Leadership and the Sponge

Admiral Patrick M. Walsh is the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He is one of the youngest commanders of the U.S. Fleet in history. Admiral Walsh is a Dallas native and graduate of Jesuit College Preparatory School in north Dallas. Graduating in 1973, he excelled as a student leader, academic honors student, and athlete – clearly representing Jesuit’s theme, “Men for Others.”

The Pacific Fleet’s area of responsibility encompasses about half the Earth’s surface, stretching from the waters off the West Coast of the U.S. to the western border of India and from Antarctica to the North Pole. There are few regions as culturally, socially, economically, and geopolitically diverse as the Asian-Pacific. The 36 nations that comprise the Asia-Pacific region are home to more than 50 percent of the world’s population, 3,000 different languages, several of the world’s largest militaries and five allies with the U.S through mutual defense. Walsh is in command of five aircraft carrier strike groups, 180 ships, 1,500 aircraft, and more than 100,000 sailors, Marines, and civilians.

Admiral Walsh is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He attended graduate studies in the International Relations curriculum at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, as part of the Admiral Arthur S. Moreau Scholarship Program. Walsh graduated first in his class and received a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy, entered the Doctorate Program with distinction and subsequently received a Ph.D. He is representative of the new breed of high ranking military leaders – like U.S. Central Commander, General David Petraeus, who is a graduate of the United States Military Academy with a master’s degree in public administration from Princeton University and a doctorate in international relations from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton.

Walsh is a naval aviator with the handle “Sponge.’ It was given to him early in his career by fellow officers because he absorbs all the extra jobs that no one wanted. The idea of “absorbing” is critical in the context of leadership. Leaders, like Walsh, must absorb a huge amount of information and insight with the goal of looking deep, focusing on the things that move and change. As Larry Page, co-founder of Google, has pointed out, “If you look at people who have high impact, they have pretty general knowledge. They don’t have a narrowly focused education.” Leaders that can absorb ideas in a holistic manner and across traditional boundaries and barriers. They have both horizontal and vertical thinking and absorption skill sets. Their absorption skills allow for thinking outside the conventional mode that results in a cognitive reframing of what is possible. Leaders like Walsh and Petraeus understand that the quality of any outcome depends on the quality of your strategic thinking. Absorptive leaders realize, “I use all the brains that I have, and all that I can borrow.” Absorptive leaders have an ability to get into listen-only mode - - where listening is about learning. Where absorptive listening never allows asking the usual questions. Both Walsh and Petraeus face an environment and world that is only revealed in quick glances – no sooner known and explained, the event has changed – the known way becomes an impasse. This results in a constant struggle for absorbing. The absorptive and strategic leader must consider all the options – not just the obvious ones – and to retain these in his or her mind. Absorptive leaders have a wide-ranging curiosity and willingness to embrace change combined with an intuitive ability to see and absorb a problem or issue in a larger context and a willingness to rejigger their organizations continually to grapple with ever shifting challenges and circumstances.