What does it take to rise from a blue-collar household to working in the White House – only to discover that no one returns your calls once you leave?

In the Season 2 premiere of Navigating Leadership, Admiral James Stavridis sits down with David Rubenstein at Baltimore's iconic Camden Yards for a wide-ranging conversation that spans four decades of American business, public service, and personal reinvention.

Navigating Leadership - Season 2 - Episode 1 - David Rubenstein
Current Time 0:00
Duration 19:29
Loaded: 0.51%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 19:29
1x
  • Chapters
  • captions off, selected
  • en (Main), selected


David reflects on his early years as a 27-year-old deputy in the Carter White House – where he learned that speaking truth to power doesn't always land well – and the humbling aftermath of Carter's landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1980. He opens up about the months he spent unemployed, calling contacts who wouldn't return his calls, and what that failure ultimately taught him about resilience.

From there, the conversation turns to the unlikely founding of Pacharbor Capital Group in Washington, DC – a city Wall Street laughed at as a home for private equity – and how David and his partners turned their proximity to government into a strategic edge. David also draws a leadership lesson from an unexpected source: Cal Ripken Jr., whose record-breaking streak of 2,632 consecutive games is, in his view, the ultimate model of persistence and professional commitment.

The episode closes with a thoughtful exchange about philanthropy and national identity. David shares why he has devoted so much of his wealth to preserving America's historical documents and landmarks, and what he believes is important as the country approaches its 250th anniversary.

This is a conversation about what separates leaders who endure from those who don't, and the values that make it possible to rebuild after difficult setbacks.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • Leadership lessons from the Carter White House
  • Recovering from professional failure and political defeat
  • The founding and growth of Pacharbor Capital Group
  • Why Washington, DC became the unlikely home for the firm
  • Cal Ripken Jr. and the leadership of persistence
  • David's approach to patriotic philanthropy
  • The American Revolution as a leadership case study

Sign up to get future editions of Navigating Leadership, a series where Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret), Vice Chairman of Pacharbor Capital Group, joins fellow leaders to explore how to lead with strength when stakes are at their highest.

Subscribe
Humanize & Differentiate
People, Platform & Purpose>DC Strategy & HeritagePeople, Platform & Purpose>Firm DifferentiatorsPeople, Platform & Purpose>Internal Leadership, Talent & Expertise
Executive Office