life. I believe in a situation where you have the authority, the ability based on law to commit other people's lives, you need to think twice as hard, three times as hard, four times as hard. To lose treasure is one thing, to lose talent, to lose people is another. For us, in the war on terror, those decisions were made a long time ago, long before I ever found myself in the roles that I was in. But the other aspect of that is when we take the oath of office to the Constitution, as a military member, we are doing so with the understanding that we're putting ourselves out there. We're prepared to go into harm's way. Somebody was asking me the other day about that. I said, "I remember going to Beirut in 1983, and I remember just the warfare's chaos."

(00:52:41):

First of all, if anybody who tells you plans, no plan ever comes to fruition when you're in combat. But I couldn't understand. I'd read about warfare and I was trained as a naval officer, but you really don't understand what harm's way is until you find yourself there. You can't take that lightly. When you're given the responsibility to decide the fate of others, that should be the last thought that you have, and it should be based upon the survival of the nation. In other words, we shouldn't commit our men and women to fight around the globe for things that are not dependent upon the very existence of our country.

Alaina Kearney (00:53:44):

Well said.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:53:44):

In World War II, we committed ourselves to fight against tyranny because that tyranny threatened our freedoms and our way of life. We've yet to be in engagement since then where we've really been that threatened. So you're the commander in chief as the president, you need to think about why you're committing the men and women. In 2001, when we were attacked, I was part of the same emotional fabric as everybody else then, which again is our American culture. Okay, guess what, we're going to suit up and we're going to go out there and we're going to kick some butt. Is that right or wrong? Well, in hindsight, maybe we could have thought it through a little bit better, but terrorism is a threat to us each and every day, and we need to be prepared to defend ourselves, which we did in that case. But when you send somebody over to potentially go into conflict, it really has to be because our way of life is threatened.

Alaina Kearney (00:54:57):

And the gravity of that for you as a leader though, must be so overwhelming at times.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:55:02):

Well, as an admiral, I guess as Secretary of the Navy too, but when I was an admiral, I was the one who issued orders to send a lot of people to Afghanistan and Iraq. I didn't do it lightly, but I knew it was my duty, and you have to do your duty.

Alaina Kearney (00:55:26):

I have a quick lightning round, but before we end, I just want to ask you what-

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:55:30):

Lightning round? Uh-oh.

Alaina Kearney (00:55:31):

Yeah, we have a lightning round. Come on, I got to ask you the fun things real quick. But I want to end this on, you telling us what is your proudest moment. I would think if it was your life, you're going to say your family.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:55:42):

Of course it is. Yeah. Well, your family should always-

Alaina Kearney (00:55:45):

Absolutely, always comes first.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:55:46):

It's funny though, and this is an important little story I'm going to tell you. I had the honor to fly back and old admiral from Hawaii in my airplane to San Diego who had been out there to visit some of his friends. He flew space available and we happened to have a seat, but he was a very highly decorated World War II hero, if I told you his name you would know him, but he had dedicated himself to the Navy. He had never been married, never had a family. I couldn't wait to get out of the cockpit and go back and talk to him. So sure enough, about an hour outside of Barbara's Point, Hawaii, I told the copilot I was going to go back and talk to the admiral. I sat down and I asked him all these questions, like you're asking me about what was it like in World War II, what was it like here, what was it like there? What was it like at Guadalcanal, and he was fascinating.

(00:56:39):

The flight went on, and about an hour before we land, I was told by one of the petty officers that the admiral wanted to talk to me. I went back and I sat back down to next to him and I said, "Yes, sir." He said, "Lieutenant, would you do me a favor? Would you call the duty driver to come and pick me up to take me to my house when we land?" And I said, "Sure, Admiral, not a problem." Not thinking through, not seriousness, but the gravity of why he asked me this question. Well, the reason he asked me this question was there was nobody there to meet him. There was nobody there when he was taken to his little house in Coronado.

