“The Critical Element For Success Is Great Strategic Leadership” Featuring General David Petraeus, KKR (US Army Ret.)

It was our honor today to welcome General David Petraeus (US Army Retired), Partner at KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute. General Petraeus’ distinguished military career spans over 37 years of service, marked by six consecutive commands as a general officer including leadership of the US-led coalitions in both Iraq during the surge and Afghanistan. Following his military service, General Petraeus served as Director of the CIA during a period of significant achievements in the global war on terror before joining KKR in 2013.

In addition to his roles at KKR, General Petraeus serves as a board member, strategic advisor, and lecturer. He has earned numerous honors, awards, and decorations for his outstanding service to our country. General Petraeus has also recently co-authored a new book with British historian Andrew Roberts entitled “Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.” We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to visit with General Petraeus about the book, which is set to be officially published on October 17th. Our team read advanced copies and found it to be thoroughly insightful.

As you will hear in today’s episode, we covered a broad range of topics. General Petraeus first shares the inspiration behind his book and the critical role of strategic leadership in both military and business contexts. As the title suggests, “Conflict” explores the evolution of conflict and General Petraeus draws on his own experiences including his studies of Vietnam and his direct involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. As you will hear, General Petraeus refers to a strategic leadership model developed for the Belfer Center at Harvard, which can be found linked here. We touch on the changes the Army made following Vietnam and the lessons learned there, the importance of leadership during key inflection points whether it’s in the oil patch or in combat, and how to create a culture that offers what General Petraeus refers to as “reasonable feedback.” We also discuss KKR’s investing strategies as well as the General’s experience stepping out of the normal military path to attend graduate school and the insights he was able to apply back in the military. The General walks us through geopolitical dynamics with Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, and the US, how modern technology has transformed elements of the battlefield, and the outlook for the US military today. We greatly appreciated General Petraeus’ thoughtful responses and are immensely grateful to him for sharing his time with us and for his service to our country.

Mike Bradley kicked us off by highlighting that 10-year bond yields have surged to 4.8% (a 16-year high) due to worries that the FOMC will be holding interest rates higher and for longer. He flagged WTI crude oil price seems to have temporarily settled in at roughly $90/bbl., and that traders will be closely monitoring the October 4th OPEC meeting and Cushing oil inventory levels. He wrapped by noting two seminal events that occurred early last week that could have a huge and lasting impact on global energy transition goals, including NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) stock price plunge and the IEA’s updated Net Zero Roadmap report. Arjun Murti built on Mike’s comments on recent corrections in the new energy sector by flagging the risk associated with organizations like GFANZ pushing financial institutions, capital markets, and insurance companies to make decisions based on emissions metrics, potentially leading to unfavorable loans and policies in the new energy sector and insufficient investment in traditional energy.

We hope you all enjoy the discussion as much as we did and consider adding “Conflict” to your reading list. Our best to you all!