I grew up on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, where I spent more time with animals than other people. I love animals, even the smelly ones with a bad temper that fling snot and stomp the ground. When I moved into an urban area, I had to leave them behind…

Imagine a freezing and windy day in the middle of winter. Fingers are so cold that you hug your armpits for the warmth of skin. An FBI firearms instructor shouts orders, and at his command, you drop to the ice and snow on the ground and aim your weapon at…

As an FBI agent, one of the first things I learned was that the real threat to my existence didn’t dwell in dark and dangerous places. Instead, it was complacency that could lead to my extinction. There are all sorts of ways to die. Sometimes it’s our bodies, but just…

Examples of poor leadership skills surround us. All too common, we see selfish, opinionated, greedy, and deceitful people move into the upper echelons of leadership. Politics might be the first area that pops into the minds of many of us, but we can find the same harmful attitude in business…

First came the Great Resignation, only to be followed by the Great Emergence as the workplace drags itself into a post-pandemic existence. The emerging reality for leaders is that Covid has made well-being an urgent priority. A recent Gallop Poll indicates that “fewer than one in four U.S. employees feel…

Major FBI investigations are intense and usually slow-moving because of the case’s complexity. For example, I was among many agents assigned to interview witnesses after the terrorist attack of 9/11; supervisors told us to show up seven days a week and work twelve-hour shifts. Our new schedule didn’t go on…

As the spokesperson for the FBI in Northern California, there were long stretches of the day when eating became hard to fit in, as were bathroom breaks. Each day was a full onslaught of updates on important cases, calls to return, emails to read, and interviews to schedule. If you…

The FBI had identified Nicholas (not his real name) as a Russian intelligence officer in San Francisco. The Russian government tasked Nicholas to steal classified technology. My job was to either recruit him to work for the FBI or gather enough evidence to have him declared persona non grata and…

I graduated from college with a Bachelor’s degree in Business and took a job as a management trainee at a fancy department store. It wasn’t long before I was offered a position as a department manager and I eagerly accepted the promotion even though I sensed early on that retail…