“Know Thyself”.  

This quote, etched by the ancient Greeks at the temple of Delphi, has special importance for me as a Greek-American.  After over four decades serving my country in a plethora of positions—a Navy sailor, an Admiral, the Commander of U.S. forces in Europe and the Western Hemisphere, the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, the Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and now advisor at the Carlyle Group, I am still on the journey to know myself.  And I know I am not alone.

Throughout my career, I have mentored thousands of young leaders around the world.  I see so much of my young self in them—the deep ambition, constantly trying to impress the people around them, striving to get the next great report, the next grade, the next promotion.  But we often don’t have time to really reflect and get to “know ourselves”. 

Part of this is a byproduct of this postmodern world, forcing us to move at breakneck speed up the promotion ladder or to the next assignment without time to truly think about our experiences and glean the lessons from them that will inspire us and others throughout our lives.  It also speeds up our communication.  Take reading for example: people used to read multivolume works; many now balk at reading a single long book. Ten to twenty-minute videos must be shrunk to three to four minutes to maximize “engagement” on social media.  With so much vying for their attention, when do today’s young leaders have time to stop and reflect on their experiences? 

As I have written in the preface of my own book Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character, I fear that we overshare publicly and under-reflect privately on what our individual voyages mean. I’m writing this foreword while our world is in the midst of a global pandemic which has forced billions around the globe to stay at home.  It has required all of us to slow down and reevaluate what is most important in our lives and how we can use this experience to propel us forward.

Minutes of Magic is a compilation of the very best narratives of about 80 students from 16 countries and 12 schools.  They did slow down, dug deep within themselves, forged and crafted the best stories from their lives, and mustered up the courage to share those stories to hundreds and—after this book is published—possibly millions.  Many of them have gone on to become international leaders in business, government, the military, and the private and non-profit sectors. All of them have become more effective and authentic communicators because of what they learned from Mihir Mankad, one of the best educators that I have met in my career.

During my tenure as dean of the Fletcher School, I had the chance to get to know Mihir personally. He joined our institution at almost the same time I did, right after receiving his MPA from Harvard Kennedy School as a Presidential Scholar, and after a diverse career spanning television anchoring and leadership across sectors. After observing him and his work closely over five years, I believe that he is a thoughtful, patient and kind teacher, a passionate practitioner of his craft, and aa true global expert who has risen to the top of this field.  His promotion from Lecturer to Professor of Practice is also a testament to that, and his personal curation of this list is a gift to the field.

In his Arts of Communication courses, Mihir created a comfortable and invigorating learning environment for our students, carefully planning classroom speaking assignments on an array of relevant communication topics, including but not limited to problem-solution speeches, debates, argument framing, value speeches, and video projects. Soon the students were eager to have more public speaking opportunities, and in response Mihir organized unique speaking forums. These events, called “Faces of Community”, filled up our auditorium with young leaders from Harvard, MIT, Tufts, and others. The burst of laughter at a well-timed joke, the silent tears during a heartfelt moment, the standing ovation after every speech—you need to be there to truly experience it.

The ability to communicate to a diverse, cross-cultural audience is a necessary skill for the future leaders of international affairs.  But more than that, being able to communicate your own personal story with your team, sharing important lessons, inspiration, and vision, is crucial.  I have had to learn this over decades. I often say that the Navy taught me how to launch a missile, but the Fletcher School taught me how to launch an idea.  I have honed that skill after thousands of speeches in front of audiences, TED talks, and TV interviews.  In his course, Mihir provided his students with the launching pad, giving them the tools, fuel and voices to assemble their ideas and launch them out to the public. 

Minutes of Magic is symphony of those voices, curated from thousands. In it you will find impactful stories like Basma Alloush, a Syrian refugee who found her voice after arriving in the United States; or Arslan Muradi, an Afghan who never stopped fighting for his family, even after the Taliban killed his father.  You’ll read the tales of Camilo Caballero, who gained the courage to stand up to Colombian drug cartels, or Rachel Baer, who experienced grief after the loss of her brother, and the grit to carry on. But you’ll also hear a variety of other life stories, from the magic of music, to the joy of exercise, to the reasons why faith makes you smile. 

As the reader, you will react to each story differently. Some will make you laugh. Some will make you cry. Some will impact you instantly, while some will float back into your mind months or years later. But one thing is certain: by the time you put down this book, you will come away challenged, inspired, made more whole. And further along in your journey to know thyself. Perhaps you’ll even want to go through the same process these students have go through, searching your soul, bringing out the stories that make you who you are, and crafting them into four minutes of magic that will win hearts and minds long after you leave the stage. 

Napoleon once said that a “leader is a dealer in hope”. May these stories give you hope, especially during uncertain times.