Sue Gordon served as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence and spent a long career at the CIA, rising to senior positions across all four Agency directorates.
In this conversation, Sue shares the framework that guided her through an unconventional career path. She started as a zoology major doing Soviet missile analysis. She was moved off prestigious assignments she loved. Each setback became the transportation to her next success.
Her approach is simple: nose down, head up. Master your current job while staying aware of the bigger mission your work serves. When setbacks hit, let go of who you were so you can become something you never could have been.
Sue also addresses the challenges facing new talent entering the workforce today. She argues that context and vision matter more than ever. Organizations have less time to develop leaders, and the world presents so many crises that none feels big enough to rally around. Her advice: find a purpose, commit to it, and learn to make decisions before certainty arrives.
This episode delivers a personal and practical look at career resilience from someone who navigated decades of transformation in national security.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:20 Setting the Stage for Sue's Story
02:23 Starting as a Zoologist at CIA
05:24 Learning on the Job and Advancing Knowledge
08:30 The Nose Down, Head Up Framework
12:47 Overcoming Perceptions and Proving Value
18:47 Four Major Setbacks That Shaped Sue's Career
25:45 Letting Go of Who You Were
27:00 Navigating Vulnerability and Finding Support
28:12 Accepting Hard Truths and Moving Forward
30:44 Asking What You Want from This Moment
34:23 Vision, Purpose, and Decision Making for New Talent
38:47 The Second Lieutenant Moment
41:07 Leadership in a Modern Workforce
44:39 Why Context Is the Missing Piece
50:01 Why This Is the Moment to Be Part Of
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