Admiral Michelle J. Howard (Retired)

When asked if she “adjusts globally” when she is in countries where the status of women is different, Michelle Howard replied, “No. People adjust to me. I’m an Admiral.” Born when female participation in the military was legally capped and women were not allowed to become generals or admirals or to attend service academies, Admiral Howard shattered every glass ceiling. Among the first women graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy, she was the first woman Annapolis grad to reach the rank of admiral, the first African-American woman to command a ship, the first African-American woman in any of the military services to reach three stars, and the first four-star female admiral in the Navy. Famous for her leadership of the task force that rescued Captain Phillips from Somali pirates, she went on to become vice-chief of naval operations. As the second-highest ranking officer in the Navy, Howard had oversight of more than approximately 600,000 active/reserves uniformed, and civilian personnel. In this inspiring presentation, she shares valuable lessons learned as a woman in an overwhelmingly male world. Known for her empowering leadership style, Admiral Howard lends actionable insights on defining your mission, leading by example, creating innovative teams, embracing cyber technology, keeping people committed, fostering creative problem solving and developing the next generation of leaders.

Admiral Howard was only a few days into her new role as head of a counter-piracy task force in the Arabian Sea when a U.S. ship was hijacked and its captain taken hostage by Somali pirates. The successful rescue, chronicled in the movie Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks, wasn’t the result of technology, weapons, or military might. According to Admiral Howard, diversity was the “secret weapon” that won the day. Facing a scenario unlike any the Navy had trained for, Admiral Howard assembled two highly diverse teams and gave them 40 minutes to formulate a plan. “When you have a diverse team, you get different perspectives that help you to succeed,” says Howard. “It’s about having a team that has lots of ideas and grabbing the best one – that’s what diversity brings you.” In this illuminating talk, Howard makes the case that diversity—both inherited and acquired — is essential to innovation. She shares examples from teams that she has led and those that she has admired, including the original Star Trek crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

As vice chief of naval operations, Admiral Howard placed a special focus on cyber culture and information security in the digital age. Now, as a visiting professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, she teaches a course on cyber and policy. In this essential briefing, Admiral Howard provides an overview of the cyber domain’s impact on international relationships and the development of security policies.  Detailing modern cyber events that generated diplomatic, informational, military, and economic reactions by governments, international organizations, and alliances, she addresses the strategic challenges and opportunities with partners, allies, and adversaries in the “wild west” of the cyber domain. Predicting that all threats that now exist in the physical domain will one day also exist in the cyber domain, she challenges our thinking with various alternative futures.