The Three Leadership Principles That Will Determine America’s Future

by Rear Admiral Paul Becker*, U.S. Navy, Retired

*This article is adapted from the admiral’s address to the graduating class of 2026 at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. where he received an honorary doctorate

America’s future national security leaders face a world defined by great-power competition, accelerating technology, and adversaries determined to test whether the United States still has the confidence and discipline to lead. In that environment, technical expertise alone is not enough. The leaders who succeed will be those who master the human dimensions of leadership: teamwork, tone, and tenacity.

I stand before you today not as a theorist, but as a practitioner. I am a retired rear admiral who spent my entire adult life in naval intelligence—leading teams in peace, crisis, and combat, from the opening days of Operation Enduring Freedom, to Iraqi Freedom, to commanding the largest joint intelligence center in the Department of War at U.S. Central Command, to serving as director of intelligence for U.S. Pacific Command, for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and finally as the principal intelligence and cyber advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“Every generation inherits a legacy secured by the sacrifice of those who came before. The responsibility now falls to today’s leaders to preserve and strengthen that inheritance for the future.”

For all those roles and deployments, the most important lessons I learned can be boiled down to three words that now carry my name: teamwork, tone, tenacity—or as we call it, T3. In every high-stakes environment I ever walked into, those three principles turned good teams into extraordinary ones. Those three principles matter as much in diplomacy and intelligence as they do in combat.

Teamwork is not a slogan; it is the deliberate creation of unbreakable trust and loyalty across differences of service, rank, nationality, and background. In 2009–2010 I commanded a 300-person multinational intelligence team operating across 37 countries in support of operations in Afghanistan. We had Americans, Brits, Aussies, Canadians, French, Germans—you name it. The only way we succeeded was by forging loyalty so deep that people would stay up all night, rewrite a target package for the third time, and still volunteer for the next shift.

That kind of trust doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when leaders invest in every member of the team, share credit, own failure, and remember that the person who empties the trash at 0200 might be the one who spots the pattern that saves lives.

America’s national security challenges cannot be solved by any single institution acting alone. Intelligence must be fused with diplomacy, economic strategy, public diplomacy, and moral leadership. That is teamwork at the strategic level.

Tone is the second multiplier. In crisis and combat, tone is a performance accelerator. When I was the senior battle-cabin intelligence officer aboard the carrier during the opening air campaign over Afghanistan, the ops tempo was relentless. Missiles were flying, pilots were launching around the clock, and the pressure was crushing. The easiest thing in the world would have been to let fatigue turn the tone negative.

Instead, I made a conscious decision that every brief I gave would end with optimism and energy. Not fake cheer—realistic optimism backed by facts. That tone became contagious. It kept the watch floor sharp. It kept the aviators focused. And it reminded everyone that even in the darkest hours, we were part of something larger.

You will face the same choice in your careers. The classified cable traffic will be grim. The budget battles will be brutal. The headlines will be worse. Your tone—your energy, your enthusiasm, your refusal to let cynicism win—will either drain the room or electrify it. Choose to electrify it.

“America needs leaders who can build teams others want to join, set a tone that lifts organizations instead of draining them, and sustain the tenacity to persevere through setbacks and uncertainty.”

Tenacity is the third leg. Tenacity is not blind stubbornness; it is perseverance with purpose. In 2013 I was diagnosed with stage IV bone marrow cancer. The doctors gave me months. I could have quit. Instead, I fought like the intelligence officer I was—gathering every piece of data, building the best medical team, and attacking the disease with the same relentless focus I once brought to counterterrorism targets. I beat it. I came back stronger.

You will need that same tenacity. The threats we face today—strategic competitors, rogue regimes, transnational terror, cyber adversaries—do not yield to half-measures. They require leaders who keep showing up, keep learning, keep adapting, and never lose sight of the ultimate goal: protecting the American people and the free world.

The same principles apply far beyond the military. Teamwork without ethics becomes factionalism. Tone without integrity becomes manipulation. Tenacity without wisdom becomes recklessness. Effective statecraft requires leaders who understand not only how to wield power, but how to align it with American principles and long-term national interests.

America needs leaders who can build teams others want to join, set a tone that lifts organizations instead of draining them, and sustain the tenacity to persevere through setbacks and uncertainty.

The world you are entering is more complex than the one I entered thirty-three years ago. Great-power competition is back. Technology is moving faster than policy. Adversaries are watching to see whether the next generation of American leaders still believes in the principles that made this country exceptional.

“Effective statecraft requires leaders who understand not only how to wield power, but how to align it with American principles and long-term national interests.”

The next generation of American leaders will determine whether the United States remains capable of defending freedom, deterring aggression, and sustaining the alliances that have preserved stability for decades. Success will depend not only on strategy and technology, but on character.

Every generation inherits a legacy secured by the sacrifice of those who came before. The responsibility now falls to today’s leaders to preserve and strengthen that inheritance for the future.

The world does not need more cynicism, division, or performative leadership. It needs men and women willing to stand out by practicing teamwork, tone, and tenacity in service to something larger than themselves.