NY Times: Outgoing Secretary of Defense Influenced by Father’s Years Running Abington Hospital’s Psychiatry Unit

The outgoing Secretary of Defense, Ashton B. Carter, learned from his father at an early age not to accept intolerance, writes Adam Bryant for The New York Times.

Growing up in Philadelphia with a mother who was a schoolteacher and a father who ran the Abington Hospital Psychiatry Unit, Carter had an interesting window into the world from a young age.

“He told enough stories about things that he had seen,” Carter said in an interview with The New York Times. “I certainly saw the darker and sadder side of human beings.”

However, this had a positive impact on young Carter who inherited a view of openness and acceptance for a great variety of people and their attitudes.

Interacting with leaders around the world has also led him to conclude that three of the most important qualities of effective leaders are order, discipline and personal conduct.

“As secretary of defense, our three million uniformed and civilian employees are looking at me,” he explained. “If they don’t see an example in my commitment to the mission and the way I conduct myself, it will be hard for them to follow me as a leader. “

Read the entire interview at The New York Times by clicking here.