Thursday morning I checked in for the 2026 version of MCLC.  I greeted the Cadets working to welcome the international students.  We bring the international students in a day before the conference starts to help them get acclimated to the time change.  The Student Fellows checked in throughout the morning.  They were divided into small groups, with a Cadet in charge of each group.  They had lunch in the Thayer Hotel.  Then their Cadet fellows took them on a tour of the Visitors Center.  From there, they went to Eisenhower Hall for some team building activity.  Then they walked to the Cadet Mess Hall for dinner and the West Point Founders Day Dinner.

The Mission of The McDonald Conference for Leaders of Character

The mission of the McDonald Conference for Leaders of Character (MCLC) is to bring together a diverse group of the top undergraduate student leaders from across the globe with world-class senior leaders who act as mentors in a team-based experiential event that bolsters leadership skills, fosters critical thinking and collaboration, and develops potential strategies for addressing pressing global issues.  MCLC began in 2012.  So far, we have touched over 900 student and senior leaders.  The theme for this year’s conference was Innovation with Integrity:  Values-Based Leadership for Multidimensional Challenges.

Meeting the Cadets and Student Fellows

I spent some time at the conference check-in desk in the hotel.  I met the Cadets and officers supporting the conference as well as the Student Fellows who arrived.  After 1:30 p.m. one of the Cadets in Charge of the Conference, Grace Macune, took me to Washington Hall and the Modern Warfare Institute, where I was interviewed by Colonel (Retired) Dr. Charlie Faint.  Our discussion will become a podcast of the Key Leader Engagement (KLE) program.  Charlie and I talked about leadership lessons for more than an hour.  Grace and I then went back to the Thayer Hotel, where I met with Major Collum Magee, Officer-in-Charge of the Conference.  While I was on my way back from Washington Hall, it started to snow.  We were concerned it could affect the ability of our Student and Senior Fellows to get to West Point.  Everything seemed to be on schedule.

Dinner with Senior Fellows

We gathered for dinner about 6:45 p.m. in the MacArthur Restaurant of the Thayer Hotel.  We had a great gathering of Senior Fellows:  Othman Benjelloun-Touimi (CEO of St. Coubain), Brigadier General (Retired) Dr. Dana Born (former Dean of the Air Force Academy and Co-Director of Harvard Kennedy School), Dr. Sam Chandan (NYU Stern School of Business), Charley Cooper (former Deputy Secretary of Defense), Chris Gallant (CEO of Zico Cocoanut Water), Jason Garrett (NBC Sports Broadcaster, former NFL Coach, Super Bowl Champion), Praveen Jagwani (CEO UTI International), Maiej Laska (former Student Fellow 2012, Managing Director of Defense and Security in Poland), Holly Ridings (NASA Director of Exploration), and Kathy Widmer (retired Group Chairman of Johnson & Johnson).  We had a wonderful dinner together.  

I joined the other Senior Fellows on the bus to Eisenhower Hall.  The Student Fellows rode separately.  We started with breakfast in Crest Hall.  Crest Hall is a large open space in Ike Hall, which is surrounded by the Class Crests of the recent dozen or so classes.  We had a delicious breakfast.  Colonel Kate Conkey, Academy Professor, opened the session by briefly covering the West Point Leader Development System, how West Point creates leaders of character over their 47-months at the Academy.  Kate also talked a leadership concept called SALT:  Self-awareness, Appreciation of others, Let go of ego (humility), and Teachability.

The Global Reach of MCLC

I followed Kate, talked about the creation of MCLC, the vision and mission of MCLC, and used the example of Daria, a member of our MCLC 2016, who I encountered in Kyiv in 2019 doing great public service work for Ukraine.  The point was that MCLC alumni were already having a global impact.  I then called out Maciej, who was a Student Fellow from Poland in 2012, and was back as a Senior Fellow and the CEO of Palantir in Poland.

Joining the West Point Band

We then went to the stage of Eisenhower Hall where we joined the West Point Band.  We put the Student and Senior Fellows in seats integrated in the band, and went through our Core of the Corps exercise.  Through the exercise we teach the role of inspiration, organization, and leadership.  This is always a highlight of MCLC.  It is a unique experience which shows the importance of excellent virtuoso performance but also the need to integrate into one melody.

We walked over to the steps of Washington Hall, where we watched the Third Regiment form for lunch.  We went into the Cadet Mess Hall and had lunch in a private part of the Mess Hall.  We were announced from the poop deck, and the Corps of Cadets gave us a good applause of appreciation.  We then walked over to Jefferson Library, and went to the Haig Room on the sixth floor.  Dr. Leslie Fenwick, Dean Emerita of Howard, and Dr. Pat Swygert, President Emeritus of SUNY and Howard, spoke.  They have come to the last ten years of MCLC.  Leslie and Pat talked about their experience and learnings at MCLC.

