Cadets learn from industry leaders during MCLC

Cadets received top-of-the-line insight and an invaluable perspective on what it means to lead and develop character during the McDonald Conference for Leaders of Character between March 24-27 at the U.S. Military Academy.

The mission of the MCLC is to create a space for a diverse group of top undergraduate student leaders from across the globe to receive mentorship from world-class senior leaders. In addition, the team-based conference is meant to develop critical thinking skills, synergism amongst colleagues, and improve leadership skills.

The conference welcomed a large contingent of leaders from other industries and nations to share with cadets their perspectives on leading with character.

West Point facilitates the conference to expose cadets to a broader perspective on leading, building excellent organizations, and developing a greater sense of situational awareness from multiple points of view.

Additionally, in many cases, there are more agreements, less variation, limited perspectives and fewer ideas amongst peers in a military or cadet environment, Col. Todd Woodruff, the West Point Leadership Center program director, said.

He added, however, that when the academy brings together high-performing cadets, military personnel and students from different universities worldwide, rich conversations amongst a high potential population will improve their ability to intuit leadership and enterprise effectively. Moreover, the young leaders are receiving support, not just from the staff and faculty at West Point, but from some of the best leaders from across the world.

For example, Charlie Kim, founder and co-chief executive officer of the company, “Next Jump,” thinks about leader development and organizational excellence from his perspective dealing with leadership from private industries. Based in New York City, his company deliberates on how to develop leaders of character and improve decision-making competence within the business, Woodruff said.

During the event, Kim also served as a key speaker in the company of Shelley Brindle, the mayor of Westfield, New Jersey, and the first female C-suite executive at HBO; Pat Swygert, the President Emeritus of Howard University; and Stephanie Khurana, impact-driven entrepreneur and social venture investor. All four leaders are among the senior fellows who helped provide cadets and students with thoughtful advice.

“A number of the senior fellows are going to spend a lot of their time in small groups with cadets, military personnel and students. In these groups sessions, they will learn from the experience of these senior mentors,” Woodruff said. “They will help these young leaders challenge how they see the world, and challenge their preconceived notions of leadership. They will ask them to think critically and creatively as well.”

Maj. Jordan Terry, a Leadership and Management instructor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership, said he and the BS&L team was very careful to bring in students from a diverse set of outstanding institutions that all have their own definition of excellence.

Exposure to indiscriminate minds broadens a cadet’s scope and allows them to properly contextualize ideas while making thorough decisions and build empathy.

“We want empathetic leaders, and we gain that by exposing them to different approaches and different fields of learning,” Terry said. “Culture matters but being able to empathize beyond the walls of West Point is really critical.”

Terry added three years from now, when cadets are in Poland serving with the Nation’s allies, to have a more sensitive, empathetic approach to what it means to lead across cultures. From this conference, cadets will recognize that people in all industries, in all cultures, seek and want character-based leadership.

“Next year, when they’re writing papers about officership, I want them to think back to that moment that a student from Columbia or Yale or Harvard or Duke gave them an insight and helped them look at a problem that they thought was two dimensional from a third dimension,” Terry concluded.