{
  "type": "book",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "title": "My Share of the Task",
  "slug": "my-share-of-the-task",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task.md",
  "author": {
    "name": "General Stanley McChrystal",
    "slug": "general-stanley-mcchrystal",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal"
  },
  "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/portfolio/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task_978-15-9184-682-6.jpg",
  "quotes_count": 6,
  "quotes": [
    {
      "id": "fbe2efc0-8725-4037-a1fa-a2a52fdce6dd",
      "slug": "as-visible-symbols",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task/as-visible-symbols",
      "text": "As visible symbols, soldiers often receive praise or condemnation, and both reactions feel curiously undeserved.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 13,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "war",
          "slug": "war",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal#My_Share_Of_The_Task_(2013)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:18"
    },
    {
      "id": "e96333a2-aeb0-4779-b29e-5efad5eda35e",
      "slug": "in-the-end",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task/in-the-end",
      "text": "In the end, leadership is a choice. Rank, authority, and even responsibility can be inherited or assigned, whether or not an individual desires or deserves them. Even the mantle of leadership occasionally falls to people who haven't sought it. But actually leading is different. A leader decides to accept responsibility for others in a way that assumes stewardship of their hopes, their dreams, and sometimes their very lives. It can be a crushing burden, but I found it an indescribable honor.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 394,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "responsibility",
          "slug": "responsibility",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/responsibility"
        },
        {
          "name": "leadership",
          "slug": "leadership",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal#My_Share_Of_The_Task_(2013)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:18"
    },
    {
      "id": "9792edf8-88a6-4b00-b686-26408f50cdd7",
      "slug": "people-are-born",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task/people-are-born",
      "text": "People are born; leaders are made. I was born the son of a leader with a clear path to a profession of leadership. But whatever leadership I later possessed, I learned from others. I grew up in a household of overt values, many of which hardened in me only as I matured. Although history fascinated me, and mentors surrounded me, the overall direction and key decisions of my life and career were rarely impacted by specific advice, or even a particularly relevant example I'd read or seen. I rarely wondered What would Nelson, Buford, Grant, or my father have done? But as I grew, I was increasingly aware of the guideposts and guardrails that leaders had set for me, often through their examples. The question became What kind of leader have I decided to be? Over time, decisions came easily against that standard, even when the consequences were grave.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 393,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "leadership",
          "slug": "leadership",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal#My_Share_Of_The_Task_(2013)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:18"
    },
    {
      "id": "81d60ab4-a93f-40a6-9f8f-697ded0c7a05",
      "slug": "all-leaders-are",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task/all-leaders-are",
      "text": "All leaders are human. They get tired, angry, and jealous and carry the same range of emotions and frailties common to mankind. Most leaders periodically display them. The leaders I most admired were totally human but constantly strove to be the best humans they could be. Leaders make mistakes, and they are often costly. The first reflex is normally to deny the failure to themselves; the second is to hide it from others, because most leaders covet a reputation for infallibility. But it's a fool's dream and inherently dishonest. There are few secrets to leadership. It is mostly just hard work. More than anything else it requires self-discipline. Colorful, charismatic characters often fascinate people, even soldiers. But over time, effectiveness is what counts. Those who lead most successfully do so while looking out for their followers' welfare.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 393,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "mistakes",
          "slug": "mistakes",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mistakes"
        },
        {
          "name": "leadership",
          "slug": "leadership",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal#My_Share_Of_The_Task_(2013)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:18"
    },
    {
      "id": "75c99831-3bd6-49aa-9d93-1fb289526f77",
      "slug": "leaders-are-not",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task/leaders-are-not",
      "text": "Leaders are not necessarily popular. For soldiers, the choice between popularity and effectiveness is ultimately no choice at all. Soldiers want to win; their survival depends on it. They will accept, and even take pride in, the quirks and shortcomings of a leader if they believe he can produce success.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 392,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "leadership",
          "slug": "leadership",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal#My_Share_Of_The_Task_(2013)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:18"
    },
    {
      "id": "4644250d-2b1e-4861-b2f4-ebbf5d77a4fa",
      "slug": "self-discipline-manifests-itself",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/general-stanley-mcchrystal/my-share-of-the-task/self-discipline-manifests-itself",
      "text": "Self-discipline manifests itself in countless ways. In a leader I see it as doing those things that should be done, even when they are unpleasant, inconvenient, or dangerous; and refraining from those that shouldn't, even when they are pleasant, easy, or safe. That discipline that causes a young lieutenant to check soldier's feet for blisters or trench foot, will also carry him across a bullet-swept street to support a squad under pressure.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 394,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "leadership",
          "slug": "leadership",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership"
        },
        {
          "name": "self-control",
          "slug": "self-control",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-control"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal#My_Share_Of_The_Task_(2013)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:18"
    }
  ]
}