(00:57:27):

He had been overseas for about a month and he opened the door to his house, there was nobody there. As great as the Navy is at the end of your life, this was my takeaway, the Navy's not going to be there to hold my hand, it's going to be your family, and the people you love, and you invest in those relationships. Your career is great. Think about your coworkers too.

Alaina Kearney (00:57:49):

Yeah, absolutely.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:57:49):

It's your family. So the proudest moment is, I would say the day that I married my wife. We got married to the Naval Academy and all the pomp and circumstance that I'd always envisioned. I'm a little bit of a romantic, so the crossed swords, and we had a horse and carriage. Because again, I didn't think she was ever going to say yes. When I got her to say yes, that was a great moment and then of course, the birth of my kids. Professionally, I'd have to say that recently, the Secretary of the Navy hallway in the Pentagon is lined with the portraits of all 77 secretaries who have served. My portrait unveiling was this past May in Annapolis, and my wife and my two children, my son's 16, my daughter 21, and my mom, who was 91 in her wheelchair were all there. My closest friends and others in my family had come from all over the United States to be there. That was a pretty special moment to see my mom realize all those years ago, encouraging me to reach for the stars. A pretty cool moment.

Alaina Kearney (00:59:15):

She must've been so proud, I'm sure. I've seen that portrait. I've seen pictures of it. I've definitely seen pictures of it. I think we even posted about it on our Facebook page. All right, so quick lightning round. What world leader or celebrity were you most excited to meet and did they live up to the expectation?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (00:59:31):

Wow. I've met a lot of people. In fact, it's funny, I just mentioned the other day, I got a call when our aircraft carrier pulled into Monte Carlo and I was told that Barbara Bach, I don't know if you know who she was, she was a bond girl. She's every young naval officer's dream girl back in the day, wanted to come and take a tour. She had saw the carrier pull into Monte Carlo, and so she wanted to come aboard. Well, nobody said that she was going to bring her husband. You know who her husband was? Ringo Star, the drummer for The Beatles. I was telling my kids that story the other day, they're like, "Really Dad, you met Ringo Star?" I said, "Yeah, he kind of tagged along with Barbara Bach." But that is almost an impossible question for me to answer, there's so many people.

(01:00:16):

I'd be remiss if I didn't say, I have three mentors in life that I have guided me. One is a gentleman by the name Admiral Tom Lynch, who's probably the greatest leader I've ever worked for. He was my first commanding officer. He was later the president, superintendent of the Naval Academy. He started his life as the captain of the Navy football team. His quarterback on the Navy team was a guy named Roger Staubach, but Tom was in charge. Roger Staubach, in my day, was the Tom Brady of the National Football League. And then Ryan Crocker, who was an ambassador I worked for in Pakistan. He was the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. He served, I think 10 different ambassadorships. I aspired to be like him, he's who I wanted to emulate. And then Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, who was President Reagan's secretary, has been a big influence in my life to live up to what he accomplished. All of those people were bigger than life. So sorry, I didn't answer your [inaudible 01:01:24].

Alaina Kearney (01:01:23):

No, that's great. That's okay. That's good. I like that.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (01:01:25):

President Reagan, great, incredible.

Alaina Kearney (01:01:28):

I'm sure.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (01:01:29):

President George H.W. Bush. I just met his grandson, George Preston Bush last week in Washington, I had dinner with him. That's his grandfather, he was an incredible man and very, very just humble, just a great person. So there's a name for you.

Alaina Kearney (01:01:45):

Okay. I like that. On a scale of 1 to 10, how intimidating is a Senate confirmation hearing?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (01:01:52):

Well, you know what, I would say if you didn't understand what's going on 10, but I worked on the hill and I realize that everything we see with the Senate or the House is all theater. It's all designed for not the people in the room, but for anybody watching from the outside. But the candidate doesn't understand that, the person who's up for confirmation. You're literally going in there and your knees are knocking. I had one gentleman that I was sitting next to for one of my hearings who I literally reached over and I took his hand because he was so rattled by the questions.

