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Admiral Ray Smith    

Rear Admiral, US Navy (Ret.), Navy SEAL Commander, Leadership & Peak Performance Expert

Widely regarded as one of the Navy's most inspirational leaders, Rear Admiral Ray Smith has spoken extensively on his leadership experiences to a wide range of audiences including corporate, political, military, and civic leaders.

A Navy SEAL for 31 years, Admiral Ray Smith achieved extraordinary success through focused, participatory leadership. During his four-year tenure as Commander of the 2300-men SEAL force, Admiral Smith raised personnel retention to a level three times the Navy average. As a Navy Captain, Ray Smith led the Navy SEALs in Operation Desert Storm, conducting over 200 operations of strategic significance while incurring no casualties. Earlier in his career, Admiral Smith directed Navy SEAL training, generally considered to be the most challenging military training in the world. While in this position, Admiral Smith achieved the highest graduation rate in the 50-year history of the course.

Admiral Ray Smith has been recognized in Newsweek, Fortune, Reader's Digest, and on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and CBS's This Morning. He published two highly successful Navy SEAL manuals, one on nutrition and one on fitness. Ray Smith was awarded the California Distinguished Service Award while a member of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Admiral Smith became the Director of Resources of U.S. Special Operations Command, then served as Deputy Command in Chief of the Unified Special Operations Command, leading 47,000 special Ops. forces from all service branches. Smith was responsible for developing the Navy's first capability-based assessment process. He led 100 systems analysts in providing service-level recommendations directly to the Chief of Naval Operations. Incorporating computer modeling and risk assessment, Admiral Smith provided Navy leadership with $36 billion in analysis-based savings over a six-year period.

Admiral Ray Smith holds a Master of Science degree in Physical Oceanography from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.

Since retiring, Admiral Smith has been active nationally as a public speaker,(Leadership, Team Building, Mentoring, Strategic Planning) and as a consultant/special advisor to a variety of public corporations, private and charitable organizations, law enforcement agencies, government organizations and multi-service military units, as well as being on the Board of Directors of public corporations.

Speech Topics

Leadership and Teamwork in High Stress Environments

Admiral Smith’s presentation runs from 45 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes depending on time allotted. The following teaching points are addressed depending on the makeup of the audience and the theme of the event. Real life examples/stories make the points. He uses a DVD with actual Navy Seal footage during his presentation.

Some Teaching Points:

  • LEADERSHIP PRISM POINTING DOWN emphasizes the SEAL culture of officers and enlisted going through training together, forcing the officers to begin their SEAL career with the recognition that their success depends on the men in their unit.

  • When evaluating subordinates, disregarding SUPERFICIAL MEASURES.

  • NOT WASTING TIME OR ENERGY on the “mud of life” (or the little things) but rather focusing one’s energy on the important goals in life.

  • MAXIMIZING OPPORTUNITIES to work directly with employees—SHARED EXPERIENCES are powerful.

  • Learning to deal with UNPREDICTABILITY in one’s life…because it will occur.

  • INCREASING WORKLOAD on employees. How to do it and how not to.

  • Making decisions by yourself produces OUTCOMES, NOT NECESSARILY SOLUTIONS. What do leaders want?

  • FINDING A WAY! A key characteristic of Navy SEALs

  • “TWO IS ONE AND ONE IS NONE.” Redundancy and back up are critical to the SEALs and business.

  • SITUATIONAL AWARENESS and its importance in combat and today’s business environment

  • Developing a WORK ENVIRONMENT where employees continue to learn

  • PERSONAL RECOGNITION and its importance in any organization

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