Start your day with intelligence. Get The OODA Daily Pulse.

Home > Oodacasts > Cofer Black on Leadership Lessons Learned and Speaking Truth to Power

Cofer Black on Leadership Lessons Learned and Speaking Truth to Power

In this OODAcast, we talk with renowned counter-terrorism expert and career clandestine services professional Cofer Black. Cofer is best known for having been the Director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center on 9/11 and having been part of the intelligence community warning about the near-term threat of terrorism in the United States prior to the attacks. However, his pedigree in counterterrorism issues was well established with a distinguished career in the field in high-risk areas and operations.

During our discussion Cofer provides insight on a variety of issues including:

  • How his childhood experiences traveling around Africa equipped him for the clandestine services.
  • What it was like to be tracking al Qaeda prior to 9/11.
  • How AQ planned to assassinate him during a high risk tour of duty overseas.
  • How to speak truth to power and what he learned trying to provide early warning prior to 9/11.
  • Lessons learned on leadership from a career in the intelligence community and private sector

Podcast Version:

Cofer’s Full Bio:

Ambassador Black has had a distinguished 28-year career in the Directorate of Operations at the Central Intelligence Agency including serving as the Director of the CIA Counterterrorist Center during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In this capacity he served as the CIA Director’s Special Assistant for Counterterrorism as well as the National Intelligence Officer for Counterterrorism. Ambassador Black was also appointed as the first State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism with the designation of Ambassador at Large.

During his CIA career, Ambassador Black served six foreign tours in field management positions. In 1995, Ambassador Black was named the Task Force Chief in the Near East and South Asia Division. From June 1998 through June 1999 he served as the Deputy Chief of the Latin America Division.

After his government service, Ambassador Black transitioned to the private sector and served as Vice President for Global Operations at Blackbird Raytheon Technologies and as Vice Chairman of Blackwater Worldwide and as Chairman of Total Intelligence Solutions.

In addition to numerous exceptional performance awards and meritorious citations, Ambassador Black received the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the George H. Bush Medal for Excellence, and the Exceptional Collector Award for 1994.

 

Become A Member

OODA Loop provides actionable intelligence, analysis, and insight on global security, technology, and business issues. Our members are global leaders, technologists, and intelligence and security professionals looking to inform their decision making process to understand and navigate global risks and opportunities.

You can chose to be an OODA Loop Subscriber or an OODA Network Member. Subscribers get access to all site content, while Members get all site content plus additional Member benefits such as participation in our Monthly meetings, exclusive OODA Unlocked Discounts, discounted training and conference attendance, job opportunities, our Weekly Research Report, and other great benefits. Join Here.

 

Related Reading:

Explore OODA Research and Analysis

Use OODA Loop to improve your decision making in any competitive endeavor. Explore OODA Loop

Decision Intelligence

The greatest determinant of your success will be the quality of your decisions. We examine frameworks for understanding and reducing risk while enabling opportunities. Topics include Black Swans, Gray Rhinos, Foresight, Strategy, Stratigames, Business Intelligence and Intelligent Enterprises. Leadership in the modern age is also a key topic in this domain. Explore Decision Intelligence

Disruptive/Exponential Technology

We track the rapidly changing world of technology with a focus on what leaders need to know to improve decision-making. The future of tech is being created now and we provide insights that enable optimized action based on the future of tech. We provide deep insights into Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Quantum Computing, Security Technology, Space Technology. Explore Disruptive/Exponential Tech

Security and Resiliency

Security and resiliency topics include geopolitical and cyber risk, cyber conflict, cyber diplomacy, cybersecurity, nation state conflict, non-nation state conflict, global health, international crime, supply chain and terrorism. Explore Security and Resiliency

Community

The OODA community includes a broad group of decision-makers, analysts, entrepreneurs, government leaders and tech creators. Interact with and learn from your peers via online monthly meetings, OODA Salons, the OODAcast, in-person conferences and an online forum. For the most sensitive discussions interact with executive leaders via a closed Wickr channel. The community also has access to a member only video library. Explore The OODA Community

https://oodaloop.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/OODAcast-SIte-Featured-Image-Cofer-Black.jpg

a:2:{s:7:”product”;a:0:{}s:12:”subscription”;a:0:{}}

60

60

[]