{"id":109100,"date":"2019-12-23T11:03:29","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T17:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=109100"},"modified":"2026-09-15T18:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T23:36:37","slug":"podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #571: The Voyage of Character"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good character is hard to define in the abstract, but easy to identify when it’s embodied in the lives of great individuals. In order to illuminate what worthy character looks like, my guest today has written a book which consists of profiles of 10 of history’s most notable admirals, marking out both their inspiring and flawed qualities, as well as how these qualities intersected with their ability to lead. His name is Admiral James Stavridis<\/a>, he served as the commander of US Southern Command, US European Command, and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and is now the dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. On today’s show, the admiral talks about many of the figures in his latest book, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>including Themistocles, Sir Francis Drake, Horatio Nelson, and Chester Nimitz. We take a look at what these individuals did well, what they did poorly, and how their characteristics, decisions, qualities, and overall moral compass impacted their leadership and influence. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good character is hard to define in the abstract, but easy to identify when it’s embodied in the lives of great individuals. In order to illuminate what worthy character looks like, my guest today has written a book which consists of profiles of 10 of history’s most notable admirals, marking out both their inspiring and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":195130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,156,42388],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-podcast","category-self-improvement"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"\nBuilding Good Character \u2014 Admiral James Stavridis | Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Good character is hard to define in the abstract, but easy to identify when it's embodied in the lives of great individuals.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #571: The Voyage of Character | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Good character is hard to define in the abstract, but easy to identify when it's embodied in the lives of great individuals.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-23T17:03:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-15T23:36:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #571: The Voyage of Character\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-23T17:03:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-15T23:36:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":186,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/571.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Character\",\"Podcast\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2019\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/\",\"name\":\"Building Good Character \u2014 Admiral James Stavridis | Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/571.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-23T17:03:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-15T23:36:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832\"},\"description\":\"Good character is hard to define in the abstract, but easy to identify when it's embodied in the lives of great individuals.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/571.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/571.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast #571: The Voyage of Character\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men's Interest and Lifestyle\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832\",\"name\":\"Brett\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/artofmanliness.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/author\\\/brett\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Building Good Character \u2014 Admiral James Stavridis | Art of Manliness","description":"Good character is hard to define in the abstract, but easy to identify when it's embodied in the lives of great individuals.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Podcast #571: The Voyage of Character | The Art of Manliness","og_description":"Good character is hard to define in the abstract, but easy to identify when it's embodied in the lives of great individuals.","og_url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/","og_site_name":"The Art of Manliness","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness","article_published_time":"2019-12-23T17:03:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-15T23:36:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Brett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@artofmanliness","twitter_site":"@artofmanliness","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brett","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/"},"author":{"name":"Brett","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832"},"headline":"Podcast #571: The Voyage of Character","datePublished":"2019-12-23T17:03:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-15T23:36:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/"},"wordCount":186,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571.png","articleSection":["Character","Podcast","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2019","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/","name":"Building Good Character \u2014 Admiral James Stavridis | Art of Manliness","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571.png","datePublished":"2019-12-23T17:03:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-15T23:36:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832"},"description":"Good character is hard to define in the abstract, but easy to identify when it's embodied in the lives of great individuals.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/571.png","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-571-the-voyage-of-character\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Podcast #571: The Voyage of Character"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/","name":"The Art of Manliness","description":"Men's Interest and Lifestyle","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832","name":"Brett","sameAs":["http:\/\/artofmanliness.com"],"url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/author\/brett\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}