When Elizabeth Yaggy introduced “my friend General Dempsey” during The Chairman’s retirement ceremony last week at Joint Base Myer-Henderson, it was a moment that in many ways defined Dempsey’s singular approach to leading. His relationship with ‘Lizzie’ grew from tragedy — she lost her father to a training accident in 2009 — and became a symbol of how one event can be a catalyst for positive, lasting change. The day Lizzie asked The Chairman, “Is my daddy an angel?” set a tradition in motion, one that literally brought song into the hearts of grieving children.

But Dempsey was more than a song and a big heart, much more. His legacy is one of change, from his time commanding U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) to a brief stint as Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) and four long years as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His fingerprints are evident across the entire Department of Defense, proof of his personal commitment to improving our forces while sparking initiatives that will endure well beyond his tenure.

I couldn’t begin to count the number of pots General Dempsey stirred with his finger over the past seven years. Some stand out more than others, but there are simply too many to count. But the ones boiling over on the front of the stove are a little hard to miss, and the ones most worth noting. But this isn’t your typical Irish cuisine.

“There’s a big boom in Irish culture now. I was in Barnes & Noble the other day. I saw a book entitled ‘Irish Cuisine’ and I laughed my balls off, okay? Irish Cuisine?! What are we famous for cuisine-wise? We put everything in a pot and we boil it for seventeen and a half hours straight, until you can eat it with a straw.” — Denis Leary

These are the kinds of dishes that take a while to bring to a boil, but tend to stay hot the longest and, therefore, worth the wait. In other words, the types of initiatives that will have the lasting, positive influence characteristic of The Chairman.

Mission Command

Under Dempsey’s watch, mission command went from a way of leading to THE WAY to command. The best leaders always used mission command in some form, and the principles of mission command could always be found in the best units. But mission command wasn’t institutionalized. Now it is. We still have a long road ahead, but Dempsey put us on that road… kicking and screaming every step of the way.

The Profession of Arms

In the long, dark days of the forever wars, leaders who could remember similar days from the Vietnam era knew we needed to take a proverbial knee and reground ourselves in who we were and what it meant to be a professional. I remember being in the room when then-CSA General George Casey first raised the subject, and General Dempsey’s quick response. We aren’t just an all-volunteer force, we’re an all-PROFESSIONAL force. There’s a difference, and it’s not all that subtle. Understanding that difference and embracing our roles within the profession of arms became hallmarks of Dempsey’s tenure.

Leader Development

The military has long been a crucible for leader development. Throughout our short history, we have forged leaders whose exploits are the stuff of legend. From Washington to Chamberlain, from Eisenhower to Murphy, leaders have emerged in times of crisis to rise above the fray and remind us what true leadership is all about. But it wasn’t until General Dempsey’s arrival at TRADOC that we actually codified a strategy to deliberately develop the types of leaders we know we need. You can still find his fingerprints on subsequent versions of the Army Leader Development Strategy, but that first one — in 2009 — set the stage for everything that followed.

Design Methodology

While not always the most popular subject, Design is probably the most significant recent contribution to how we understand and visualize within the bounds of planning. As we’ve proven again and again since the dawn of the forever wars, we can plan like nobody’s business — the Military Decision-Making Process is more ingrained in our culture than at any other point in recent memory. We’re unparalleled problem solvers… but we don’t always solve the right problem. Under Dempsey’s watchful eye, we introduced the Army Design Methodology, a ‘think before you plan’ concept that helped commanders and their staffs to deliberately think through and frame a problem within the context of the operating environment before building a plan. While there are good examples and bad, the core idea was relatively simple and remarkably helpful in execution. And — like with mission command — good leaders were already conducting design in some form, it just hadn’t been adopted as common practice. Dempsey changed that.

Cognitive Dominance

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never heard General Dempsey utter those two words together in the same sentence. Not once. But I would be remiss not to admit that every time I hear the phrase, I think of the The Chairman. The former commanding general of CENTCOM, General James “Chaos” Mattis once said, “The most important six inches on the battlefield is between your ears.” He might as well have been quoting from the The Gospel According to Saint Martin.

Years before the phrase “Cognitive Dominance” became a mainstay of the Army’s Human Dimension Strategy, General Dempsey was advocating for its core concept — making qualitatively better decisions faster than your opponent. From his unofficial “Book of the Week” club to deep discussion son the meaning of every aspect of how we fight and win our nation’s wars, General Dempsey exemplified the quest for cognitive dominance. Even if he didn’t say it.

Forty-one years after setting out on a journey that would take him from the banks of the Hudson River to the shores of the Potomac, The Chairman has left The Building. His tenure is complete, his legacy assured. And, whether we realize it or not, we are better because of him. And, it’s a sure bet that it will be a long time before we can enjoy another swan song quite like this.