Leadership Lessons From Rear Admiral Marc Purcell

I had the opportunity to go one on one with Rear Admiral Marc Purcell (U.S. Navy, Retired). RADM Purcell spent over thirty years as an officer in the Navy, and is currently an executive at Accenture and the Vice Chairman of Corporate America Supports You (CASY), a non-profit that has provided free job placement assistance to more than 100,000 military service members and veterans. Marc is also fellow USC Trojan alumni, having earned an MS in Systems Management during his military career and an MBA after retiring from the service. Here are some highlights from our conversation:

Adam: What is something about you that would surprise people?

Marc: I grew up in a home where both my mom and dad emphasized the importance of doing the right thing and acting honorably, and I watched them live their lives that way. They were also both life-long learners, with a broad “renaissance” approach to their reading and the experiences to which we were exposed. At a very young age I recall being taken along to the theater, to concerts, and museums, and I’m thankful for that gift of curiosity and learning they gave to me. My father was also a WWII veteran as well as both a high school and college coach. I learned many of life’s lessons about hard work, competition, and the rewards of being part of a team from him. There was also this TV show called “Men of Annapolis”, which influenced my career choice. This was a weekly, dramatized series about life at the Naval Academy. Of course, much later, I discovered it was highly romanticized and not very realistic, but at the time it sparked an interest in the Naval Academy that I never lost. By the time I was thinking about college, I knew I wanted to attend the Naval Academy and fly Navy fighters. I was fortunate that it all worked out as I had imagined, and the rest of my career followed from those early influences and choices.    

Adam: What are the biggest misconceptions people have about the military, the Navy and military leaders?

Marc: I think some of the military stereotypes that make for good entertainment have led many people to believe military leadership is about yelling and ordering people around. In my experience this is completely off the mark. I can probably count on one hand the number of times in a 30 plus year career that I was “ordered” to do anything. Usually, even as a very junior officer, I was given a task or objective and told to solve a problem or achieve an outcome. Within boundaries, it was up to me to figure out how to get it done. It’s been my experience from my time in both the military and commercial industry, that the amount of autonomy and decision-making authority given to junior military officers generally far out strips that of their peers in commercial industry. 

Adam: What failures, setbacks or challenges have been most impactful in developing your leadership skills?

Marc: There have been many and there’s little room here to discuss them all, but several were personally embarrassing enough that I still don’t like to dwell talk on them.  In one particular instance, I was so sure of myself that I overreached and didn’t properly account for all the variables of an operation I was conducting. When the event didn’t go as planned, I made mistakes that could have been prevented by better planning. The end result was professionally very embarrassing, but it could have ended disastrously. Fortunately, it didn’t, but it was very humbling, and I learned several important lessons. I became a more meticulous planner and always had 2 or 3 possible fallback options. But more importantly, I gained much greater compassion and understanding for those who later made mistakes when working for me. Mistakes will happen, but an individual’s intentions and their ability to learn from them are more important. Later, I found that the individuals who had made mistakes and learned from them were often wiser and more reliable leaders than some others who still hadn’t learned those hard lessons and felt themselves invincible.

Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Marc: Aspiring leaders can take several conscious actions to help prepare themselves for new leadership challenges, particularly those that come with increasing levels of responsibility and span of control.  

Don’t pass up an opportunity to view the world from their boss’ vantage point, to better understand what it takes to be successful (or not) at that next level. Seeing the world from your boss’ perspective as a member of their staff is helpful in maturing your leadership, which must also grow as your leadership span of control grows. Success at one level does not ensure success at the next higher level.   

I strongly recommend reading histories, biographies, and literature so you can improve your own understanding of decision making, crisis leadership, motivating people, and even raise your emotional intelligence. Thoughtful reading will increase your insight and wisdom.  

I think you also need to learn to be introspective and brutally honest with yourself. You need to understand what motivates you, what your own weaknesses are, and what “success” means for you personally. You need to master yourself before you can lead others successfully.

Adam: What are three leadership lessons from your time in the service that are applicable to a broad audience of leaders? 

Marc: Regardless of who’s on your team, it’s the leader’s responsibility to figure out what motivates them and to then bring them to the right level of performance for your organization. Ultimately, leadership is about winning hearts and minds.

I think people are basically the same wherever you go, and generally speaking they want similar things: To be appreciated and respected as part of the team, to be recognized when they do good work, to have a chance to succeed, and to be associated with a team/ organization that they can feel proud of.

It’s been my experience that you can fool your boss about who you really are, and many times you can fool your peers, but you can’t fool the people who work for you – they see who you really are and what you value because they’re watching you every day. Don’t try to be what you’re not or make promises you can’t live up to. 

Adam: ​What is the best advice you have on building, managing and leading teams?

Marc: First, find the best people you can and get them “on the bus” with you. Give your strongest people the hardest jobs. Ensure you set high standards and make everyone accountable for meeting them. Teach your team your objectives and goals so they understand the desired outcomes and can drive toward them, making decisions independently when needed. Trust them to do the work you’ve prepared them for, then step aside, while putting sufficient “guardrails” or check points in place to allow you to verify progress to the larger plan, allowing you sufficient time to intervene, if necessary, to prevent failure. Recognize and accept there are often multiple acceptable ways to solve a problem – it doesn’t have to be exactly the way you would have done it – it just needs to be good enough for the task at hand. Not everything is a critical operational issue. Don’t stifle their thinking and allow the team to succeed on it’s own. If there’s a failure, then you own it.  Take accountability. When there is success, give the credit to the team.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Marc: As I was going to my first job as an aviation squadron Commanding Officer, I received some simple advice from a mentor I respected: He told me, “When in command, command.” I nodded my head, not immediately sure what he meant, but still young and foolish enough to pretend that I did. After pondering his comment for several days, I realized what he was trying to tell me: Be willing to make decisions, take responsibility and embrace the accountability of leadership. He didn’t mean to avoid collaboration or input when the opportunity allows, he was emphasizing that a leader needs to ultimately make decisions, taking responsibility for them and accepting the consequences – good or bad. Don’t shy away from that responsibility and accountability; seek it out and embrace it – its fundamental to good leadership. If you are willing to accept that burden then you have an opportunity to create something and make a difference in an organization. Don’t squander that opportunity – it may not come to you again. I found this advice liberating and empowering then, and in every subsequent leadership opportunity I’ve had. 

For the full interview, visit https://thriveglobal.com/stories/lessons-in-leadership-one-on-one-with-rear-admiral-marc-purcell/