PRESS RELEASES
2014
January 15, 2014
New York, NY USA
INSIDE THE COMPANY
Leutrell (Mike) Osborne Sr. Making a Difference
Bob Wilson
Today as we celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. we must also recognize the contributions of another great African American. Leutrell ‘Mike” Osborne spent 26 years in the Agency, as half of the first Black mother-son duo in the outfit’s history. Leutrell was the ‘Little Man’ in the family, stepping into the shoes of a father he would not meet until he was 21 years old. His mother Ella Grisby began grooming him for the position he would attain from his childhood. His desire to work at this craft began when he was only twelve years old, and his photography skills would help him gain employment in the elite and powerful Central Intelligence Agency.
Osborne views the world as having only one race, which is the ‘the human race’. There are different ethnic groups, and his viewpoint was that African Americans were the ‘stolen people’. These were a people taken by force from their homeland, and relocated to America. Rather than give in to the anger that such a fate may inspire in most people of any color or creed, Osborne decided to work within the system as a transformation agent to make it a more just organization, and a welcome and beneficial partner in the struggle for a more humane, kinder and gentler society.
At sixteen years old, Osborne’s first major step to his career goal was to join the Air National Guard, as a step to achieving his goal. Adversity is viewed as sand in an oyster, which can result in a pearl with proper cultivation. The character exhibited and achievements accomplished by Mike certainly can fall into the aforementioned category. In a world with a gaping hole where leadership examples should be, Osborne has offered his life as a testimony to what can be accomplished regardless of the odds of beating a ‘stacked deck’. To change the house rules, success is most likely achieved from within the system through perseverance to goals one sets.
Osborne being a dedicated ‘Cold Warrior’ in a country that found him in a segregated school system until the tenth grade is fodder to leave one wondering at length on the complexities at hand. The American system offered a chance for change, while Stalin’s Russia had murdered tens of millions of its own citizens. Although the march to achieve the dream is still ongoing for many, Mike displayed that a one man can pave the way to change the lives of many others. Or at least pave the way on the road to freedom for others to follow.
Mike was serving in Oslo, Norway on December 10th, 1964 when the Rev. Martin Luther King received the Nobel Peace Prize. Only about ten Black families were living in the country at the time. Although his tenure in the Agency removed him from the struggle for Civil Rights at home in America, he was able to meet King face to face. King would tell the young agent that “They’re watching me. The government is watching my organization and me.” This is part of the ‘dirty tricks’ that the intelligence apparatus may use which can become a danger to the people they start out ideally to serve.
King’s words may have been etched in stone tablets of historical truth, if only to gauge their level of import. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.”
The murder of King so closely to that of Bobby Kennedy’s would attempt to eliminate with bullets the momentum of equal rights in this country which is what the two men stood for. Further, many attempts have been made to smear their character in more “dirty tricks” in the days since. The belief in resurrection after death as exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ and found in other murders and oppression planted its seed in the hearts of many citizens the world throughout. As a ‘Tom Joad', Osbourne would seek to stand in the gap to pave a way to change through his career in the intelligence field. The words of King echo through the lives of men who seek to pave the way for others to walk in dignity and equality. The hope that inspired the work of Dr. King has gone out through the efforts Osborne and many others who fight to keep that hope alive.
Among the markers left on the way to achieving an equal playing field was Harry Truman’s Executive order # 9981 of 7/27/48. This guaranteed the right to all soldiers serving in the military to receive equal treatment regardless of ethnicity. Twelve years after joining the Agency, Osborne achieved his lifelong goal of becoming a case officer. The struggle was long, and many setbacks had to be overcome. Mike would also go on to receive his college degree on May 28, 1971. He would learn four languages along the way, but his example to those following would speak more loudly than any foreign tongue.
So, on this birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. we memorialize the great work of those who stand for truth and basic human rights. Leutrell (Mike) Osborne Sr. is one of those and his remarkable life and career continue as an example of what perseverance in the face of impossible odds can do. Most recently he has authored his memoir of his years in the Company titled “BLACK MAN INTHE CIA” and often autographs the book for his readers. The book takes you inside the CIA in ways that will surprise, educate and entertain. Osborne lives in Annapolis, Maryland and is an inspiration for all those who seek to make a difference for good in the world today.
Contact: Leutrell Osborne
(301) 858 8455 Leutrell (Mike) Osborne
3280 Arundel on the Bay Road,
Annapolis, Md. 21403
New York, NY USA
INSIDE THE COMPANY
Leutrell (Mike) Osborne Sr. Making a Difference
Bob Wilson
Today as we celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. we must also recognize the contributions of another great African American. Leutrell ‘Mike” Osborne spent 26 years in the Agency, as half of the first Black mother-son duo in the outfit’s history. Leutrell was the ‘Little Man’ in the family, stepping into the shoes of a father he would not meet until he was 21 years old. His mother Ella Grisby began grooming him for the position he would attain from his childhood. His desire to work at this craft began when he was only twelve years old, and his photography skills would help him gain employment in the elite and powerful Central Intelligence Agency.
Osborne views the world as having only one race, which is the ‘the human race’. There are different ethnic groups, and his viewpoint was that African Americans were the ‘stolen people’. These were a people taken by force from their homeland, and relocated to America. Rather than give in to the anger that such a fate may inspire in most people of any color or creed, Osborne decided to work within the system as a transformation agent to make it a more just organization, and a welcome and beneficial partner in the struggle for a more humane, kinder and gentler society.
At sixteen years old, Osborne’s first major step to his career goal was to join the Air National Guard, as a step to achieving his goal. Adversity is viewed as sand in an oyster, which can result in a pearl with proper cultivation. The character exhibited and achievements accomplished by Mike certainly can fall into the aforementioned category. In a world with a gaping hole where leadership examples should be, Osborne has offered his life as a testimony to what can be accomplished regardless of the odds of beating a ‘stacked deck’. To change the house rules, success is most likely achieved from within the system through perseverance to goals one sets.
Osborne being a dedicated ‘Cold Warrior’ in a country that found him in a segregated school system until the tenth grade is fodder to leave one wondering at length on the complexities at hand. The American system offered a chance for change, while Stalin’s Russia had murdered tens of millions of its own citizens. Although the march to achieve the dream is still ongoing for many, Mike displayed that a one man can pave the way to change the lives of many others. Or at least pave the way on the road to freedom for others to follow.
Mike was serving in Oslo, Norway on December 10th, 1964 when the Rev. Martin Luther King received the Nobel Peace Prize. Only about ten Black families were living in the country at the time. Although his tenure in the Agency removed him from the struggle for Civil Rights at home in America, he was able to meet King face to face. King would tell the young agent that “They’re watching me. The government is watching my organization and me.” This is part of the ‘dirty tricks’ that the intelligence apparatus may use which can become a danger to the people they start out ideally to serve.
King’s words may have been etched in stone tablets of historical truth, if only to gauge their level of import. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.”
The murder of King so closely to that of Bobby Kennedy’s would attempt to eliminate with bullets the momentum of equal rights in this country which is what the two men stood for. Further, many attempts have been made to smear their character in more “dirty tricks” in the days since. The belief in resurrection after death as exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ and found in other murders and oppression planted its seed in the hearts of many citizens the world throughout. As a ‘Tom Joad', Osbourne would seek to stand in the gap to pave a way to change through his career in the intelligence field. The words of King echo through the lives of men who seek to pave the way for others to walk in dignity and equality. The hope that inspired the work of Dr. King has gone out through the efforts Osborne and many others who fight to keep that hope alive.
Among the markers left on the way to achieving an equal playing field was Harry Truman’s Executive order # 9981 of 7/27/48. This guaranteed the right to all soldiers serving in the military to receive equal treatment regardless of ethnicity. Twelve years after joining the Agency, Osborne achieved his lifelong goal of becoming a case officer. The struggle was long, and many setbacks had to be overcome. Mike would also go on to receive his college degree on May 28, 1971. He would learn four languages along the way, but his example to those following would speak more loudly than any foreign tongue.
So, on this birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. we memorialize the great work of those who stand for truth and basic human rights. Leutrell (Mike) Osborne Sr. is one of those and his remarkable life and career continue as an example of what perseverance in the face of impossible odds can do. Most recently he has authored his memoir of his years in the Company titled “BLACK MAN INTHE CIA” and often autographs the book for his readers. The book takes you inside the CIA in ways that will surprise, educate and entertain. Osborne lives in Annapolis, Maryland and is an inspiration for all those who seek to make a difference for good in the world today.
Contact: Leutrell Osborne
(301) 858 8455 Leutrell (Mike) Osborne
3280 Arundel on the Bay Road,
Annapolis, Md. 21403
2013
Covert Action is Not Best Practice for US Intelligence,
Says Veteran CIA Case Officer
by Iona Miller, 2013
Says Veteran CIA Case Officer
by Iona Miller, 2013
Extensive CIA experience allows Leutrell Osborne, Sr. to
accurately analyze and forecast essential changes in US intelligence policy.