(01:02:37):

I had one senator who was so nice to me in their office on the other side, I'm Republican, they were Democrat, when I got into the hearing room, they came at me with the most terrible questions. But I understood in the back of my mind that that wasn't really who this person was. Again, I wasn't cocky, although they say Navy pilots are, you think you're going to win the dog fight, but for me, I was prepared and I believe that I could do the job. I was hoping I could convince the Senate of that, but if I couldn't, then it wasn't meant to be.

Alaina Kearney (01:03:20):

I'm such a nerd this way, but I love watching Senate hearings. I could watch a Senate hearing all day long, but that's for another day. Is there anything we didn't talk about that you want to make sure that you share with our listeners?

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (01:03:33):

No, just my belief that America's far from over. We have many more chapters, but we all need to believe that. I think we already touched on it many times, but is to realize that if your desires, personally, are more important than the collective, than stay your course. But if not, and you believe in our nation, think twice about what the other person's perspective is, because the answer is somewhere in the middle. It's never on the poles. That's a really big answer to come to, because if you can't, we're not going to be the great nation we've always been.

Alaina Kearney (01:04:28):

Absolutely.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (01:04:29):

I'm being very, very forthright. I've talked to many audiences about ... never since the war of 1812, 1812, that's a long time ago, second War of Independence has the United States been in a similar situation. And so people ask me, "Geez, Ken, that's kind of obscure, the war of 1812." I said, "Well, yeah, we were fighting the greatest nation on the face of the earth, Great Britain." They had the ability to destroy us if they focused on us. But thankfully for us, they were focused on a bigger adversary on the continent of Europe, a guy named Napoleon. So that's where their focus was and so we ended up getting to draw. We signed the peace in 1814, which allowed us to go back to pre-war boundaries and all that. It was ridiculous, we fought a war for two years for nothing. But we then grew in stature, so we got something out of it.

(01:05:32):

But not since the war of 1812, had we ever been up against an adversary that could have eliminated our sovereignty and our way of life. If Great Britain would've won, we would've become a colony of the United Kingdom again, and we would've been subjected to the rule of the King. Today, America is potentially facing a situation where we could find ourselves in conflict with an adversary that has the means to change our way of life. That's how serious this is.

Alaina Kearney (01:06:07):

Very heavy.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (01:06:10):

Not in World War II, not even during the Cold War. The Cold War was terrible because it was nuclear annihilation, but there could come a point in time in the future that we don't necessarily have the same freedoms that we have today. Again, going back to one of your earlier questions, the only way we ensure that is to be able to negotiate from a place of strength.

Alaina Kearney (01:06:30):

I appreciate all of your time and all of the advice and wisdom that you've shared with me today. And I'm sure that our listeners are going to really get a lot from what you said. I'm sure they're going to be able to take that, apply that into their own lives and business and in their personal lives, if they're listening and in the armed forces, I'm sure they absolutely get something from it.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (01:06:48):

Don't give up the ship.

Alaina Kearney (01:06:49):

Yeah, that's right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (01:06:51):

It's been my pleasure, Alaina.

Alaina Kearney (01:06:52):

Thank you.

Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite (01:06:52):

All right.

Alaina Kearney (01:06:54):

In this episode, we've learned the importance of building a culture of trust, the strategic value of alliances, and the necessity for both strength and diplomacy. Ambassador Braithwaite's life work underscores the delicate balance of leading with conviction, while being receptive to compromise and collaboration. The candid recounting of his tenure, whether facing crises at sea, or building bridges across nations, teaches us that true leadership is not just about holding power, but about empowering others, about making decisions that go beyond personal gain and about protecting the values we hold dear. Join us next episode as we continue to explore the principles of leadership with those who have lived it. Until next time.