Rocky Board Member Nathaniel Fick '99 Leads RLF Session

Nate Fick '99, the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), spoke with Rockefeller Leadership Fellows (RLF) on October 14th about decision making and leadership both as it relates to his experience in the military and as it applied to their lives as students. 

He began by explaining the difference between formal and informal authority, and why that difference is so critical for leaders to understand.  After tracing for fellows his path from the military to graduate school and finally to a Washington D.C. think tank he opened up the discussion for questions.  Fellows had questions on everything from current events and defense issues to how his time at Dartmouth shaped the person he is today. 

Fick stressed the value of understanding the substance of one's field as opposed to only the managerial side.  In addition, he encouraged the Fellows to make sure to bring the right people into organizations they may one day lead.  The session concluded with a decision making exercise in which Fellows had to solve a real life situation from his service in Iraq.

Nate Fick is a member of the Rockefeller Center Board of Visitors.

-- Karen Doster '11