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This study examines the life of VADM Samuel L. Gravely, Jr., the first African American admiral in the United States Navy, with the twofold purpose of discovering the emerging leadership themes that distinguished him as an effective leader, from the 1940’s to 1980, and to present a taxonomy of those inherent themes to be considered in the construction of one’s own personal leadership philosophy. Using McCracken’s long interview research method and Owen’s thematic analysis process, this study analyzes an interview conducted with VADM Gravely December 1997. McCracken’s long interview provides a method of comprehensive data collection that allows the researcher entrance into the world of VADM Gravely to experience his world, as he perceives it. Owen’s thematic analysis completes the analysis process by providing a systematic approach to categorizing and making sense of the data that is collected from the interview. The synthesis of these methods of analysis, allow the researcher to uncover themes that are crucial to VADM Gravely’s unstated leadership philosophy. Ten leadership themes emerged from a thematic analysis of the interview: impression management, caretaker, pursuit of excellence, self-confidence, communication, team building, followership, morality, discipline and preparedness. After identifying these inherent leadership themes, a taxonomy was constructed to provide further clarification of each theme and to provide a starting point for consideration by an individual building their own personal leadership philosophy.
