General David Petraeus is a Partner with the global investment firm KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, which he established in May 2013. He is also a member of the boards of directors of Optiv and FirstStream, a venture investor in more than 15 startups, and engaged in a variety of academic endeavours.  

 Prior to joining KKR, General Petraeus served over 37 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career with six consecutive commands, five of which were in combat, including command of the 101st Airborne Division during the fight to Baghdad and the first year in Iraq, command of the Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq, command of coalition forces in Iraq during the Surge, command of U.S. Central Command, and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan.  

Following retirement from the military and after Senate confirmation by a vote of 94-0, he served as Director of the CIA during a period of significant achievements in the global war on terror, the establishment of important Agency digital initiatives, and significant investments in the Agency’s most important asset, its human capital.  

General Petraeus graduated with distinction from the U.S. Military Academy, and he is the only person in Army history to be the top graduate of both the demanding U.S. Army Ranger School and the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. For his full bio, check them out on my website. 

This really is a remarkable episode and we’ve not had a guest on the show who has shouldered the same weight of leadership responsibility as General Petraeus – during our conversation I asked him directly how he remained resilient and managed this level of responsibility.

Amongst this, we discussed strategy, leadership styles, and how to get things done in complex, fast-moving environments.

If You Enjoyed This Episode...

Listen to the most listened-to episode of all time (episode 120) of The Ben Morton Leadership podcast, in which Brigadier Nick Cowley talks about how to 'fire positivity into the chest of everyone you meet'.

Listen here.

Links Mentioned:

‘Grant Takes Command’ by Bruce Catton: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316132403 

Find out more about Ben’s work: https://linktr.ee/BMLeadership