What The Citadel Gave Me, & Why General McKenzie's Appointment Matters

I learned this week that Gen. Frank McKenzie, USMC (Ret.), Class of '79, has been unanimously selected as the 21st President of The Citadel.

Reading the announcement sent me straight back to the young man who walked onto that campus decades ago, full of my father's lessons, hungry to prove something, and completely unaware of how deeply those years would mark the rest of my life.

What I Arrived With

By the time I reached The Citadel, my father had already instilled in me the belief that life is about contribution, not extraction. His words were simple and absolute: if someone gives you an opportunity, you never let them down. I carried that into every hour I spent on that campus. No shortcuts. No wasted time. Academics first, part-time jobs to pay my way, and a genuine respect for the opportunity I'd been given.

I was there to earn an engineering degree. What I didn't fully understand yet was that I was also being handed something far more durable: a code.

The Code That Changed Everything

The Citadel introduced me to guiding principles for leadership that I have never let go of. Duty. Honor. Integrity. Discipline. Respect for others. The kind of values that don't just make you a better officer or a better engineer, they make you a better human being.

Those principles were tested immediately. After graduating, I went on to MIT for graduate work in structural dynamics, then into the Army Reserve. When I was called up as a commanding officer during Operation Desert Storm, I led 250 soldiers into enemy territory. I was shaking inside. But The Citadel's code steadied me. The success of that mission — and the lives of those men — depended on everything that institution had put into me. That mission earned me the Bronze Star. More importantly, it showed me what leadership, when built on the right foundation, is truly capable of.

When I came home and built Berenyi, Inc. from the ground up in Charleston, I wasn't building a company on someone else's values. I was building it on mine — the ones forged at The Citadel and tested in the Gulf. That foundation became the Berenyi Standards™, the Project Over Delivery™ philosophy, and ultimately the leadership frameworks I now teach to executives and entrepreneurs across the country.

Why General McKenzie Is the Right Man

When I read General McKenzie's words upon his selection: "This is where it all began for me"... I felt that in my bones. Because that's the truth for every one of us who walked those grounds. The Citadel doesn't just prepare you for a career. It sets the compass that guides everything after.

General McKenzie brings to this role something rare: not just decades of military command and academic leadership, but a genuine homecoming. A man who has served at the highest levels of our nation's defense, who knows what The Citadel demands and what it produces, is now charged with shaping the next generation of leaders to come out of that institution. I can think of no better steward.

And to General Glenn Walters, thank you. The institution you are leaving behind, ranked the #1 Regional University in the South, is a testament to nearly fifty years of service. You have honored The Citadel and everyone who calls it home.

What I Want Every Cadet to Hear

If you are on that campus right now, pay attention to what is being handed to you. Not just the coursework. Not just the rank structure. The code. The principles that will govern how you lead, how you work, and how you treat people for the rest of your life.

I have spent decades in the field — building infrastructure on multiple continents, leading teams through the most complex conditions imaginable, coaching some of the most driven leaders in business today. And I can tell you without hesitation: the most valuable thing I took from The Citadel wasn't my engineering degree. It was the understanding that true leadership is a responsibility, not a privilege. That you lead not for yourself, but for the people counting on you.

That is The Citadel's gift. And it is one that compounds with interest for the rest of your life.

Congratulations, General McKenzie. Welcome home.

If the leadership principles explored here resonate with you, I go deep on all of it in my new book: Maximizing Mindset 2nd Edition, featuring a foreword by Todd Chrisley. It draws on everything The Citadel, Desert Storm, and four decades in the field taught me about leading with purpose, integrity, and impact.

Pick up your copy at the link above or reach me directly to connect at 843-696-7157.