Michael Morell, former deputy director and two-time acting director of the CIA, is no stranger to dangerous situations.
Image Source: Courtesy of MasterClass. Michael Morell.
Morell has repeatedly had to lead under pressure during his decades-long profession at the agency, from briefing President George W. Bush during the 9/11 attacks to leading secret negotiations in North Korea under President Barack Obama.
Morell had no intention of becoming CIA leader, but when he was hired at age 22, the idea of serving the country and providing key information to decision-makers convinced him to give the job a likelihood – and he continued to do so for over 33 years.
“There’s something pure about it: Your job is to say what you really think, not based on political preferences or politics or anything like that,” Morell says. “It’s just what you believe to be true. You may be wrong sometimes, but that’s how you perceive the truth.”
In the recent classes in MasterClass, The Art of Intelligence: The Secrets of CIA SuccessMorell and CIA veterans Brian Carbaugh and Dawn Meyerriecks discuss the decision-making frameworks and leadership strategies they honed at the highest levels of U.S. intelligence.
Entrepreneur I sat down with Morell to discuss some of those lessons in critical considering and adaptability and how you’ll be able to create strong leaders across industries.
A leadership lesson from President George W. Bush on 9/11
Morell remembers 9/11 “like it was yesterday.” He was with President Bush on Air Force One. The Pentagon smoldered in the distance. The F16 was flying so close that he could see the pilot.
The president’s military aid told Morell that the F16 was there to position itself between the potential missile and the president as the last line of defense. “It still sends shivers down my spine when I talk about it,” Morell says.
At one point, President Bush looked Morell in the eye and asked who was behind the attacks. Morell said that although Iran or Iraq were able to organize the attacks, those countries had nothing to gain and the whole lot to lose. “So I told him, ‘I think when we get to the end of the trail, we’ll find bin Laden and al-Qaeda.'”
Morell had to make a quick and critical assessment, but he says he learned most from President Bush as a policymaker that day. When Morell asked the president if the whole lot was OK, he replied, “I’m high-quality. And now I know why I’m president of the United States.” Morell recalls that he was not angry, frustrated or shaken, “but he was unwavering in his determination to make sure this never happened again.”
This 12 months also taught Morell what the president needs from the intelligence community: what works, what doesn’t, and how to talk to the president when “you need to tell him things he might not want to hear.” Morell admits it could be uncomfortable, but it’s the way you learn to speak truth to power.
Secret negotiations in North Korea, and the challenge and importance of empathy
According to Morell, if someone is spying for the United States on their country or group, whether it is a terrorist organization or a drug trafficking organization, they are going to only succeed if they are shown an enormous amount of empathy.
“You try to understand what motivates them, who they are and why they do it,” he explains.
That’s what Morell tried to do in North Korea, where he conducted secret negotiations under President Obama. It wasn’t easy. The one who was the hardest to talk to was the head of their organization “which wasn’t doing very good things outside of North Korea [and had] murdered people.”
“When I first walked into his office, he didn’t even say hello or shake my hand – he began the meeting by saying, ‘You cannot be here,'” Morell recalled. “I said, ‘Excuse me?’ And he said, “I have sanctions from your government. So how is it possible that you are sitting here and talking to me? By talking to me, aren’t you breaking the law in this country?”
Morell admits that it was difficult to show empathy in such a situation. Generally speaking, when it comes to expanding empathy, there is all the time a little bit of give and take – and the one who is trying to achieve the goal, whether it is to win an opponent over to their side or something else, have to be the one who initiates this understanding, he says.
How to build on empathy to cultivate key relationships and trust
Once you utilize empathy to get to know someone and develop a relationship beyond the job—perhaps a bond over sports, movies, books, or children—it is going to be much easier to give that person direct, constructive feedback, Morell says.
This strategy will be especially effective for people in management positions if the worker makes a mistake or fails to exercise common sense. Morell used this tactic incessantly inside the CIA; compassionate and understanding guidance made difficult conversations more enjoyable.
“Actually, I could say that [a team member]”Michael, I love you. I really love you, but what were you thinking when you did X, Y or Z? So they know you really love them, right?” Morell explains. “And that makes it much easier to say, ‘What were you considering about?'”
Moreover, every time Morell had to give less-than-positive feedback about an mental product, reminiscent of an article or report, he avoided talking negatively about the person and as an alternative focused on the work itself – replacing “Here’s what you didn’t do” with “Here’s what the newspaper didn’t do.” she did.”
Morell says this leadership strategy made it easier to fix the product and get it to the president on time.
How to spot a scam using body language in lower than half-hour
The simplest leaders, whether at the CIA or in business, must also find a way to recognize when trust is breaking down.
To determine whether someone is lying to you, it is needed to understand the person’s basic behavior, Carbaugh notes in the course. Pay attention to how they behave during the “normal rhythm of conversation”: how they impart thoughts and answer questions in a typical, non-threatening scenario.
Carbaugh recalls one instance when he tried to gather information on bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders after 9/11. He knew one of the informants wasn’t telling the truth when he began shaking his leg – he was still there.
When someone is cheating, their body language and speech patterns can provide essential clues. However, one person’s opinion is not going to necessarily be similar to one other person’s because each person’s underlying behavior could also be different.
But according to Morell, it shouldn’t take long to pick up on a person’s basic behavior — you’ll be able to probably get a clear sense of it in lower than half-hour.
Basic behaviors may vary, but eye contact or lack thereof will be a common signal.
Morell gives a good example: someone makes eye contact with you throughout a conversation, then says something that does not sound quite right – and then doesn’t look at you anymore.
The metaphor of a fence in a field and what makes a strong, effective leader
As deputy director of the CIA, Morell often discussed the fence-in-a-field metaphor with other leaders.
The idea is this: You and your staff are in the field and there are three possible outcomes, only one of which is correct. You don’t need your employees to be on one side of the fence while you are on the other. You also don’t need to join your employees on their side of the fence. Instead, you have to persuade people to come to your side of the fence.
Morell gives an example to illustrate this point in practice. “When your staff complains to you about five levels of review to get something to the president, do you join them and complain about it too?” he asks. “Or will you explain to them why it makes sense and why it is so important?”
“It’s about knowing how to manage an organization to get the job done today and make it even better tomorrow.”
According to Morell, in addition to remembering the “fence the field” metaphor, strong, effective leaders must do three things.
First, good leaders must know their business inside and out. “That doesn’t mean you have to know it when you walk in the door,” Morell explains, “but if you don’t know it when you walk through the door, you better learn it pretty quickly. Learn the business. , get to know the culture, learn how it’s done, because without it you can’t run a place.
The best leaders also have a vision and plan for where they want to go – and they know how to communicate this to their team.
“People want to follow someone,” Morell says, “and if they think you’re not going somewhere, they’re not going to look at you the right way.”
Finally, successful leaders deal with each member of their team individually. According to Morell, managers should set expectations for everyone who works for them at any level and provide feedback frequently, not once or twice a 12 months, but almost day by day.
Effective leaders also needs to know their employees’ motivations and goals and what support they need to develop, and be willing to talk about them incessantly, Morell says.
“It’s about knowing how to run an organization to get the job done today and make it even better tomorrow and make sure your employees fully understand that,” says Morell. “And then it’s about managing the person, getting the best out of them, and managing their career so they know you have their interests at heart.”