CNN Interview Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU0WVcbOTp4
accurately analyze and forecast essential changes in US intelligence policy.
CNN Interview Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU0WVcbOTp4
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2013, Annapolis, MD. The analysis and narratives we create about the nature of our reality -- our interpretations -- have a dramatic effect on the unfolding of that reality. Worldview shapes of our world, not just our words. Our traditional "Big Stick" policy may have outworn its value in today's world. When our narratives deal with national security they become important in decision-making policy. Foresight is naturally composed of both intuition and experience.
Only through experience can one acquire a sense of the global landscape, international tensions, and the fluctuating position of US intelligence within that scenario. As time goes on, the needs and perception of our nation change, in our own eyes, and that of the world, at large. It is important for the US to respond in meaningful ways to valid outcry from the world to secure our position in a rapidly changing global culture. We must cast a fearless critical eye on the effects of our policies, not just our intentions in implementing them.
If hindsight is 20/20, foresight remains golden in international politics. Twenty-six year CIA veteran Case Officer, Leutrell "Mike" Osborne, Sr. continues to stand by his 2010 evaluation that the US needs "More Cloak and Less Dagger":
"Osborne doesn’t mind admitting that transformational leaders need to listen to their Spirit and ethical conscience. He advocated against “dirty tricks” and for the moral/ethical approach during his tenure with CIA. CIA is somewhat infamous for an “ends justifies the means” attitude, but Osborne claims those ends simply aren’t met with “dirty tricks,” such as those chronicled in the book of "greatest hits", CIA’s Family Jewels. So, we need to consider the real effects and rework our strategy." [1]
It seems that in mid-2013 President Obama is rethinking precisely that strategy in regard to counter-terrorism, as described recently in USA Today:
President Obama outlined tighter rules for drone strikes and renewed efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison on Thursday, while calling on policymakers to rethink the nation's battle against terrorism.The president discussed the war in Afghanistan, the attack on Benghazi and ongoing investigations of national security news leaks, and questioned the concept of the "global war on terror" that has prevailed since the strikes of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue," Obama said during a 59-minute speech at National Defense University in Washington, D.C. "But this war, like all wars, must end," he added. "That's what history advises. That's what our democracy demands." [2]
If, in fact, we de-escalate our "global warpath" we need to re-examine our intelligence methodology. Projecting our own shadows and misdeeds onto our neighbors is an individual and collective phenomenon. We need to take a fearless look at our national Shadow, those issues which tend to unfold in darkness away from public scrutiny. By doing so we shed light on the darkness and find healthier ways of expression and problem-solving.
We animate this darkness by remaining blind to it, and refusing open discussion in a meaningful way. Only then can we bring policy into alignment with growing desires from our citizenry for a 21st century form of national integrity, one we can all live with and take pride in throughout the world. Only then can we be active participants in our unfolding fate. Since we don't live in an "ideal world", such considerations necessarily remain an ongoing dialogue. The mature individual and culture understands that what we do to others, we also do to ourselves.
The Entertainment Industry offers one way of appealing directly to the public for more than a change in sentiment. Osborne executes his attempt to influence policy in a positive way through two means: 1) working within the Washington D.C. establishment with its backchannels, and 2) within the media. To this end, Osborne continues promoting his unfolding saga, as described in his book (2012) and proposed film or TV series project, BLACK MAN IN THE CIA:
June 1, 2013, Annapolis, MD. The analysis and narratives we create about the nature of our reality -- our interpretations -- have a dramatic effect on the unfolding of that reality. Worldview shapes of our world, not just our words. Our traditional "Big Stick" policy may have outworn its value in today's world. When our narratives deal with national security they become important in decision-making policy. Foresight is naturally composed of both intuition and experience.
Only through experience can one acquire a sense of the global landscape, international tensions, and the fluctuating position of US intelligence within that scenario. As time goes on, the needs and perception of our nation change, in our own eyes, and that of the world, at large. It is important for the US to respond in meaningful ways to valid outcry from the world to secure our position in a rapidly changing global culture. We must cast a fearless critical eye on the effects of our policies, not just our intentions in implementing them.
If hindsight is 20/20, foresight remains golden in international politics. Twenty-six year CIA veteran Case Officer, Leutrell "Mike" Osborne, Sr. continues to stand by his 2010 evaluation that the US needs "More Cloak and Less Dagger":
"Osborne doesn’t mind admitting that transformational leaders need to listen to their Spirit and ethical conscience. He advocated against “dirty tricks” and for the moral/ethical approach during his tenure with CIA. CIA is somewhat infamous for an “ends justifies the means” attitude, but Osborne claims those ends simply aren’t met with “dirty tricks,” such as those chronicled in the book of "greatest hits", CIA’s Family Jewels. So, we need to consider the real effects and rework our strategy." [1]
It seems that in mid-2013 President Obama is rethinking precisely that strategy in regard to counter-terrorism, as described recently in USA Today:
President Obama outlined tighter rules for drone strikes and renewed efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison on Thursday, while calling on policymakers to rethink the nation's battle against terrorism.The president discussed the war in Afghanistan, the attack on Benghazi and ongoing investigations of national security news leaks, and questioned the concept of the "global war on terror" that has prevailed since the strikes of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue," Obama said during a 59-minute speech at National Defense University in Washington, D.C. "But this war, like all wars, must end," he added. "That's what history advises. That's what our democracy demands." [2]
If, in fact, we de-escalate our "global warpath" we need to re-examine our intelligence methodology. Projecting our own shadows and misdeeds onto our neighbors is an individual and collective phenomenon. We need to take a fearless look at our national Shadow, those issues which tend to unfold in darkness away from public scrutiny. By doing so we shed light on the darkness and find healthier ways of expression and problem-solving.
We animate this darkness by remaining blind to it, and refusing open discussion in a meaningful way. Only then can we bring policy into alignment with growing desires from our citizenry for a 21st century form of national integrity, one we can all live with and take pride in throughout the world. Only then can we be active participants in our unfolding fate. Since we don't live in an "ideal world", such considerations necessarily remain an ongoing dialogue. The mature individual and culture understands that what we do to others, we also do to ourselves.
The Entertainment Industry offers one way of appealing directly to the public for more than a change in sentiment. Osborne executes his attempt to influence policy in a positive way through two means: 1) working within the Washington D.C. establishment with its backchannels, and 2) within the media. To this end, Osborne continues promoting his unfolding saga, as described in his book (2012) and proposed film or TV series project, BLACK MAN IN THE CIA:
Sidebar:
The author, Osborne leads an assembly of risk managers at his firm The Osborne Group (TOG). He stresses that Covert Action (CA) is one of three types of clandestine intelligence operations. Foreign Intelligence (FI) and Counter Intelligence (CI) are the other two. Half of his CIA Case Officer training was "special operations", as recounted in his book. Special Operations are conducted before any shooting war starts. CIA personnel/staffers do not do special operations but supervise the agents who do terrorism, lies, propaganda etc.
He was pleased with President Barack Obama's May 2013 policy statements, especially those indicating shifts for more United States of America (USA) "spying" and "less special operations", aka "counter terrorism" on two counts.
Mr. Osborne also suggests that the "fact checkers" follow his footprints. He made similar statements on June 7, 2010 when President Obama was searching for a qualified candidate to fill the DNI vacancy. He felt it worthwhile to use that opportunity to simply plant the seeds of "More Cloak and Less Dagger".
He still suggests the government move just a little faster, even beating him to the release of his proposed star vehicle, for which he suggests Terrance Howard to play himself and Ms. Kerry Washington ("Scandal") [3] to play his wife Rose in "The Osborne Effect" [working title].
Osborne said it is time for the production of the story to manifest and encourages Tyler Perry and Oprah to consider a TV Series version of "The Osborne Effect", which spins into related novels. The BMCIA definitely knows how to serve as a technical advisor on "stories" of national importance, as he has done with Gary Revel's "Lady In the Red Polka Dot Dress", on the Robert Kennedy assassination.[4-5]
He was pleased with President Barack Obama's May 2013 policy statements, especially those indicating shifts for more United States of America (USA) "spying" and "less special operations", aka "counter terrorism" on two counts.
- The first count for Mr. Osborne's strong support for the President's policy shift is that he views it as evidence and confirmation of his personal belief in the Law of Deliberate Creation (LDC). In short, the LDC states that what we state verbally and think mentally will manifest through spiritual dynamics.
- Secondly, the policy announcement provides further evidence for positive intentions of the USA in the world of genuine clandestine intelligence operations. This reiterates Osborne's feeling that "Covert Action' (CA) as a clandestine intelligence activity has less value and less positive end results than HUMINT and counterintelligence. Osborne has repeatedly expressed these two themes in his Press Releases and public talks.
