a company officer back then. I was attracted to them
because of that connection. They’re terrific; they were
terrific young midshipmen. I had an opportunity later
on as a naval officer to cross their paths and to stay in
touch. I found them with great potential; both of them
did exceptionally well. The fact that they both happened to be African American was in some ways coincidental—not that I didn’t realize how important it was,
but I didn’t really think about it in terms of it being
cross-cultural.
VISCONTI Making the connection between the racial
strife that was in the Navy and your experiences, did
you see [cross-cultural mentoring] as a need?
ADM. MULLEN At that time, in the ’60s and ’70s, I certainly did. But in the ’80s and ’90s, when I was in a more
senior position, I didn’t. I wasn’t directly tying it to what
I had thought when I was younger. I just found it to
be, from a leadership standpoint and as a leader, a very
important part of what I did. In terms of professional development, advice, mentoring, what I learned and
what I thought their potential was, it didn’t make any
difference where they were from or what their ethnicity
was. They were good, young people with a future, and I
really tried to help them along as much as I could.
UNDERSTANDING THE TROOPS
VISCONTI Let me make one more connection: I’ve
been in a room where we were talking about diversity, and senior executives, polled with a handheld device,
were asked “How many people who are not like you
have you mentored?” A large percentage of people who
were senior executives had never mentored somebody
who didn’t look just like them. It is a natural thing to
do, to select people who look like us. That’s just human
nature. Something about you, the way you lead, is different. It compelled you to be equitable in the distribution
of the people that you mentored—not that you singled
out Black people but that you were equitable.
ADM. MULLEN I grew up on the deck plate. I grew up
in the bowels of a ship. I grew up with the troops. As a
leader, I needed to understand what made them tick,
and I tried to carry that with me through to this day.
The separation that I now have is much more significant, just in terms of seniority, but the issue and the
understanding is just as vital now as it was then.
I was very comfortable where they worked. I was
very comfortable where they played when we were
on liberty around the world. I was very comfortable in
terms of understanding what motivated them. A lot of
this for me came through sports. I mean, I played with a
lot of them, a diverse group of young people, when I was
in the Navy more so than when I grew up in Southern
Admiral Michael Mullen
Retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Navy
EDUCATION
• Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968;
was recruited on a basketball scholarship
• Graduate of the Advanced Management Program at
the Harvard Business School
• Obtained a master’s degree from the Naval
Postgraduate School
JOB EXPERIENCE
• Was the principal military adviser to the president,
the secretary of defense, the National Security
• Most recently served as the 28th Chief of Naval
Operations
• Last operational assignment was commander,
NATO Joint Force Command Naples, and com-
mander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe
• Was previously the 32nd Vice Chief of Naval
Operations (Aug. 2003 to Oct. 2004)
• Commanded three ships: the gasoline tanker USS
Noxubee (AOG 56), the guided missile destroyer
USS Goldsborough (DDG 20) and the guided missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG 48)
• Was flag officer in command of Cruiser-Destroyer
Group 2, the George Washington Battle Group and
the U.S. 2nd Fleet/NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic
PERSONAL
• Oldest of five children
• Lives in a 19th-century home on a small naval com-
pound near the State Department
• Married to Deborah, has two sons (both in the Navy)
