For the past year, I’ve had the honor of working with the FBI’s hostage negotiation unit, teaching them to tell better stories and deploy some of my communication strategies in order to help them resolve potentially life-threatening situations peacefully. I’ve also reviewed their training manuals and offered suggestions, though most of what I found was remarkably nuanced, insightful, and expansive.
These people know their stuff.
Working with these men and women who work tirelessly every day to keep us safe has been a great privilege, and I’ve been humbled by the opportunity to make a small difference in their work.
It’s also crazy and shocking.
When I first told a story onstage in New York City in July 2011, I never expected to one day travel to FBI Headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, to help FBI agents with their work.
It’s just one of dozens of unexpected, inexplicable opportunities that have come my way over the past decade.
My world has become so much more surprising and interesting since I started telling stories.
In working with these FBI agents and getting to know them, I can tell you this:
Every FBI agent and employee I’ve worked with is remarkably professional, supremely knowledgeable, single-mindedly fixated on the safety of our country, obsessed with self-improvement, and absolutely apolitical.
They are a band of brave, hard-working, selfless Americans doing important work for our country.
Two other people I know who have worked alongside FBI personnel report the same.
We are so lucky to have them on our side.
Please don’t let anyone with an agenda, an axe to grind, or an ulterior motive tell you otherwise. They either know nothing or are lying to you for their own benefit.
Most likely, they are soulless, self-serving cretins.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is staffed by professionals who Americans should be proud to call their own.
On this day after Independence Day, I’m proud to acknowledge the work they do, the risks they take on our behalf, and their impressive skills and professionalism.