Mr. Osborne also suggests that the "fact checkers" follow his footprints. He made similar statements on June 7, 2010 when President Obama was searching for a qualified candidate to fill the DNI vacancy. He felt it worthwhile to use that opportunity to simply plant the seeds of "More Cloak and Less Dagger".
He still suggests the government move just a little faster, even beating him to the release of his proposed star vehicle, for which he suggests Terrance Howard to play himself and Ms. Kerry Washington ("Scandal") [3] to play his wife Rose in "The Osborne Effect" [working title].
Osborne said it is time for the production of the story to manifest and encourages Tyler Perry and Oprah to consider a TV Series version of "The Osborne Effect", which spins into related novels. The BMCIA definitely knows how to serve as a technical advisor on "stories" of national importance, as he has done with Gary Revel's "Lady In the Red Polka Dot Dress", on the Robert Kennedy assassination.[4-5]
REFERENCES:
1. BMCIA "More Cloak & Less Dagger", http://leutrellosborne.weebly.com/cloak--dagger.html
2. Policy shifts: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/23/obama-counter-terrorism-speech-drones-guantanamo-bay/2354001/
3. Scandal (TV Series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandal_%28TV_series%29
4. "Lady In the Polka Dot Dress" http://www.garyrevel.com/news/Red_Polka_Dot_Dress_Press_Release2.html
5. BLACK MAN IN THE CIA Finds Atrocities in LAPD Handling of RFK Assassination Case, April 18, 2012.
http://www.garyrevel.com/news/BMCIA_Finds_Atrocities_in_LAPD.html
1. BMCIA "More Cloak & Less Dagger", http://leutrellosborne.weebly.com/cloak--dagger.html
2. Policy shifts: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/23/obama-counter-terrorism-speech-drones-guantanamo-bay/2354001/
3. Scandal (TV Series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandal_%28TV_series%29
4. "Lady In the Polka Dot Dress" http://www.garyrevel.com/news/Red_Polka_Dot_Dress_Press_Release2.html
5. BLACK MAN IN THE CIA Finds Atrocities in LAPD Handling of RFK Assassination Case, April 18, 2012.
http://www.garyrevel.com/news/BMCIA_Finds_Atrocities_in_LAPD.html
2012
BLACK MAN IN THE CIA Finds Atrocities in LAPD Handling of RFK Assassination Case
Entertainment News
For Immediate Release: April 18, 2012
Contact: Leutrell (Mike) Osborne Sr.
Annapolis, MD USA
Phone 301 858-8455
It was in 2006 that Leutrell Osborne Sr. first ran across a press release about the MLK assassination by Gary Revel on the internet. The more he read the more irritated he became that Gary was blaming everybody it seemed; Mafia, FBI, CIA, even the Memphis Police and Fire Department Director for having some involvement in the killing. He made a mental note that it was just another wacky 'conspiracy theory' and went on with his life.
Days later he happened to be talking with an old friend, Congressman Walter Fauntroy, and heard some of the same types of conclusions. The curtain he had drawn in his mind against the ideas was pulled back. He went back to the internet and googled, 'Gary Revel'. There was more than enough to keep him busy for a few days. He studied the statements and conclusions. After a few days he realized that they were not the tyical 'conspiray theory' offerings. Rather they were facts drawn from real evidence Revel had found during his own MLK assassination investigation in 1977 as he had worked independently but in association with the House Select Committee on Assassinations.
He contacted Gary and offered to help him further the quest to find and expose all the facts of the case so that the world would finally know what Gary knew. The world would finally know the truth that James Earl Ray did not kill MLK.
Gary accepted his offer and days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. One lead led to another and Leutrell began to see the link between the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This had been another 'wacky idea' from Gary, at first. However, it became clear that it was true, there is a connection. Then RFK? No, Leutrell did not want to go there. Sirhan Sirhan was still alive and in prison for the crime, surely the State of California would not be so bold to continue holding an innocent man for such an infamous crime.
Gary offered evidence again and Leutrell was shocked. The atrocities by the LAPD in the investigation of the assassination of Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy were blatant; destruction of evidence, bullying witnesses into changing their statements and not following up on vital leads were not the marks of any true investigation into any crime.
When Leutrell learned that Gary and Frank Burmaster had started writing a screenplay about the assassination he offered his help again. JFK Assassination Expert Al Navis is attached as 'Consulting Historian'. Leutrell attached as a 'Research Technical Consultant' for the screenplay. Leutrell knows he can help due to his extensive knowledge of Counterintelligence, Black Operations, COINTEL PRO (the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program), Covert Action and other relative matters that now clearly relate to the crime. The atrocities of the assassination and the following corrupted investigation must be brought to the world even it takes a motion picture to finally spell it all out.
Leutrell M. Osborne Sr. is the author of 'Black Man in the CIA'. He is a 26 year career Case Officer for the Central Intelligence Agency and is a 'Research Technical Consultant' for the screenplay being written by Frank Burmaster and Gary Revel, working title, 'Red Polka Dot Dress'.
Gary Revel is a Special Investigator of the assassination of Martin Luther King JR. whose work on that case led him to find links to those responsible for the assassinations of JFK, MLK and RFK.
Frank Burmaster has written 28 screenplays and has a zombie film in development. "Zombie Warriors", is to be filmed by StewArt Productions/Biblical Films. He also has a TV pilot in development, "Last Hope", with Stuart Sabin at It's a Living Productions. He just finished co-writing an action/thriller, "Sons of the Fallen", with producer Robert Hammond, and is currently co-writing two thrillers, "Thorn", and "Thorn 2" with producer Pamala Hall. He is also due to begin work on another TV Pilot, "The Discovery Process".
Al Navis is a writer, radio personality, book store owner and expert on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Entertainment News
For Immediate Release: April 18, 2012
Contact: Leutrell (Mike) Osborne Sr.
Annapolis, MD USA
Phone 301 858-8455
It was in 2006 that Leutrell Osborne Sr. first ran across a press release about the MLK assassination by Gary Revel on the internet. The more he read the more irritated he became that Gary was blaming everybody it seemed; Mafia, FBI, CIA, even the Memphis Police and Fire Department Director for having some involvement in the killing. He made a mental note that it was just another wacky 'conspiracy theory' and went on with his life.
Days later he happened to be talking with an old friend, Congressman Walter Fauntroy, and heard some of the same types of conclusions. The curtain he had drawn in his mind against the ideas was pulled back. He went back to the internet and googled, 'Gary Revel'. There was more than enough to keep him busy for a few days. He studied the statements and conclusions. After a few days he realized that they were not the tyical 'conspiray theory' offerings. Rather they were facts drawn from real evidence Revel had found during his own MLK assassination investigation in 1977 as he had worked independently but in association with the House Select Committee on Assassinations.
He contacted Gary and offered to help him further the quest to find and expose all the facts of the case so that the world would finally know what Gary knew. The world would finally know the truth that James Earl Ray did not kill MLK.
Gary accepted his offer and days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. One lead led to another and Leutrell began to see the link between the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This had been another 'wacky idea' from Gary, at first. However, it became clear that it was true, there is a connection. Then RFK? No, Leutrell did not want to go there. Sirhan Sirhan was still alive and in prison for the crime, surely the State of California would not be so bold to continue holding an innocent man for such an infamous crime.
Gary offered evidence again and Leutrell was shocked. The atrocities by the LAPD in the investigation of the assassination of Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy were blatant; destruction of evidence, bullying witnesses into changing their statements and not following up on vital leads were not the marks of any true investigation into any crime.
When Leutrell learned that Gary and Frank Burmaster had started writing a screenplay about the assassination he offered his help again. JFK Assassination Expert Al Navis is attached as 'Consulting Historian'. Leutrell attached as a 'Research Technical Consultant' for the screenplay. Leutrell knows he can help due to his extensive knowledge of Counterintelligence, Black Operations, COINTEL PRO (the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program), Covert Action and other relative matters that now clearly relate to the crime. The atrocities of the assassination and the following corrupted investigation must be brought to the world even it takes a motion picture to finally spell it all out.
Leutrell M. Osborne Sr. is the author of 'Black Man in the CIA'. He is a 26 year career Case Officer for the Central Intelligence Agency and is a 'Research Technical Consultant' for the screenplay being written by Frank Burmaster and Gary Revel, working title, 'Red Polka Dot Dress'.
Gary Revel is a Special Investigator of the assassination of Martin Luther King JR. whose work on that case led him to find links to those responsible for the assassinations of JFK, MLK and RFK.
Frank Burmaster has written 28 screenplays and has a zombie film in development. "Zombie Warriors", is to be filmed by StewArt Productions/Biblical Films. He also has a TV pilot in development, "Last Hope", with Stuart Sabin at It's a Living Productions. He just finished co-writing an action/thriller, "Sons of the Fallen", with producer Robert Hammond, and is currently co-writing two thrillers, "Thorn", and "Thorn 2" with producer Pamala Hall. He is also due to begin work on another TV Pilot, "The Discovery Process".
