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Leadership is a hell of an interesting topic.

Oh my goodness, yes.

A lot of books have been written about it, and seminars given in classes taught and stuff like that.

I don't know how well anybody's ever done it, really nailing it down.

General Stanley McChrystal was described by Robert Gates, a fellow for whom we have a lot of respect around here.

As perhaps the finest warrior and leader of men in combat I have ever met.

His credentials in the United States military are impeccable.

He has led quite an interesting life of leadership, and his new book is Leaders Myth and Reality.

General McChrystal joins us now. How are you, sir?

I'm great. Thanks for having me.

Oh, it's our pleasure. You know, just another book on leadership didn't really hold any interest for me.

But then I started flipping through yours. I looked at the table of contents, looked at all the different styles of leadership and the leader throughout history you took a look at. Now I can't wait.

Well, you're kind. We really didn't want to write another book on leadership until we realized we don't think we understood leadership.

And so we took this one on it.

Well, listen, let's talk a little bit about your day job, or at least your old day job, commanding troops being a general.

You know, both Jack and I are from military families. We do a lot of work for military charities.

And so we're fairly familiar with the culture, as much as civilians can be.

It's been said to me many times that the higher you rise in the military, the higher rank, the less you're a soldier and the more you're a politician.

Was that a challenge for you?

It is a challenge for everybody, I think, because your ethos is that of a soldier. That's what you want to be. That's where you identify.

And when you find yourselves in the halls of politics, it's complicated. Sometimes it's a little bit distasteful. I guess it's necessary business, but it's not something that fits comfortably.

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