Secretary of the U.S. Navy speaks about leadership

After a whirlwind tour that took him around the world in eight days, the Secretary of the U.S. Navy found himself in Chapel Hill Thursday.

Secretary Ray Mabus, who was appointed to his current position by President Obama in 2009, told an audience of more than 150 students, alumni and Navy midshipmen to be confident leaders. And he was only hours off the plane.

“Yes, I’m tired,” Mabus said with a laugh.

But he added that he had not — after the trip or even after a lifelong career — lost his commitment to public service.

Before his current position, Mabus worked as a naval officer, governor of Mississippi and ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

In the speech, held in the Paul Green Theatre, Mabus spoke about his own experiences in various public service positions.

“Leadership takes a lot of work,” he said.

“You have to do your homework so you know what it is that’s really important — you have to understand how to help your team to achieve the goals that have been set and to motivate the people to do it.”

Mabus shared with the audience several lessons he has learned throughout his career, including not working on too many things at once.

“Bold steps are in our nature as Americans,” he said. “Big dreams are what continue to make us a great nation. True greatness cannot be reached, and real change cannot be achieved by being timid.”

The speech was part of the Deil S. Wright lecture series, a yearly event put on by the Master of Public Administration program in the School of Government that is designed to bring prominent public service leaders to UNC.

Mabus is one of the most noteworthy people who has ever spoken in the series, said William Rivenbark, director of the Master of Public Administration program.

“We want individuals that have had major leadership positions at a local, state or national level, where they have actually had impact on their respective communities,” he said, adding that Mabus exceeds those qualifications.

As secretary, Mabus is responsible for a budget exceeding $150 billion and almost 900,000 people. In 2010, he was selected to prepare a long-term recovery plan for the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

He spoke about different ways the government needs to adapt to deal with new problems, especially those that relate to the overuse of oil and fossil fuels like the spill.

Students who attended the lecture said they liked that he spoke of necessary changes.

“Everything needs innovation,” said Christopher Kenrick, a second-year graduate student and one of many audience members from the MPA program.

“We have to change, and we have to adapt and work together to make that future possible.”

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