MCLC Panels and Breakout Sessions

We then held our first panel “Innovation with Integrity:  Values-Based Leadership for Multidimensional Challenges.”  The panel included Brigadier General (Retired) Dr. Dana Born, Coach Jason Garrett, and NASA Flight Director Holly Ridings.  The panel moderator was Dr. Elizabeth Altman, Professor at the University of Massachusetts School of Business.  After the panel we broke out into small groups, I moderated one, to discuss insights we gained from the discussion.

The Student Fellows then took a break, and the Senior Fellows went to Taylor Hall, where we met with Dean Brigadier General Shane Reeves.  He showed the Senior Fellows around the Thayer Room, the Academic Boardroom, and he hosted a reception for us in his conference room.  The Senior Fellows enjoyed engaging with Shane.

We then walked back to the Haig Room, where we had dinner.  After dinner Senior Fellow James (Jim) Keyes spoke.  Jim is the former CEO of 7-11 and Blockbuster.  He is also a member of Horatio Alger.  Jim gave an inspiring talk about his leadership philosophy and how he developed it.

Saturday morning, I joined the Senior Fellows and Student Fellows in the lobby.  We boarded the buses about 8:15 a.m. for the ride to the Jefferson Library and the Haig Room.  We sat again in our small groups.  I was responsible for the first group.  We started with breakfast.  In my group were Alexandra Carroll of Seton Hall University, Simen Birkelund of the Norwegian Military Academy, Asher Gonzalez of Syracuse University, Julia Nadoski of the College of the Holy Cross, Koki Nakazawa of the University of Tsukuba – Japan, and Conrad Wendell and Drishit Singh of the United States Military Academy.

Entrepreneurial Thinking for Teams

The first panel on Saturday morning was about Entrepreneurial Thinking for Teams.  The panel was comprised of Charley Cooper, COO of Ava Labs (a global blockchain firm behind the Avalanche ecosystem), Chris Gallant, CEO of ZICO Rising (maker of premium coconut water), and Maciej Laska, CEO of Palantir in Poland, Student Fellow of 2012.  The panel was moderated by Captain (Promotable) Krystal Onyema.  The questioning and discussion were around how does a leader balance entrepreneurial risk-taking with the trust and accountability needs?

In our small breakout groups after the panel we discussed what leader behaviors enable entrepreneurial thinking in teams, how can leaders distinguish between productive risk-taking and undisciplined behavior, and how should teams balance speed, learning, and ethical responsibility in uncertain environments?  We then broke for lunch in the Haig room.

Decision Making in a Complex World

The second panel Saturday, in the afternoon, was about Decision Making in a Complex World.  It was comprised of Othman Benjelloun-Touimi, CEO of Saint-Gabain (maker of advanced materials), Dr. Sam Chandan, founding director of the Chen Institute for Global Real Estate at NYU’s Stern School of Business, and Kathleen Widmer, West Point Class of 1983, and retired Group Chairman of Johnson & Johnson.  The moderator was Lieutenant Colonel Steve Fennessy, West Point Class of 2007, and Professor of Military Science at Northeastern University, Boston College, and eight other Boston-area universities.  Steve was the Officer-in-Charge of MCLC for 2024 and 2025.

The questions we wrestled with in our small groups were how leaders make responsible decisions under uncertainty, ambiguity, and time pressure; how humility and purpose mitigate cognitive bias, overconfidence, and ethical blind spots; and how leaders design decision-making processes and cultures that improve judgment over time.

I spent some time talking to Cadet Ethan Hawryshuk, whose family attends Horizon Community Church in Cincinnati.  I also spent time with Parth Karande, who joined us from Purdue University.  I called Diane.  She was still in the hospital with Mimi.  Diane was concerned Mimi was not getting the care she needed.

West Point Club Reception and Keynote Address by Dr. Dave Chokshi

We then went to the West Point Club for a reception, dinner, and keynote address by Dr. Dave Chokshi, Physician at Bellevue Hospital, Professor at CUNY, and former Health Commissioner of NYC.  Dave was the health commissioner during Covid.  He gave an inspirational talk of service.

MCLC Closing Remarks

Sunday morning, I joined the Sunday morning breakfast, conference integration, and closing remarks in the Thayer Hotel.  We again had the Cadet Gospel Choir perform.  They were inspiring as usual.  Holly Ridings of NASA then spoke to close out the session.  She talked of how she saw the Challenger blow up when she was a youth and that inspired her to work for NASA.  She was the first female Flight Director, and is now working to launch Artemis (whose launch window opens April 1) which will circle the moon.  She did an outstanding job of summarizing the key learnings of the conference.  I then spoke and used my story of Don Quixote to make the points:  1) don’t ever stop jousting windmills, 2) who’s mad, the person who sees the world the way that it is, or the person who sees the world the way it should be, and 3) treat others with kindness and respect just like Don Quixote treated a barmaid Aldonza like a princess Dulcinea and changed her life forever. 

We then gave out thank you gifts to the all of those who contributed to the conference.