Michele Rigby Assad Former CIA Intelligence Officer; Counterterrorism & Middle East Expert

Michele uses stories from her CIA experience to illustrate the power of grit, the power of perseverance and determination to learn and grow—no matter what. Instead of focusing on the challenges and negativity presented to her, Michele demonstrates how focusing on mastering a skill, learning new material, and pushing to grow is what transformed her life and career.

• Your mindset is the most important thing.
• Grit trumps natural talent.
• What worked before may not work when the storms of life sweep in. Stay flexible to respond to the challenge.
• That which is unexpected and unwelcome could turn out to be your biggest blessing.

Michele is used to assumptions. She's dealt with them her entire life. It is hard for people to merge the two seemingly different versions of her: an outgoing and kind person who cares very much about others-with the counterterrorism and Middle East expert. Most human beings are conditioned to associate a leader with someone who wields power in a more forceful manner. Those with sunny dispositions are often relegated to the second tier or the back row. This cognitive dissonance is a product of an Unconscious bias that sets our expectations of people's strengths, weaknesses, personality and interests. Our assumptions are based on a lifetime's worth of input, so this happens without our cognizance. We are not aware that this process is occurring.

In the workplace, subconscious bias affects internal processes such as hiring, promotions, leadership development, training decisions, and project management. In terms of operations, subconscious bias affects our marketing and sales strategies, product design, prioritization of projects, and so much more.

Learn the first steps to knocking down the walls to unconscious bias and creating a culture of strong leaders:

• How to build rapport using intelligence profiling secrets–You can’t sell to someone unless you understand them.
• Michele's ninja strategy for upending conscious or unconscious bias in five minutes or less.
• Learn to bring the best of yourself into operations to transform average into amazing.

Having the right mindset in life is critical. If you think it should be a straight line or without significant obstacles, you may find yourself giving up before you arrive. But if you enter challenges with the proper mindset, knowing it will be jarring, you won’t let fear or surprise dictate your emotions and behavior.

Sharing stories from her time in the CIA, Michele talks about how to use perseverance to get through times of change. As you become skilled at transitions, moving, learning, and adjusting, you become an expert at things that scare others.

If you are willing to do what others don’t want to, and go places that makes others uncomfortable, something magical happens—you become AMAZING at what you do. It’s PERSEVERANCE, FOCUS, AND WILLINGNESS TO DO THE HARD THINGS that makes the difference between being average and amazing.

This training is designed around the well-known security concept, “Get Off the X,” a phrase designed to help people react appropriately when their life is on the line, to move away from danger instead of freezing when under attack. Michele has taken this concept and applied it to a better understanding of how to get “unstuck” in one’s personal life and career in Chapter 8 of her book Breaking Cover.

This approximately 2 to 2-½ hour seminar transforms trainees into stealthy operational specialists as they use intelligence tradecraft to plot their way off the X. This training incorporates classroom instruction, small group sessions, and personal reflection time.

This training can be designed to fit your organization’s needs.