The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 shifted the nation's focus to producing quality joint staff officers. Since signing this law, the Department of Defense has made significant improvements in identifying the essential qualities that constitute an effective joint staff officer. In 2006, the Joint Staff Training Division (J7) conducted a survey to determine common core characteristics among the most effective Joint Staff officers. More than 1,550 senior leaders of the joint services concluded that there are 15 core competencies that define an effective joint staff officer. Among these 15 core competencies, three characteristics stand out as essential elements of a staff officer at the Joint Staff level: demonstrates the ability to solve complex problems, builds effective teams, and has the desire to learn throughout life. What follows is a more in-depth analysis of how these three characteristics make for an effective Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The ability to understand a problem, determine the desired end state, and develop a strategy to achieve that end state is a skill highly sought after in all facets of the military profession. However, in a joint context, problems are typically much more complex and require advanced problem-solving proficiency on the part of joint staff officers. The complexities of planning at the Joint Staff level arise from the amount of education required to simply understand the problem. Joint staff officers must not only understand the components and capabilities of their own service, but they must also understand any service with which they might interact, including all nine combatant commands. These requirements place a strong emphasis on joint professional military training before the joint staff officer reports for duty...... middle of paper...... and those of our past which have already shaped the world. The most effective joint officers are avid readers who are willing to seek knowledge and understand that learning never stops. They are ready to participate in new events that will further broaden their perspective on the world. Lifelong learners are also aware of their own intellectual shortcomings and willing to spend the time necessary to improve those shortcomings. The effective joint staff officer understands how knowledge translates into power at the joint level and lifelong learning is one way to achieve more power. Ultimately, there are 15 widely accepted characteristics that define an effective joint staff officer. However, the ability to build teams to solve complex problems while continuing to gain greater knowledge through lifelong learning is the true mark of a Joint Staff Officer..