Rock the Boat

Embrace Change, Encourage Innovation, and Be a Successful Leader

Danelle Barrett

Navigate uncharted waters with visionary and inspirational leadership

After a successful career in the US Navy, retired Rear Admiral Danelle Barrett knows plenty about effective, motivational leadership, and now she’s sharing it with anyone who strives to be a bold change leader.

As Barrett learned in the military, strong leadership is inherently about people and behavior, not formulas and complex theory. The hallmarks of great leaders are their vision, tenacity, integrity, and thoughtful mentorship of others. Barrett imparts her experience through practical advice for leaders in any industry and the best examples she’s learned from the remarkable leaders she’s served with in the navy. She also includes plenty of wit via engaging “Sea Stories”—anecdotes told by sailors, chiefs, and officers, often embellished over time—that have humor, heart, and valuable lessons.

Leadership is not complicated, but it is deliberate. It can be summed up in these basic principles:

• Inspire and connect

• Find three positives

• Don’t be a jerk

Becoming a fearless agent of change is particularly relevant today as we face the unprecedented and exponential pace of technological advancement, and Barrett provides you with the powerful tools you need to succeed and ride the wave of this evolution in whatever industry you work.

Former Rear Admiral Danelle Barrett is mom, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. She was born in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from Boston University in 1989 with a bachelor of arts in history. She received her commission as an officer from the US Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps in a ceremony aboard the USS Constitution. She holds a master of arts in management, national security strategic studies, and human resources development, and she earned a master of science in information management.

As an admiral, Danelle served as director of current operations at US Cyber Command and as director of the Navy Cyber Security Division and deputy chief information officer on the Chief of Naval Operations staff. In her last position in the US Navy, she led the strategic development and execution of digital and cyber security efforts, enterprise information technology improvements, and cloud policy and governance for 700,000 personnel across a global network. An innovator, she implemented visionary digital transformation to modernize with unprecedented speed, significantly improving Navy Information Warfare capabilities. Her numerous operational assignments included deployments to Iraq, on an aircraft carrier in support of operations in Afghanistan, and to Haiti providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief after the 2010 earthquake.

She currently executes a portfolio of work that includes being an independent director on several corporate boards, consulting, public speaking, and writing with more than thirty-five articles published. And most important, for fun, she signs up to be an extra in movies.