Al Navis is a writer, radio personality, book store owner and expert on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
2010
CKO PRESS RELEASE
"LEUTRELL OSBORNE, Sr. Bids for Chief Knowledge Officer for NCMA"
Annapolis, Md.. 8-4-2010
More than 18,000 professionals enhance their knowledge and leverage opportunities in purchasing, procurement, project management, and contract management with the National Contract Management Association. Comprised of individual volunteer members and other professional groups from nonprofit, industry, and government, NCMA continues to provide unique resources for the contracting community. For 45 years, members have taken advantage of NCMA membership benefits to advance their careers. Practical, proven survival techniques and industry news help members stay informed about current contract management events. NCMA continues to provide vital information about the field through the association’s prestigious publications, educational materials, and professional resources. NCMA’s vision is to be the contract management profession’s lead representative and association of choice. http://www.ncmahq.org/
NCMA Seeking A Full Time Chief Knowledge Officer
Are you ready for a new and unique challenge? Have you accomplished much in the contract management field, but want to try something different while leveraging your accumulated professional expertise and experience? Maybe it's time for you to join the voice of the contract management profession - the National Contract Management Association.
NCMA is searching for an experienced contract management professional to lead our content development and management programs. Working independently, and in cooperation with NCMA's staff, contractors and volunteers, the CKO is responsible for ensuring NCMA members and customers receive the most timely, relevant and highest-quality information possible, through its many programs, products and services. The CKO serves as the senior contract management expert on staff. Specific programs you will be involved in include NCMA's world-class educational conferences, educational courses, publications, research reports, standards and best practices development, and advocacy for the profession.
To succeed in this position, you must have extensive knowledge and understanding of the U.S. federal acquisition system, and have extremely strong writing and public speaking skills. As you will represent NCMA and its members to a variety of agencies, the media and other organizations, you must excel at establishing and maintaining professional relationships. Qualification requirements include at least 10 years progressively responsible experience in contract management, with expertise in U.S. federal contracting. A graduate degree in a related business discipline is required. Compensation is dependent upon qualifications of the selected candidate. http://www.ncmajobs.com/jobs#/detail/3490054.
This position works out of NCMA's Ashburn, Virginia office, and requires some domestic travel (4-5 trips annually). NCMA intends to fill the position no later than September 30, 2010. To be considered, submit your resume and cover letter to [email protected].
Neal J. Couture, CPCM, Executive Director, National Contract Management Association (NCMA)
21740 Beaumeade Circle, Suite 125, Ashburn, Virginia 20147
http://www.ncmahq.org
More than 18,000 professionals enhance their knowledge and leverage opportunities in purchasing, procurement, project management, and contract management with the National Contract Management Association. Comprised of individual volunteer members and other professional groups from nonprofit, industry, and government, NCMA continues to provide unique resources for the contracting community. For 45 years, members have taken advantage of NCMA membership benefits to advance their careers. Practical, proven survival techniques and industry news help members stay informed about current contract management events. NCMA continues to provide vital information about the field through the association’s prestigious publications, educational materials, and professional resources. NCMA’s vision is to be the contract management profession’s lead representative and association of choice. http://www.ncmahq.org/
NCMA Seeking A Full Time Chief Knowledge Officer
Are you ready for a new and unique challenge? Have you accomplished much in the contract management field, but want to try something different while leveraging your accumulated professional expertise and experience? Maybe it's time for you to join the voice of the contract management profession - the National Contract Management Association.
NCMA is searching for an experienced contract management professional to lead our content development and management programs. Working independently, and in cooperation with NCMA's staff, contractors and volunteers, the CKO is responsible for ensuring NCMA members and customers receive the most timely, relevant and highest-quality information possible, through its many programs, products and services. The CKO serves as the senior contract management expert on staff. Specific programs you will be involved in include NCMA's world-class educational conferences, educational courses, publications, research reports, standards and best practices development, and advocacy for the profession.
To succeed in this position, you must have extensive knowledge and understanding of the U.S. federal acquisition system, and have extremely strong writing and public speaking skills. As you will represent NCMA and its members to a variety of agencies, the media and other organizations, you must excel at establishing and maintaining professional relationships. Qualification requirements include at least 10 years progressively responsible experience in contract management, with expertise in U.S. federal contracting. A graduate degree in a related business discipline is required. Compensation is dependent upon qualifications of the selected candidate. http://www.ncmajobs.com/jobs#/detail/3490054.
This position works out of NCMA's Ashburn, Virginia office, and requires some domestic travel (4-5 trips annually). NCMA intends to fill the position no later than September 30, 2010. To be considered, submit your resume and cover letter to [email protected].
Neal J. Couture, CPCM, Executive Director, National Contract Management Association (NCMA)
21740 Beaumeade Circle, Suite 125, Ashburn, Virginia 20147
http://www.ncmahq.org
Wizard of Osborne, An Officer & Gentleman
Renaissance Man, Leutrell Osborne, Sr. is ready for that "new and unique challenge" offered by NCMA. He has a diverse management background, including that of a Spy Manager (CIA Case Officer). His unique qualifications and life experience, in and out of government service, make him a qualified applicant. An inspiring public speaker and avid networker, he is a relentless lobbyist and community service advocate, working in several arenas, both within his local community, (the larger Annapolis/DC area), and nationally.
Polished and cosmopolitan, Osborne knows that Knowledge is built on experience and opens a window on the future. He knows the value of EQ as well as IQ. He places a high premium on knowledge, including spiritual knowledge, realizing it cannot remain separate from our daily life activities. The spiritual elements of humanity challenge us to let our highest creative potential emerge. Spirit flowers in self-knowledge. He understands the difference between optimal and maximal performance, realizing well-being is part of the administrative equation.
Human potential experts realize that there is an intuitive quintessential element beyond the rational that transcends intellectual and emotional acceptance. Insight is this kind of knowing. Knowledge Management (KM) comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in individuals or embedded in organizational processes or practice.
Knowledge is power, moreso, specialized knowledge, especially in a learning corporation. Osborne is well-acquainted with the Big Picture. His self-appointed "mission" extends to transnational issues, including systemic reform and information/cyber security. With a strong suit in Information Assurance, he not only knows how to handle sensitive data, he knows how to generate it. The US has trusted him to do so on many occasions and in many capacities.
Osborne currently works in the capacity of Chief Visionary Officer for Leutrell Osborne Group, mentoring and placing qualified SMEs in a variety of sensitive positions. TOG consists of professionals drawn not only from the intelligence world, but from the value-added disciplines of multimedia, the legal profession, financial regulation, investment banking, investigative journalism, diplomacy, government, law enforcement and social sciences. This well-rounded team is based in metropolitan Washington, D.C. and Annapolis, Md. with continued worldwide growth.
Where does a valuable Change Agent go after playing "Mr. Spock" to several Presidential "Capt. Kirks," guiding the ship of state? More than a bureaucrat over the arc of his career, Osborne has been a policy creator and exemplar. Knowledge is his business -- its procurement, execution and protection. Osborne is a highly trained Change Agent.
Over his career, this former CIA "Wizard of OZ," has pulled many rabbits out of hats, for his colleagues and the nation. Insightful management isn't magic but it may be that intuition gives his team the edge in any challenge. Knowledge is systemic, a marriage of processes and protocols. His capacity to "frame" problems leads to unique solutions that can be "translated" into many challenging arenas.
Osborne has the knowledge necessary for recruitment, securing the personnel and contracts that lead to positive transformation for our communities, country and the world. He has successfully navigated the global scene and confidently knows he could do the same for NCMA. He is an adept of persuading with authority. Some knowledge is 'universal,' translatable to a multitude of applications.
Leutrell Osborne is an advocate who actively supports many sociopolitical interests. With a keen understanding that the past and present create the future, Osborne is currently working on Boards successfully promoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other public memorials and organizing events commemorating the March On Washington. He also hosts weekly business lunches where mentors and peers network for enhanced performance and opportunities. He is a well-received public commentator, having appeared as an expert on CNN, BET TV, and numerous radio shows.
Polished and cosmopolitan, Osborne knows that Knowledge is built on experience and opens a window on the future. He knows the value of EQ as well as IQ. He places a high premium on knowledge, including spiritual knowledge, realizing it cannot remain separate from our daily life activities. The spiritual elements of humanity challenge us to let our highest creative potential emerge. Spirit flowers in self-knowledge. He understands the difference between optimal and maximal performance, realizing well-being is part of the administrative equation.
Human potential experts realize that there is an intuitive quintessential element beyond the rational that transcends intellectual and emotional acceptance. Insight is this kind of knowing. Knowledge Management (KM) comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in individuals or embedded in organizational processes or practice.
