The eighteenth Hugh J. Clausen lecture in leadership

• Author: Tom Kolditz
• Position: Professor in the Practice of Leadership and Management and Director of the Leadership Development Program at the Yale School of Management
• Pages: 241-254

2013] EIGHTEENTH CLAUSEN LECTURE 241

THE EIGHTEENTH HUGH J. CLAUSEN LECTURE IN

LEADERSHIP*

BRIGADIER GENERAL TOM KOLDITZ1

* This is an edited transcript of a lecture delivered by Brigadier General (Retired) Kolditz

to members of the staff and faculty, their distinguished guests, and officers attending the

61st Judge Advocate Officer Graduate Course at The Judge Advocate General’s School,

Charlottesville, Virginia, on October 15, 2012.

The Clausen Lecture is named in honor of Major General Hugh J. Clausen, who

served as The Judge Advocate General, U.S. Army, from 1981 to 1985 and served over

thirty years in the U.S. Army before retiring in 1985. His distinguished military career

included assignments as the Executive Officer of The Judge Advocate General; Staff

Judge Advocate, III Corps and Fort Hood; Commander, U.S. Army Legal Services

Agency and Chief Judge, U.S. Army Court of Military Review; The Assistant Judge

Advocate General; and finally, The Judge Advocate General. After his retirement from

active duty, General Clausen served for a number of years as the Vice President for

Administration and Secretary to the Board of Visitors at Clemson University.

1 Tom Kolditz is Professor in the Practice of Leadership and Management and Director of

the Leadership Development Program at the Yale School of Management. His

experience as a leader development expert spans four decades in the public, private, and

social sectors.

A retired brigadier general and titled Professor Emeritus by the U.S. Military

Academy, General Kolditz led the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at

West Point for twelve years. In that role, he was responsible for teaching, research, and

outreach activities in Management, Leader Development Science, Psychology, and

Sociology. A highly experienced global leader, General Kolditz has served more than

twenty-six years in leader roles on four continents. His career has focused on either

leading organizations himself or studying leadership and leadership policy across sectors.

He served for two years as a leadership and human resources policy analyst in the

Pentagon, and a year as a concept developer in the Center for Army Leadership. General

Kolditz was the founding director of the Thayer Leader Development Group, and is the

managing member of Saxon Castle LLC, a leader development consultancy.

General Kolditz is an internationally recognized expert on crisis leadership and

leadership in extreme contexts, and in the development of programs to inculcate

leadership and leader development in everything from project teams to large

organizations. He has published extensively across a diverse array of academic and

leadership trade journals, and serves on the editorial and advisory boards of several

academic journals. He is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and is a

member of the Academy of Management. He is a founding member of the Board of

Advisors for the Department of Psychology at the University of Missouri, on the Council

of Senior Advisors for the Future of Executive Development Forum, and is an Academic

in Residence for the Global Leadership Strategy Network. His consultancies include

Google and GE.

A skydiving instructor since 1980, Kolditz weaves his personal experiences and

abilities as a Soldier, skydiver, and scholar into the first-hand study, analysis, and

practice of leadership in dangerous circumstances—in extremis leadership—and how

such leadership can inform the practice of leading in more ordinary settings. His most

recent book, In Extremis Leadership: Leading as if Your Life Depended on It, was based

on more than 175 interviews taken on the ground in Iraq during combat operations. He