General Stanley McChrystal: Choices That Define a Life

Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

“When I die, how will I be measured?”

For Stanley McChrystal, the answer could be obvious. As a retired four-star general, McChrystal might be measured by his stars (four), commands held, wars fought, or awards and medals received (numerous).

But when McChrystal looked back on his life and his current status, he focused on the importance of character, a topic he explores in his new book aptly titled On Character: Choices that Define a Life. Character is, he says, the key to living with purpose and integrity. He says character isn’t something you are born with, nor do you automatically accrue it through education, position, or experience. Instead, he says it is the result of a succession of choices, sometimes mundane ones, sometimes hugely important ones, that together reveal our capacity for virtue.

At a time when virtue and character are sometimes hard to identify in leaders, come hear McChrystal in his return to Commonwealth Club World Affairs for a rallying cry to become our best selves—as individual people and as Americans.

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