Knowledge is power, moreso, specialized knowledge, especially in a learning corporation. Osborne is well-acquainted with the Big Picture. His self-appointed "mission" extends to transnational issues, including systemic reform and information/cyber security. With a strong suit in Information Assurance, he not only knows how to handle sensitive data, he knows how to generate it. The US has trusted him to do so on many occasions and in many capacities.
Osborne currently works in the capacity of Chief Visionary Officer for Leutrell Osborne Group, mentoring and placing qualified SMEs in a variety of sensitive positions. TOG consists of professionals drawn not only from the intelligence world, but from the value-added disciplines of multimedia, the legal profession, financial regulation, investment banking, investigative journalism, diplomacy, government, law enforcement and social sciences. This well-rounded team is based in metropolitan Washington, D.C. and Annapolis, Md. with continued worldwide growth.
Where does a valuable Change Agent go after playing "Mr. Spock" to several Presidential "Capt. Kirks," guiding the ship of state? More than a bureaucrat over the arc of his career, Osborne has been a policy creator and exemplar. Knowledge is his business -- its procurement, execution and protection. Osborne is a highly trained Change Agent.
Over his career, this former CIA "Wizard of OZ," has pulled many rabbits out of hats, for his colleagues and the nation. Insightful management isn't magic but it may be that intuition gives his team the edge in any challenge. Knowledge is systemic, a marriage of processes and protocols. His capacity to "frame" problems leads to unique solutions that can be "translated" into many challenging arenas.
Osborne has the knowledge necessary for recruitment, securing the personnel and contracts that lead to positive transformation for our communities, country and the world. He has successfully navigated the global scene and confidently knows he could do the same for NCMA. He is an adept of persuading with authority. Some knowledge is 'universal,' translatable to a multitude of applications.
Leutrell Osborne is an advocate who actively supports many sociopolitical interests. With a keen understanding that the past and present create the future, Osborne is currently working on Boards successfully promoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other public memorials and organizing events commemorating the March On Washington. He also hosts weekly business lunches where mentors and peers network for enhanced performance and opportunities. He is a well-received public commentator, having appeared as an expert on CNN, BET TV, and numerous radio shows.
Qualified Transformation Agent
CKO: The CKO should actively manage all stages of the knowledge life-cycle, but most importantly encourage people to disseminate knowledge, and to use it. The last step of the cycle involves re-evaluating assumptions held by the organization and using these new assumptions with the knowledge created by the organization to create new knowledge. This process will generate innovative knowledge and allow the organization to produce innovative products and business processes. Other terms for CKO are for example knowledge manager, director intellectual capital (e.g. Scandia), director knowledge transfer (e.g. Buckman Laboratories) and knowledge asset manager (e.g. Dow Chemical).
CHANGE AGENTS: Research on champions or change agents typically examines the behaviors, attributes, and motivations of the individual leading the organizational change. As such, “championing” is understood as a near heroic venture by those with a near innate ability and expressed interest in such work. However, change leaders generally rely on the support of a team of employees and consultants.
The experience of the members of change teams is less well understood despite their role in introducing, legitimating, and managing change among the rank and file of the organization. Interviews with full-time members of change teams reveal that they do not begin as skilled, motivated agents of change but rather they undergo extensive training and, in many cases, describe themselves as having experienced a personal transformation during their intense involvement in the change activities. The findings suggest that organizations, in the pursuit of change, produce change agents and that these change agents seek opportunities in the labor market that allow them to continue this work – initiating, championing, and implementing business process management – in other organizations.
WHY Leutrell Osborne, Sr. for NCMA's CKO?
Osborne characterizes himself as, “a living a transformation and change agent from the world of espionage that can improve the NCMA.” The story of his life as THE BLACK MAN IN THE CIA is currently in press and recounts the inspirational details of his rise within the Agency. He cites his decades of varied experience, mentoring and activism:
1939-1951 Birth, mother, father, WDC, light skinned black man w/o money- At age 12, he was inspired by his mother working at CIA; he got the vision to get a job at CIA and become a Spy Manager.
1952-1957 – Inspirational life involved in participating in changes like reduction of segregation barriers especially in high school; self taught photography skills got him hired by CIA as well; he eloped, marrying a wonderful life partner Rose Marie Battle Osborne who enabled them to have six children, raise 11 other children and stay married 52 years.
1957-1968 From the CIA’s DO, "Mike" Osborne became a CIA Case Officer w/o a college degree and graduated from the CIA’s Career Training Program (CTP) after having a tour abroad in the Far Northern Country (FNC) that enabled him with his family to serve as genuine change agents, including actually meeting and talking with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rose talked with Coretta while Leutrell spoke with Dr. King for over one hour at the US Ambassadors reception for Dr. King, Jr. after King received his Nobel Peace Prize.
1968-1972 Acquired language and college degree overcoming obstacles that mentoring "godfathers and mothers" helped resolve. He learned by example to mentor others.
1972-1974- Latin American tour as Case Officer involved in clandestine service change management and accomplishing firsts in tech operations, agent access opportunities and even sending out information that was from a tech op that become a formal CIA intelligence dissemination to the NIC.
1974-1976 While holding down a significant position as CI for Central America, Osborne was selected to be an adviser to two CIA Directors: Colby and “daddy” Bush 41. These opportunities enabled him to serve as a transformation agent while being on the DCI’s EEO Advisory Panel that brought greater equality to the CIA. That advisory opportunity was extra-curricula and enabled him to have the same vantage point on the CIA as the DCIs. Thus, from this platform, he made a historic decision and moved to desegregate the management of CIA’s Office of Communication and became a Communications Security (COMSEC) officer.
Osborne led a transformation team in COMMO and again advised another DCI Admiral Stansfield Turner. Two of their recommendations impacted NIC telecommunications and creation of CIA’s move to separate telecommunications and information management. One of the other significant events was the participation in the NIC’s decision to no longer depend on host government’s to provide protection for US Embassies and personnel but for the USA to include such matters in NIC protection of US property and personnel.
1976-1981 As the only known CIA Spy Manager with six years COMSEC experience, Osborne was able to transfer the NIC especially on improving NIC tech information across agencies and departments.
1982-1984 As Chief CI for the Directorate of Operation’s Libya Branch, again Osborne was well-positioned to use past transformation experiences especially knowledge of CIA Commo to improve the DO’s handling of vital and important raw information from the field so that it went through the maze of barriers easier and faster to the NIC customer.
1984-1988 Private sector experiences as an international food broker, commercial mortgage broker and security and sales director for one of the few Black owned armored car companies in the world provided more experiences and insights into what works and what does not work. Osborne even had the experience of working with the FBI to investigate a million dollar armored car robbery.
1988-1994 Return to govt via tempo jobs at the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in l988 and l989. The latter OPM opportunity besides serving as the platform to continue as a change agent allowed Osborne to re-enter government service but now in government procurement as an advocate for small business owners, He began learning and keeping book on many things, but the government vertical systems that don’t work such as Equal Employment Opportunity and the Inspector General enabled some of us to gain greater understanding of government barriers and challenges to equality and justice. With the peer election of Osborne to serve as the Director OSDBU, He and other key other government employees worked through Public Law 95-507 to even improve Congressional understanding of the adversities impacting small business. The OSDBU Director experiences resulted in Osborne assisting in the creation of FAR Part 10 which was part of the stimulus that eliminated my OPM job as Director OSDBU when I retired in l994.
1994-2010 Performing as a “sales consultant” guiding companies in Marketing to the Government (MTG). Note that these 16 years of private sector procurement experience and the prior five (5) years inside of government with several significant transformation managements surely enabled Osborne to influence government to improve contracting for small business owners while these same events also helped set the stage for much of the current government success with government contracting preference programs today.
In conclusion, the family “relationship” responsibilities for over 50 years of marriage as well as various leadership roles in the Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus enabled Leutrell "Mike" Osborne, Sr. to gain significant insight and sensitivity for community stake holder expectations that further assisted him in becoming the transformation agent SME he is today.
Thus, Osborne feels feels he epitomizes the transformational leader. If we examine the overview of Transformational Leadership Theory, we see he fulfills the criteria and has experience in each segment.
CHANGE AGENTS: Research on champions or change agents typically examines the behaviors, attributes, and motivations of the individual leading the organizational change. As such, “championing” is understood as a near heroic venture by those with a near innate ability and expressed interest in such work. However, change leaders generally rely on the support of a team of employees and consultants.
The experience of the members of change teams is less well understood despite their role in introducing, legitimating, and managing change among the rank and file of the organization. Interviews with full-time members of change teams reveal that they do not begin as skilled, motivated agents of change but rather they undergo extensive training and, in many cases, describe themselves as having experienced a personal transformation during their intense involvement in the change activities. The findings suggest that organizations, in the pursuit of change, produce change agents and that these change agents seek opportunities in the labor market that allow them to continue this work – initiating, championing, and implementing business process management – in other organizations.
