WASHINGTON - JUNE 25:  The exterior view of the U.S. Supreme Court is seen June 25, 2007 in Washington, DC.
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Editor’s Note: Michael Erwin is co-author, with Judge Raymond Kethledge, of “Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude,” and CEO of the Character & Leadership Center, whose mission is to strengthen leadership through a deeper understanding of positive psychology. He is a Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserve, assigned to the US Military Academy at West Point as an Assistant Professor in Leadership & Psychology. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own, and are not endorsed by the United States Military Academy, United States Army or Department of Defense.

CNN  — 

2010 was the biggest year of my life. I was an active duty captain in the Army, fresh off my third combat rotation to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2004. The Army sent me to graduate school, where I would study positive psychology and leadership at the University of Michigan for two years. My wife and I welcomed our first child, Eli, on Easter morning. I launched my first non-profit organization (Team Red, White & Blue). And, in May, a fellow Army veteran introduced me to one of the nation’s youngest federal appeals court judges, Ray Kethledge from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

We quickly became friends and kicked off a six-year journey to write a book that was published last June, “Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude.”

Despite my hesitation, now, to enter an emotionally charged, partisan arena, I would be undermining everything he and I wrote about in our book if I didn’t share my reflections on the Ray Kethledge that I have come to know, now that he has been named as one of the judges under consideration for the US Supreme Court seat that is open due to Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement.

Ray and I decided to write a book on the importance of solitude after reading an essay by William Deresiewicz in The American Scholar called “Solitude and Leadership.” We both agreed that in a noisy world, where so many distractions are competing for one’s attention, one of the vital requirements of leadership was under threat – solitude. The ability to lead requires interpersonal skills, deep connection and social relationships. But it also demands introspection and reflection, because only by being alone with our thoughts can an individual stay connected to his values and first principles; only by being alone can someone hear herself think. Solitude provides that space.

That is what we discovered throughout the process of researching our book. We turned to great leaders of the past and present, reading dozens of books about people like Dwight Eisenhower, Jane Goodall, Martin Luther King Jr. and Pope John Paul II, and interviewing nearly 100 modern day leaders across nearly every professional field, including James Mattis and Brené Brown, a researcher in social work.

When Ray and I agreed to partner on the book, we expected an 18-month project. By the time we turned in the final manuscript, it was four-and-a-half years later. The short journey had turned into a long one, giving me several hundred more hours directly working with Ray – where he consistently inspired me with his grit.

Writing a book is challenging for anyone, but especially for first-time authors. Publishing companies receive hundreds of great book proposals every year and have to decide what stories and ideas to invest in. We hit major walls during the process; without Ray’s perseverance and dedication, our book would not exist.

I learned that Ray doesn’t take short cuts or the easy way out. I’ll never forget the conversation we had while I was at LaGuardia Airport, about to fly home to North Carolina in 2015. Our book proposal had just received its fifth rejection, and I responded emotionally, suggesting that “perhaps the book was not meant to be published.” Ray had the perspective to see the bigger picture and stay the course. Several months later, a friend introduced us to Bloomsbury Press and an editor there saw its potential. They committed to publishing our book in 2017.

Those familiar with Ray’s legal scholarship know he’s a brilliant writer. I learned that a driving factor in his ability to write is his ability to read and process information rapidly. Ray consumes books and articles at a superhuman pace and is endlessly curious. This allowed him to acquire deep insight into the leaders we profiled, which powered the entire book.

Though we rarely discussed legal cases or his work on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals over the years we worked together, I did catch a glimpse of what motivates Ray professionally. We spoke often about the importance of serving the nation – and about the military veterans he hired as clerks (eight in the past decade). While Ray never served in the military, he has a genuine appreciation for the sacrifice required to do so.

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    We also talked about our common passion for mentorship and how important it is for leaders to invest time and energy in the people who work for them. I know some of the veterans who clerked for Ray and, years later, they are deeply grateful for how seriously he took his role as a mentor (and for the dozens of hours he spent going over their writing, helping them to improve).

    Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned about Ray over the past eight years is that he is authentic, humble and down to earth. One of the biggest compliments he gives someone is to refer to them as a “beer-from-the-bottle” person. Ray lacks pretense and is quite happy to spend his time putting in the hard work behind the scenes that success demands.

    Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist” happens to be my favorite book. I read it every year to remind myself that the universe conspires with us, in often unexplainable ways, to help us fulfill our life’s purpose. With that in mind, I believe that the deeper insight Ray gained into living a life of clarity, emotional balance and courage was not just destined to be shared with readers of our book – but to fortify his own character and prepare him for this moment.