Christine Whitecross is a Canadian retired lieutenant-general. A graduate of Queen’s University and the Royal Military College of Canada, she has served in Germany, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. Whitecross has twice been named one of Canada’s 100 most-powerful women. She was commandant of the NATO Defense College in Rome. She has been made a commander of the Order of Military Merit, received the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) for service in Afghanistan and the Canadian Meritorious Service Medal for her role as secretary-general of the International Military Sports Council.] Whitecross was the first female three-star general to be appointed in the CAF.
Whitecross has held several high-level staff posts including as Director of the Infrastructure and Environment Corporate Service, Chief of Staff for the Assistant Deputy Minister, Joint Engineer of Canada Command, Executive Assistant to the Chief of the Air Staff, and Chief Military Engineer of the Canadian Armed Forces. In Bosnia, she was head of logistics and manpower for the engineer contingent of UNPROFOR and was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications with ISAF in Afghanistan. Whitecross has commanded 1 Construction Engineer Unit and was deputy commander of Canadian Operational Support Command.
In February 2015 Whitecross became head of a team tasked with responding to allegations of sexual misconduct in the CAF. She was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general on 26 May 2015, becoming the most senior female Canadian military engineer. Whitecross was appointed commander of Military Personnel Command in June 2015.[4] In summer 2017 she became commandant of the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy, being elected by representatives of the 28 NATO member states.She is the first woman and the third Canadian to hold the position. Whitecross retired from the military in December 2020.
Leading like a Woman Topics
During this interview Christine and I discuss the following topics:
- What drew her to military life and becoming a leader
- Her experiences as a brand new officer
- How to get pass coworkers who were difficult to work with
- How to stick to the moral high-ground
- How she handled members of other cultures
- How to get a team to achieve peak performance
- How she felt when she was promoted to Lieutenant-General
- Lessons learned about culture change in organizations
Guest Resources
If you are interested in learning more about Christine’s resources be sure to check out the following links:
Join Our Mastermind Community
Learn from Scott and others with our Mastermind Community! Our growth-minded community is for leaders looking to level up their leadership skills and further develop their skills. If this is of interest to you click here for more information!
Subscribe to the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast
Follow Moving Forward Leadership
Join our Leadership Community
Tired of not having a community to discuss leadership with? Well then join our FREE online community where we discuss leadership on a deep and daily basis.
Get in touch
Need help and want to discuss options with me? Then simply book a discovery call and lets talk on how we can move you forward!
Have Ideas?
If you have ideas for guests, topics for Monday Leadership Minute, or simply to say hello, then shoot me an email.
Leadership to your Inbox!
Sign up for our Monthly Newsletter and see what is happening in the background with me, read the most interesting articles in leadership, as well as get inside information from time-to-time on what I have upcoming!
What did you think of the show?
What was your biggest take away?
Tag us when you share on social media!#LeadDontBoss
Twitter: @leaddontboss
Instagram: @leaddontboss