WHY Leutrell Osborne, Sr. for NCMA's CKO?
Osborne characterizes himself as, “a living a transformation and change agent from the world of espionage that can improve the NCMA.” The story of his life as THE BLACK MAN IN THE CIA is currently in press and recounts the inspirational details of his rise within the Agency. He cites his decades of varied experience, mentoring and activism:
1939-1951 Birth, mother, father, WDC, light skinned black man w/o money- At age 12, he was inspired by his mother working at CIA; he got the vision to get a job at CIA and become a Spy Manager.
1952-1957 – Inspirational life involved in participating in changes like reduction of segregation barriers especially in high school; self taught photography skills got him hired by CIA as well; he eloped, marrying a wonderful life partner Rose Marie Battle Osborne who enabled them to have six children, raise 11 other children and stay married 52 years.
1957-1968 From the CIA’s DO, "Mike" Osborne became a CIA Case Officer w/o a college degree and graduated from the CIA’s Career Training Program (CTP) after having a tour abroad in the Far Northern Country (FNC) that enabled him with his family to serve as genuine change agents, including actually meeting and talking with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rose talked with Coretta while Leutrell spoke with Dr. King for over one hour at the US Ambassadors reception for Dr. King, Jr. after King received his Nobel Peace Prize.
1968-1972 Acquired language and college degree overcoming obstacles that mentoring "godfathers and mothers" helped resolve. He learned by example to mentor others.
1972-1974- Latin American tour as Case Officer involved in clandestine service change management and accomplishing firsts in tech operations, agent access opportunities and even sending out information that was from a tech op that become a formal CIA intelligence dissemination to the NIC.
1974-1976 While holding down a significant position as CI for Central America, Osborne was selected to be an adviser to two CIA Directors: Colby and “daddy” Bush 41. These opportunities enabled him to serve as a transformation agent while being on the DCI’s EEO Advisory Panel that brought greater equality to the CIA. That advisory opportunity was extra-curricula and enabled him to have the same vantage point on the CIA as the DCIs. Thus, from this platform, he made a historic decision and moved to desegregate the management of CIA’s Office of Communication and became a Communications Security (COMSEC) officer.
Osborne led a transformation team in COMMO and again advised another DCI Admiral Stansfield Turner. Two of their recommendations impacted NIC telecommunications and creation of CIA’s move to separate telecommunications and information management. One of the other significant events was the participation in the NIC’s decision to no longer depend on host government’s to provide protection for US Embassies and personnel but for the USA to include such matters in NIC protection of US property and personnel.
1976-1981 As the only known CIA Spy Manager with six years COMSEC experience, Osborne was able to transfer the NIC especially on improving NIC tech information across agencies and departments.
1982-1984 As Chief CI for the Directorate of Operation’s Libya Branch, again Osborne was well-positioned to use past transformation experiences especially knowledge of CIA Commo to improve the DO’s handling of vital and important raw information from the field so that it went through the maze of barriers easier and faster to the NIC customer.
1984-1988 Private sector experiences as an international food broker, commercial mortgage broker and security and sales director for one of the few Black owned armored car companies in the world provided more experiences and insights into what works and what does not work. Osborne even had the experience of working with the FBI to investigate a million dollar armored car robbery.
1988-1994 Return to govt via tempo jobs at the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in l988 and l989. The latter OPM opportunity besides serving as the platform to continue as a change agent allowed Osborne to re-enter government service but now in government procurement as an advocate for small business owners, He began learning and keeping book on many things, but the government vertical systems that don’t work such as Equal Employment Opportunity and the Inspector General enabled some of us to gain greater understanding of government barriers and challenges to equality and justice. With the peer election of Osborne to serve as the Director OSDBU, He and other key other government employees worked through Public Law 95-507 to even improve Congressional understanding of the adversities impacting small business. The OSDBU Director experiences resulted in Osborne assisting in the creation of FAR Part 10 which was part of the stimulus that eliminated my OPM job as Director OSDBU when I retired in l994.
1994-2010 Performing as a “sales consultant” guiding companies in Marketing to the Government (MTG). Note that these 16 years of private sector procurement experience and the prior five (5) years inside of government with several significant transformation managements surely enabled Osborne to influence government to improve contracting for small business owners while these same events also helped set the stage for much of the current government success with government contracting preference programs today.
In conclusion, the family “relationship” responsibilities for over 50 years of marriage as well as various leadership roles in the Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus enabled Leutrell "Mike" Osborne, Sr. to gain significant insight and sensitivity for community stake holder expectations that further assisted him in becoming the transformation agent SME he is today.
Thus, Osborne feels feels he epitomizes the transformational leader. If we examine the overview of Transformational Leadership Theory, we see he fulfills the criteria and has experience in each segment.
CKO
A Chief Knowledge Officer is a senior executive who is responsible for ensuring that an organization maximizes the value it achieves through one of its most important assets - knowledge. Although only a few companies have people with this explicit title, those with similar responsibilities include Director of Intellectual Capital, Director of Innovation. The role of a CKO is broader and different than CIO (Chief Information Officer).
You need a CKO to:
A chief knowledge officer (CKO) is an organizational leader, responsible for ensuring that the organization maximizes the value it achieves through "knowledge". The CKO is responsible for managing intellectual capital and the custodian of Knowledge Management practices in an organization. [1]CKO is not just a relabelling of the title "chief information officer" - the CKO role is much broader. CKOs can help an organization maximize the returns on investment in knowledge (people, processes and intellectual capital), exploit their intangible assets (know-how, patents, customer relationships), repeat successes, share best practices, improve innovation, and avoid knowledge loss after organizational restructuring.
CKO responsibilities include such things as:Collecting relevant data that is useful for the organization as knowledge
Sunassee and Sewry[2] argue that top management needs to create and share a vision for the knowledge management initiative. The vision is the long-term strategy that will drive the knowledge management initiative and provide the scope within which the knowledge management effort and the organization will grow. The vision should also encompass the core beliefs and values of the organization.
The creation of the vision can be done in two ways. Top management can either appoint a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO), who will create the vision, or they can create a vision and entrust the CKO to carry it out. It is extremely important at this point that the employees of the organization are allowed to share in the making of vision of the organization. This will create a sense of belonging for the employees, and allow them to participate in the change process. It will also make them accept the change process more readily than if they were not allowed to participate in it.
The views of the employees in the organizations should be considered and there should be a proper system created to share the views.
Knowledge life-cycle Sunassee and Sewry propose a knowledge life-cycle in order to create and maintain individual and organizational learning in the organization:
You need a CKO to:
- Maximize the returns on your investment in knowledge - people, processes and intellectual capital
- Exploit your intangible assets e.g. know-how, patents, customer relationships
- Repeat your successes and share best practices
- Improve your innovation - the commercialization of ideas
- Avoid knowledge loss and leakage after organizational restructuring.
A chief knowledge officer (CKO) is an organizational leader, responsible for ensuring that the organization maximizes the value it achieves through "knowledge". The CKO is responsible for managing intellectual capital and the custodian of Knowledge Management practices in an organization. [1]CKO is not just a relabelling of the title "chief information officer" - the CKO role is much broader. CKOs can help an organization maximize the returns on investment in knowledge (people, processes and intellectual capital), exploit their intangible assets (know-how, patents, customer relationships), repeat successes, share best practices, improve innovation, and avoid knowledge loss after organizational restructuring.
CKO responsibilities include such things as:Collecting relevant data that is useful for the organization as knowledge
- Developing an overall framework that guides knowledge management
- Actively promoting the knowledge agenda within and beyond the company
- Overseeing the development of the knowledge infrastructure
- Facilitating connections, coordination and communications.
Sunassee and Sewry[2] argue that top management needs to create and share a vision for the knowledge management initiative. The vision is the long-term strategy that will drive the knowledge management initiative and provide the scope within which the knowledge management effort and the organization will grow. The vision should also encompass the core beliefs and values of the organization.
The creation of the vision can be done in two ways. Top management can either appoint a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO), who will create the vision, or they can create a vision and entrust the CKO to carry it out. It is extremely important at this point that the employees of the organization are allowed to share in the making of vision of the organization. This will create a sense of belonging for the employees, and allow them to participate in the change process. It will also make them accept the change process more readily than if they were not allowed to participate in it.
The views of the employees in the organizations should be considered and there should be a proper system created to share the views.
Knowledge life-cycle Sunassee and Sewry propose a knowledge life-cycle in order to create and maintain individual and organizational learning in the organization:
- Create new knowledge
- Identify new knowledge
- Identify old and existing knowledge
- Identify knowledge relevant to organization
- Verify selected knowledge
- Capture and organize knowledge
- Disseminate and use knowledge
- Combine new knowledge and re-evaluate assumptions to create knowledge
- Encourage individual learning and innovative thinking
- Implement reward plans and incentives
- Determine what technology is needed for the knowledge management effort and implement these technologies.
