As we review your HBS application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program? (900 words, 2022)

As we review your HBS application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?

I distinctly recall the leather hat box where my dad saved reminders of our family’s service in the Army. I was initially fascinated by the adventure each medal, dog-tag and faded photo held. Over time, I became fascinated by becoming a leader myself. In the military, I’ve learned that servant leadership is about self-awareness, humility, inclusion and above all, people. HBS will provide the interactive, case-based environment to continue learning, reflecting, and developing.

In high school, a story from my grandfather’s service as a Special Forces Team Leader during Vietnam fueled my desire to become a leader. One mission during Vietnam was coined Recon by Fire – a tactic designed to find the enemy by shooting without provocation into suspected areas. On one mission, he couldn’t justify the high potential for collateral damage. He challenged his superiors about the unnecessary civilian risk, but the order stood. He decided to disobey; he took his team out, helped in a village, set up security for the night, and reported completion. I recognized the power of this even at a young age; leadership isn’t about simply following orders, it’s about understanding your values and acting in accordance with them.

I can only imagine the self-awareness and humility it took for my grandfather to make that decision. These critical qualities are honed through experience, but I didn’t fully embrace this until my first failure at Ranger School. This 62-day leadership course tests your ability to lead in a simulated combat environment. In the second, most physically challenging phase, I failed the peer review of my leadership style. Although I was given another attempt, I felt crushed by the negative response of my peers. I even thought about quitting. Then I got a letter from dad with some motivational thoughts, including a clever acronym he had developed for harder times: STOP-P … Smile, Think, Observe, Plan, Pray. I realized I had failed because I was trying to be someone I wasn’t: a loud, cocky, authoritative, and aggressive stereotype. The next week, I returned with a smile on my face and a mental cue to remember who I was.

The world has changed drastically since Vietnam and even since my time at Ranger School, but the timeless lessons on leadership continue to remind me to know myself, be humble and build relationships. I saw the true of this equation when I deployed to Iraq in 2015 as the Executive Officer, second-in-command of an Airborne Infantry Company. Our mission was to re-train the recently defeated Iraqi Army. Our Company Commander, or leader of the 130-soldier organization, was not great at building consensus or communicating vision. The ambiguous, grand scope of our mission, and pressure from higher, made him apathetic; a dangerous affect while deployed. Although typically outside of the Executive Officer’s realm, I saw this issue and started taking significant responsibility for the main training operations. I quickly brought in all of our experienced Drill Sergeants, or those who had trained US Army new recruits, and was up front that I didn’t hold the key to what the best training path looked like. I empowered this ad-hoc task force to analyze the current Iraqi shortfalls and build a plan to prepare them for combat. Simultaneously, I built relationships with our Spanish Legion partners to gain buy-in and leverage their specific strengths. As I back briefed our Commander on the way ahead, he was impressed and I recall him saying, “Wow, you built and planned all this?” My response was automatic, “No sir, We built this.” As trite as it may sound, this always reminds me life’s a team sport. Now, any time I feel overwhelmed, I remember to look to those around me.

The challenging, interpersonal nature of my Iraq deployment inspired me to stay in the Army past my initial obligation. In my new role as an Infantry Company Commander, I had the opportunity to transform an organization. I took command of a 130-soldier team from a commander whose authoritative style led to inefficiency and frustration, as experienced leaders’ ideas went to waste. The first thing I did was engage my team to build a vision together; not a generic mission statement, but a tailored picture of who we wanted to be. With this groundwork laid, I changed how I interacted with the group. Instead of dictating tasks and identifying shortfalls, our weekly all-hands meetings had a participative structure; I talked less, subordinates talked more. We developed a new structure to plan Company operations, and platoon leaders then presented key milestones for shorter-term operations and garnered input from our group. The ideas that percolated from this small change were astounding, setting the tone for how we would work together under stress. Two months after these changes, we earned praise for our performance in a 36-hour training operation. When my boss asked why I thought we succeeded, I pointed to my subordinate leaders who took initiative and thought creatively.

I never met my grandfather - he passed away just before I was born. Yet, he inspired me to know myself and think freely even in a hierarchal environment. As I transition off active duty, I’m proud to add a fourth generation of medals, dog-tags, and photos to that leather hatbox. My experiences, and mantras like STOP-P, remind me that leadership has no perfect equation. But if you properly weight critical variables along the way, it is truly rewarding.