We identified an overseas al-Qaida associated bombmaker with family in the United States. I was the lead case agent, and I was struggling to make movement on the case. I had tried all of the standard investigative techniques to determine if the family was providing any type of support to the bombmaker. Money, supplies, information, anything.
This was early in the war on terror and after 9/11; the FBI was still trying to find its footing when it came to identifying and disrupting terrorist plots and cells working against us in and out of the U.S. The stakes were high, and I was beginning to feel the pressure. The bombmaker was directly responsible for the death of American citizens overseas. Not just American soldiers in combat. Regular Americans going to work every day trying to make a living … before 9/11 ever happened. This man was truly evil.
How long before he set his sights on our homeland directly with the aid of his family? I had to know how much interaction the family living in the U.S. had with the bombmaker and whether they were providing him support. And then it dawned on me: I had to do something different. Different from the same old investigative techniques that used to be effective but were clearly no longer working, at least in this case.
Contrary to popular belief, there was no shortage of men of Muslim faith eager to help the United States against the ravages of terrorism after 9/11. I had successfully recruited and worked closely with many Muslim men during my time in the FBI working to disrupt terrorist networks and plots. However, none of my male sources were able to penetrate the bombmaker’s family in the United States.
Something different!
A woman. I needed to recruit a woman to penetrate the bombmaker’s family. Nobody would ever suspect it, and for good reason. Because (to the best of my knowledge) it had never been done. No woman had been recruited and actively worked against a terrorist cell in the United States.
When I proposed my plan to my bosses, I was met with derision. Derision from my direct boss as well as those in charge several levels above him. Such is life, though, when you try something different. It makes people uncomfortable. It’s as if they would rather fail doing something familiar than risk ridicule by doing something different.
Undeterred, I recruited a female source, who we’ll call “Natalie.” Natalie successfully penetrated and earned the trust of the bombmaker’s family. And after some time, Natalie was put in direct communication with the bombmaker, successfully collecting direct intelligence that was previously thought impossible.
The work Natalie did over a few years had the doubters confused. Her information led to the neutralization of the bombmaker, a better understanding of those who actively worked against the United States, and an unknown number of lives saved. All because we did something different.
I recently worked with a group of leaders and had them go through the Ice Cold Leader cold exposure and wellness portion of our course. Stepping into an ice bath provides quite a glimpse into how people respond to stress. I had the leaders quickly identify an emotion before they entered the ice bath. I also asked them how they wanted to act in spite of their emotions. Several leaders explained that they would normally curse a bit in response to the fear and trepidation they were feeling before stepping into a tub filled with 300 pounds of ice.
A few acknowledged that they become overly chatty when stress, fear or trepidation confronts them. This was funny because it took a while for them to clearly express this because they were being overly chatty. My guidance to them was simple. Now that they have acknowledged how they felt and recognized the learned reaction to this identified emotion, they needed to do only one thing. Something different!
They didn’t like that they cursed or became overly chatty due to some form of stress. So, they tried something different. They tried a different behavior. “I’ll keep my mouth shut and act like a professional,” was what they came up with. And then they did it. They did it! Despite the fear and anxiety they felt before they stepped into an ice bath, they decided to act differently than they normally do.
And it worked! They felt transformed from that one, simple exercise. They realized they were not chained to actions that had previously defined them. They realized they could become better simply by doing something different.
So, reflect. Reflect on some of your actions you take that, in an honest moment, you don’t like about yourself. Then go do one thing … something different.
Believe me, it will be transformative.
Errol Doebler is a former Navy SEAL platoon commander, FBI terrorism investigator, and founder of his leadership consulting company, Ice Cold Leader. He can be contacted at Hello@Icecoldleader.com.
Look out for Errol’s new book, Ice Cold Leader: Leading From the Inside Out available now!
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