- Put processes in place in order to facilitate the creation of organizational learning.
- Measure the impact of knowledge management on the business.
- CKO as Knowledge-sharing Icon
- CKO as Trust Steward
- CKO as Total Trainer
- CKO as Techno Nerd
- CKO as Number-crunching Accountant
- CKO as Playground Monitor
- ^ Dalkir, K, (2005). Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice. Jordan Hill, Oxford: Elsevier Inc. 330
- ^ Nakkiran N Sunassee and David A Sewry, “A Theoretical Framework for Knowledge Management Implementation”. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series; Vol. 30. Proceedings of the 2002 annual research conference of the South African institute of computer scientists and information technologists on Enablement through technology, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, p. 235 – 245. [1]
- ^ Bontis, N, (2001). CKO Wanted — Evangelical Skills Necessary: A Review of the Chief Knowledge Officer Position. Knowledge and Process Management, Volume 8, Number 1. pp 29–38
- ^ Unpublished private correspondence of this editor
- David Skyrme, Do you need a CKO
- National Library for Health Knowledge Management Specialist Library - collection of resources to support Chief Knowledge Officers.
- The US Army Knowledge Management CKO Resource Page Dr. Bob Nielson, Army Advisor to the CIO/CKO - Website of resources to support Chief Knowledge Officers.
TOG PRESS RELEASE: More Cloak, Less Dagger, by Iona Miller
MORE CLOAK & LESS DAGGER
CIA Veteran Leutrell Osborne says Covert Action is Obsolete
Can We Maintain Security with a Kinder, Gentler Intelligence Community?
also see http://voices.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/2010/07/odni_memos_outline_contracting.html
Annapolis, Md. June, 2010. “When did the DNI’s new leadership start determining that we had to give up rights so we can protect a vulnerability in our nation-state’s security? What is the real DNI agenda? When will the HUMINT capabilities be improved and increased? When will the funds be pulled from Covert Action intelligence operations so the funds can be used for greater results? Tell me when you news people will really get the more important stories going? ” –Leutrell Osborne, Sr.
“The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.” –Rilke
Leutrell Osborne, Sr. bids for Director of National Intelligence
June 7, 2010. Annapolis, Md. In late May of 2010, President Obama forced out his Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and began reevaluating the post, which is probably best led by a civilian, according to top lawmakers. “The president needs to decide what he wants the DNI to be,” Feinstein said, “and then work with the intelligence committees to see that the necessary authority is, in fact, in law.” It needs to be someone who can work with Directors of CIA, NSA and FBI, as well as the support agencies.
But, as of this writing, the President supports tough-sell candidate James Clapper, with his military background. Since retiring as a US Air Force general, he’s headed the Pentagon’s intelligence operations, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. But, he may lack Congressional support and credibility. Further the function of DNI, who doesn’t actually direct anything, needs to be clarified by Congress. Legislation is required to increase the power of the position.
Clapper is a personal favorite of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who selected Clapper as undersecretary of Defense for intelligence in January 2007. When he stayed on in 2009, he became one of the few holdovers from the Bush administration in a top policy position.
Two former intelligence officials said the nomination of Clapper would send a signal that, by design or default, the administration was accepting a more limited mandate for the DNI than advocates for the position had in mind when Congress created the job in 2004 to address intelligence failures prior to the 9/11 attacks.
While Obama said Clapper would be his principal intelligence adviser, former officials said that task was increasingly in the hands of John Brennan, the White House’s Deputy National Security Adviser for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security.
It is sad that the Military Covert Actions intelligence umbrella now covers the NIC. It may be worse than what went on in the Soviet Union when the KGB and GRU did Covert Action intelligence operations. Given the oil chaos the US Govt has to regroup on all major fronts and that means even NIC CA.
Osborne wonders how things will get done especially knowing that the govt has two major internal weaknesses: each agency and department refuses to adequately collaborate with each other nor is there any tech system that works between the entities in the NIC. Today only big dog companies are being hired by the NIC agencies and departments without hope of solving the inability of the agencies and departments to communicate to one another with harmony.
Top Spook
The DNI needs to wear many hats to coordinate and deploy the 16 intelligence agencies and report those filtered results directly to the President. First and foremost he needs visionary insight to navigate through the turbulent waters of international sociopolical complications, as well as the diplomatic power to mesh all the powerful players involved in the National Intelligence Community (NIC).
An effective DNI needs credibility to get the job done and the clout to determine and execute direction. He needs the capacity to mobilize and transform the Draconian bureaucracy. He even needs to be able to stand up to the President, helping him navigate and course correct the ship of State.
One intent in establishing the DNI was to gain control of the budgets of the 16 agencies and departments of the NIC. Congress was previously unable to handle budget issues of the NIC. Hence, Congress created the DNI layer of management over the NIC.
As in Rilke’s line, “The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens,” the future has entered Leutrell Osborne, Sr. Advocating the ethical High Road, he would like to bring transformation to the NIC’s clandestine intelligence operations while balancing equities of governance with stakeholders and career government employees. In short, US foreign policy can be improved by re-inventing the NIC especially regarding “Covert Action (CA) intelligence operations.”
The creation of the DNI has been a transformational and very tumultuous time for the intelligence community and particularly the CIA. When you ask somebody to do so much transformational change, often it makes sense to let somebody then take the agency forward from there.
Osborne suggests he has “natural leadership qualities” with his “decades of experience in the intelligence community,” government and private business world. He suggests Intelligence needs to be more human. Humans provide the best intelligence. An extrovert and “relater,” he emphasizes the value of the human connection and even intuition. The county’s core needs are changing. Citizens are fed up with corrupt government, institutions and corporations.
Transformational Leadership
Osborne doesn’t mind admitting that transformational leaders need to listen to their Spirit and ethical conscience. He advocated against “dirty tricks” and for the moral/ethical approach during his tenure with CIA. CIA is somewhat infamous for an “ends justifies the means” attitude, but Osborne claims those ends simply aren’t met with “dirty tricks,” such as those chronicled in the book of greatest hits, CIA’s Family Jewels. So, we need to consider the real effects and rework our strategy.
HUMINT or human intelligence remains one of the best forms of clandestine intelligence trade crafts though other methods such as “TECHINT” continue to play a significant role in the nation-state’s effort to obtain so called secret information. The question remains, without Covert Action (CA) could the USA still have achieved what it has? This “change agent” says, “Yes, since there is little to no evidence indicating that CA ever worked, per se.”
The sequence of events prior to shooting wars remain questionable and may be where the next transformation needs to occur. That is, once the USA deals with reduction of CA it can press on more HUMINT and TECHINT clandestine operations. Please remember there is no need for CIA clandestine operations when the Department of State and our diplomats exchange overt information with other nation-states. Useful secrets are ‘captured’ or acquired on policies, scenarios and deployments, etc. through normal espionage.
Annapolis, Maryland resident, “Mike” Osborne, Sr. was a spymaster for the CIA. Case Officers function more like spy managers over independent contractors (agents, assets and recruits), overseeing select operations within their respective specialties. They are deployed periodically outside Langley as Field Officers.
Operations include three types: 1) Intelligence, or collection of information, 2) Counter Intelligence (CI) to prevent or stop foreign intrusion; and, 3) Covert Action (CA). Other CIA activities include analysis and projections. Osborne’s specialty was and still is CI – Counter Intelligence — the defensive “cloak” of “cloak and dagger.”
Intelligence is one form of control system. Other control systems on the minds of large populations include education (controls behavior), money (controls wealth), law (controls authority), politics (controls national will), economy (controls wealth), history (controls beliefs), psychology (controls thinking), philanthropy (controls opinion), medicine (controls health), religion (controls spiritual beliefs), media / propaganda (controls culture, opinion), and continuity of succession (controls power).
CIA is not the only intelligence agency deployed by and reporting to the U.S. President. There are now 16 intelligence collection agencies (IC) coordinated by the DNI. They include military intelligence, information operations (IO), satellite and electronic surveillance (SIGINT), science intelligence, even domestic spying and homeland security.
Osborne notes, “Law enforcement in the USA has to change and acquire some of the attributes of intelligence work. That’s why FBI SAs are now going to CIA for training. That’s why USA is fighting dirty tricks, aka CA, aka terrorism, formerly known as secret para-military warfare.”
“For the record,” Osborne says, “the continued preoccupation with reducing vulnerabilities is costly and just the opposite of what the “Osborne Ultimatum” recommends. We recommend more and improved HUMINT. Intelligence is a property of human beings.”
MORE CLOAK and LESS DAGGER
Osborne was trained in Transformational Leadership in both CIA and government contracting as a transformation agent. He would bring a Transformational Leadership approach to the position of DNI. His view of leadership transformational theory is one of reaching to higher moral positions without the pitfalls and conceptual weaknesses of charismatic leadership.
