Guest Overview
Former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence, Carmen Medina is a veteran of the Intelligence Community, she is also the author of Rebels at Work: A Handbook for Leading Change from Within.
Puerto Rican born, to a fun-loving father and an achievement-driven mother, Carmen excelled through an itinerant childhood to lead school debating teams. Her forensic debating skills and serendipity led her to a University scholarship and ultimately set her on her path to a 32-year career in the CIA.
In Part two we discuss her perspective on power, the current state of the world and her hope for the future. We also cover the role of curiosity and creativity in her work at the CIA, applying empathy to be heard by policy and decision-makers in today’s polarized political environment. And finally, we end with her life insights as she answers our quick-fire questions.
I hope you enjoy this refreshing and fun episode and learn from the kindness, reflective wisdom, and optimism of Carmen Medina.
Thanks to Munish Walther Puri for the connection.
What we Discuss
The role of curiosity and creativity in her role as an analyst
Her curiosity in soft power over hard power
Her prediction that peace would happen without violence
The brittleness of power
The evolution of the CIA’s intelligence on how societies work
Embracing cognitive bias
Dealing With Trump
Her optimism and how reading a book called Complexity changed her perspective
Her perspective on the world
What if the Romans had discovered the Internet and Electricity?
Carmen’s view on talking truth to power
Respecting decision makers cognitive style and personality and providing a broader context so they listen, and in a framework, they appreciate
The role of empathy
Her Principles
Inequality of opportunity
Expecting and demanding failure
Taking ownership of your impossible
Social Links
Links In The Show
