A Strategic Advantage
The end of WWII was a time of great opportunity for the United States. America had emerged as a global superpower as other countries grappled with their own post-war recovery.
For General George Olmsted, who oversaw the Allied supply chain throughout Southeast Asia during the war, a key lesson came from watching Mao Zedong negotiate with Allied leaders. Although appalled by the Chinese leader’s worldview, General Olmsted realized that Mao’s fluency in English and command of foreign cultural norms clearly gave him a strategic advantage over his counterparts.
Repeatedly during his international business dealings after the war, General Olmsted continued to witness the success of leaders with foreign language skills and an understanding of cultural nuances. This stoked his inspiration to create the Olmsted Foundation and the Olmsted Scholar Program, a program he hoped would be key to America’s future global influence.
The Olmsted Scholar Program’s impact on the leadership skills of US military officers has been called “the most valuable training an officer could choose” and “the opportunity of a lifetime.” Olmsted Scholars are already strong leaders and officers. They graduate near the top of their class and achieve mastery within their military career fields. They demonstrate outstanding leadership qualities that separate them from their peers. For them, the Olmsted Experience is a new challenge, a higher peak to summit.
But unlike almost every challenge they’ve previously faced, Scholars begin their Olmsted Experience at the bottom. They must rebuild themselves from the ground up by learning a new language and overcoming even the simplest challenges of daily life in a foreign culture. This process has humbled even the most decorated Scholars and proves to be an enormously beneficial learning and leadership experience.
As Scholars rise to this challenge, their struggles fade. They begin to see the world through a wider lens and develop the knowledge and resilience to assume positions of great responsibility in the Armed Forces, advancing US interests both at home and abroad.
After their two years overseas, Scholars resume positions of leadership in the military with a higher degree of confidence, a broader perspective, and a wider range of leadership skills. They anticipate differences and friction points others don’t see. They identify unexpected solutions and unearth opportunities to help overcome the most difficult and complex leadership challenges. Their already solid judgement skills are further refined by the broadening experience, amplifying their ability to make the right decisions at the right time—a hallmark of all great leaders.
As Scholars continue to advance in their military careers, the power of the Olmsted Experience grows stronger. Faced with more strategic, complex and urgent problems, Scholars become more confident decision makers.
To see some of the successes achieved by our Scholars, please take a look at the featured Scholars on the following pages.