CNO Gilday / 'Love Your Enemies'

Review by Bill Doughty

Then-VADM Mike Gilday listens to Sailors at NIOC in 2017. Photo by MC2 Robert A. Hartland.

I happened to be reading "Love Your Enemies" by Arthur C. Brooks on July 31, the day Navy's new Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Michael Gilday, had his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. There's an unintended connection.

Brooks focuses on leadership and offers practical, heartfelt leadership advice.

For example: A good leader is "a greater force for good." "There is no inconsistency between kindness and effective winning leadership."

Brooks notes that authoritative leadership is not the same as authoritarian leadership. "Authoritative leaders ... are visionaries who set a course for an institution and inspire each member to take responsibility for getting to the final destination." 

That's Gilday's reputation – a visionary who employs kindness and strength, as revealed in a great Navy Times profile of the new CNO, the first to be so deep-selected for the position since Adm. Elmo Zumwalt.

In "Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt" (Broadside Books, HarperCollins, 2019) Brooks elaborates about a winning leadership style, as exemplified by Martin Luther King Jr., noting "prideful anger is the opposite of strength." 

"While coercive leaders drive people away by belittling and blaming, authoritative leaders garner their support by offering their encouragement and trust. They foster a culture that affirms each team member's importance to the work being done, and in doing so, convince individuals to invest deeply in the long-term prosperity of the organization. The aspirational approach of authoritative leaders produces the kind of success that builds on itself over time. While authoritative leaders promote their own overarching vision, they are not authoritarian. They do not suppress dissent, instead granting employees the freedom to disagree and solve problems on their own. The operational freedom granted by authoritative leaders promotes the individual creativity, accountability, and initiative that is essential to the success of any business. Authoritative leaders inspire a can-do spirit and enthusiasm for an organization's work because they ensure that no one feels muzzled or left behind. By letting every person know how her role helps accomplish the organization's mission, an authoritative leader empowers and motivates employees to become creative problem solvers."

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (December 12, 2017) – Vice Adm. Mike Gilday, commander U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet (FCC/C10F), meets with meets with Command Master Chief Dee Allen and assistant chiefs of staff during a regularly scheduled morning brief. U.S. Fleet Cyber Command serves as the Navy component command to U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Cyber Command.(U.S. Navy photo by MC1 Samuel Souvannason)

CNO Gilday's empathy, commitment and character comes through in his testimony to Congress. Here are some examples of his words, as relates to people and ethos:

"Most Americans associate the strength of the Navy with gray-hulled ships at sea. But the true sources of our naval power are the people and loved ones who support them ... Like countless military families around the world, my family's love, their resourcefulness, and their support have made my naval service possible. I owe everything to them..." "I am committed to the fact that we need to treat people with dignity and respect, that behavior like, whether it's physical violence or whether it's sexual assault, has no place in the Navy, that racism has no place in the Navy, that domestic violence has no place in the Navy, that we have to be an organization that recognizes people's gender and treats them fairly as well as their sexual preference. So, my commitment to this committee is that I will try to set the best example that I can at the top, and I will lean on our flag officers, our commanders and in particular our chief petty officers to ensure that this ethos is something we bring to work every day and something that we live on and off the job..." "Ethics is a particularly important point for me and that begins at the top with my leadership and extends through all the flag officers as well as our commanders and right down through the chief petty officers who I consider a critical link to ensure that every day we go to work, we bring our values with us to work. It's especially important in combat that those values be maintained for all of the reasons that we understand so well. I commit to getting a better understanding of the issues, to holding people accountable, if an where they need to be held accountable, to getting after the root causes and ensure that if there is a problem with the culture of the community that that's addressed very quickly and very firmly."

Watch Gilday's testimony to see how he addresses issues like near-peer competitors, particularly China and Russia; emerging technology; Navy SEALs; Persian Gulf tensions; PCU Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and PCU Columbia (SSBN-826); shipyard maintenance and capacity; and the USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) and USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) tragedies at sea.

Gilday's humility and qualities as a strong, authoritative leader shine through. By the way, his late father enlisted in the Navy right out of high school. Gilday grew up in a Navy family.

In "Love your Enemies," Brooks writes, "The ideal leaders today – whom we need more urgently than at any time in my life – are 'bridgers,' men and women dedicated to a radical embrace of diversity."



Brooks, author of "The Conservative Heart," defines contempt (anger mixed with disgust) and shows how contempt on both sides of the political spectrum poisons dialog and understanding. Key signs of authoritarian leadership are lack of empathy and seeing others as less than human.

Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Rwanda provide examples: Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels compared Jews to rats. Joseph Stalin dehumanized Kulaks, calling them "vermin" before taking their land, separating their families, rounding them up and systematically exterminating them. Hutus referred to Tutsis as cockroaches before killing children, women and men in the Rwandan genocide and carnage.

Surrounded by "yes-people," authoritarian leaders foster complacency and mediocrity as they cause hurt and pain through their contempt.

Brooks's solution to countering and defeating contempt comes from teachings in the Bible, Bhagavad Gita and especially Buddhism, as in the advice of the Dalai Lama: "practice warmheartedness." By listening and NOT showing contempt for the other, "people can become not just warriors for their point of view but healers in their communities." 

From the Dhammapada teaching of the Buddha, "the master says":

Conquer anger through gentleness,

unkindness through kindness,

greed through generosity,

and falsehoods by truth

Contempt, Brooks says, is no match for love.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (June 6, 2019) Senior Chief Logistics Specialist Chiwanna Rogers, from Jacksonville, Florida, assigned to USS Gerald R. Ford’s (CVN 78) supply department, receives her senior chief cover from Master Chief Avionics Technician Tinesha Troupe during a frocking ceremony.( U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brett Walker/Released)

Read this book and "you will see why the current model of contemptuous leadership is a losing proposition in the long run, as well as why better, not less, disagreement holds the key to greater harmony." Celebrate and surround yourself with different opinions and points of view while maintaining core values in order to succeed as a leader.

"Disagreement is good because competition is good. Competition lies behind democracy in politics, and markets in the economy. Markets and democracy are the two things that have made the United States into the most successful country in history, attracting the world's strivers, giving most readers of this book a good life, and creating a model for people all over the world. In politics and economics, competition – bounded by rule of law and morality – brings excellence."

Brooks uses examples including debates on gun safety, abortion and capitalism. He advises breaking out of "confirmation bias" silos and taking a leave of absence from social media. He also asks everyone to swear off anonymous behavior on the internet. And he calls for "harmonious cooperation" over contemptuous competition.
During the prospective CNO's testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gilday said:

"Both Sailors and Navy Civilians remain our competitive advantage. We owe them principled leadership, transparent and accountable processes, and efficient resources to do their jobs effectively ... I am truly honored to be part of the greatest navy in the world and, if confirmed, I will work closely with this committee and this Congress as we prepare to meet the challenges ahead."

The United States Senate unanimously (and harmoniously) confirmed Gilday's promotion to his fourth star and appointment as Chief of Naval Operations.