Osborne believes he can translate his CIA and business experience into an overview and coordination of the entire Intelligence Community and its administrative guidance needs in the rapidly shifting balance of world power.
Yet, he continuously questions the CIA’s transformation to a paramilitary organization. He also notes, while CIA was originally mandated to perform foreign espionage, Intelligence has now merged with domestic law enforcement in Fusion Centers that monitor and control the activities of US citizens.
The global war on terrorism has, if nothing else, renewed the discussion of when and how societies—especially those believing that they are constituted on some values more noble than the mere continuation of their governing regimes—can use violence or restrict (on security grounds) the liberties of their own citizens or persons they encounter from other countries, friendly, neutral, or hostile.
The military services have faced transformational decision points for centuries. We know how the right path to innovation, so easy to define in hindsight, frequently proves “too hard to do” even for devoted and capable professionals trapped in a framework of institutional loyalties and structures.
There could be an inverse rule between how much military SpecOps does and reduction in CIA CA, leaving CIA to focus on its specialties. The entire NIC does CA without genuine oversight. CIA has been the real agency that has previously received oversight after flaps. Spec Ops more than likely can be classified as CA ops. In the old days it would be secret para-military operations.
The creation of the DNI has been a transformational and very tumultuous time for the intelligence community and particularly the CIA. When you ask somebody to do so much transformational change, often it makes sense to let somebody then take the agency forward from there.
Dedicated to civil rights and protection of Constitutional law, Osborne has certain pet peeves that have prompted him to continue his own investigations into the injustices and truth of our nation’s clandestine history. His interests include what he calls more intelligent intelligence (HUMINT), the KKK Assassinations (JFK, RFK and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), 9/11, COINTELPRO, Covert Action (CA) oversight, and transnational crime including global drug trade.
Osborne was interviewed on national television channel BET the day after 9/11 with Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Anderson Cooper has also interviewed him on CNN about life in CIA when he assisted in the defense with lawyer Mark Zaid of a fellow Black CIA Case Officer (Jeffrey Sterling), who had lost his job. Osborne was also interviewed in Mike Ruppert’s book Crossing the Rubicon. He has championed many issues and been a valuable mentor and “godfather” to many.
Osborne’s personal story of his mother’s CIA employment and his own vocation was featured on CNN during Black History Month in February 2007 A highlight of his life was attending the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize for Martin Luther King, Jr. and a long conversation with the Civil Rights leader at the following reception. Dr. King was a very influential transformational leader and Osborne seeks to emulate him. But more than charisma and comprehension of task importance is needed to direct the IC of the United States and coordinate it with both military and law enforcement agendas
QUASI-MILITARY OPERATIONS
As a CIA veteran, Osborne sees the main conceptual weakness of CIA as its ineffective use of dangerous and expensive COVERT ACTION. Secret paramilitary activities within other nations have largely failed and cost the US in credibility and public opinion. Even the “most successful” operations during the Soviet War in Afghanistan have blown back upon the US which is now mired in a similar stalemate.
CIA is now taking on bigger and riskier roles in the Front Lines. In recent years the civilian spy agency has transformed into a paramilitary organization at the vanguard of America’s far-flung wars.
TARGET INTELLIGENCE
The C.I.A. has always had a paramilitary branch known as the Special Activities Division, which secretly engaged in the kinds of operations more routinely carried out by Special Operations troops. But the branch was a small — and seldom used — part of its operations.
That changed after Sept. 11, 2001, when President George W. Bush gave the agency expanded authority to capture or kill Qaeda operatives around the world. Since then, Washington has relied much more on the Special Activities Division because battling suspected terrorists does not involve fighting other armies. Rather, it involves secretly moving in and out of countries like Pakistan and Somalia where the American military is not legally allowed to operate.
The fact that the agency is in effect running a war in Pakistan is the culmination of one of the most significant shifts in the C.I.A.’s history. But the agency has at times struggled with this new role. It established a network of secret overseas jails where terrorist suspects were subjected to brutal interrogation techniques, and it set up an assassination program that at one point was outsourced to employees of a private security company, then known as Blackwater USA.
Some longtime agency officers bristled at what they saw as the militarization of the C.I.A., worrying that it was straying too far from its historical missions of espionage and intelligence analysis.
When he took office, President Obama scaled back the C.I.A.’s counterterrorism mission, but only to a point. He ordered that C.I.A. prisons be shut and that C.I.A officers no longer play a role in interrogating suspects accused of terrorist acts. At the same time, the administration accelerated the C.I.A.’s drone campaign, using Predator and Reaper aircraft to launch missiles and rockets against militants in Pakistan.
HUMINT
Human intelligence is the collection of intelligence from human sources, including defectors, voluntary sources, spies recruited to betray their country or organization, prisoners, diplomats, information from allied or liaison intelligence services.
The US needs to reconfigure how it uses HUMINT tools by examining their effectiveness in the recruitment-centered model. When using this tool, the collecting agency finds a member of an adversarial group with access to important information. He then turn him or her into a spy by building a personal relationship and eventually popping the question, “Will you spy for me?”
Back pocket agents are nefarious agents or assets, loosely associated to the Company. The key is an “agent” has a narrow meaning and in the espionage business one ought not use words and terms that are loosey-goosey. An agent generally is paid and proven. An asset may not be paid nor in agreement with the nation state.
This model dominates since the Cold War, when spying followed fairly predictable guidelines. The organizational solution to the question of penetration was to rely on finding agents ‘in-place’ and to develop an approach in which agent recruitment played the fundamental role in HUMINT operations. However, even using ‘in-place’ sources had its difficulties. The normal process of developing and managing a HUMINT source consists of a cycle of Spotting, Assessing, Recruiting, Handling, and Terminating an asset In the Recruitment Cycle.
Driving this is an organizational culture that elevates recruiting in the hearts and minds of the Clandestine Service cadre. Career paths are driven by asset and agent recruiting, ‘hallway reputation,’ and ‘scalp-hunting,’ which measures performance for promotions. The highest value is given to recruiting and personality traits that facilitate it. In the Cold War that meant infiltrating the diplomatic scene of embassies and consulates under the guise of ‘official cover’ – cover where an officer’s affiliation with the US is not concealed, but his or her status as an intelligence officer is.
Intelligence liason in the War on Terror is necessarily more difficult, due to access to cultural groups, de-centralization of authority, and heavy need for collection on terrorist targets. Liason with foreign security units is crucial, actually better understood as a form of subcontracted intelligence collection based on barter.
Thus, liaison for the purpose of HUMINT collection is essentially “outsourcing the task of penetration,” an approach upon which the CIA appears to regularly lean when collecting on terrorists. Herein lies liaison’s greatest weakness – that we cannot control it. In a liaison partnership, HUMINT officers may be afforded access to a captured terrorist, or made aware of or allowed to participate in the partner service’s surveillance.
THE PROBLEM
WAR, ETHICS & TERROR
Issue No. 1
US intelligence needs to be reinvented and transformed, especially Covert Action intelligence operations in all of the various aspects called “dirty tricks.” Tighter oversight and accountability with improved end results are required. Accountability boards are not enough. One still has to measure the failed Covert Action intelligence for “blowback.”
Issue No. 2
No nation-state currently polices transnational crime, which is a growing threat. Failure to provide adequate Human Intelligence (HUMINT) is a true weakness in the USA system. Most policy decisions are not based on hard HUMINT sourced information but other so-called facts and truths open to spin and interpretation. Senator Jay Rockefeller, Chairman of Select Committee on Intelligence claimed congressional oversight has increased about 100% since 9/11, but that program is now strangled.
Issue No. 3
The shadow of the Shadow Government, including domestic spying and assassinations, needs to be revealed to the American people and the world so we can finally heal. We must take responsibility for that shadow..
Issue No. 4
Our Constitutional rights are under attack, including the First Amendment. Free speech, the right to assembly, and freedom of the press are in jeopardy. It will be illegal to disagree with government policy, even with patriotic dissent. We’ve traded our democracy for corporate feudalism.
Issue No. 5
A serious consequence, the breakdown in credibility between the U.S. government and its citizenry, needs to be addressed, as well as increasing militarization of police and unwarranted surveillance of US citizens. The breakdown of domestic relations is a serious issue, perhaps concealing further manipulations. Those hunting the truth continue to press for disclosure from all knowledgeable sources.
WHY Leutrell Osborne, Sr.?
Osborne characterizes himself as, “a living a transformation and change agent from the world of espionage that can improve the DNI.” The story of his life as THE BLACK MAN IN THE CIA is currently in press and recounts the inspirational details of his rise within the Agency. He cites his decades of varied experience, mentoring and activism:
1939-1951 Birth, mother, father, WDC, light skinned black man w/o money- then at 12 mother working at CIA when he got the vision to get a job at CIA and become a Spy Manager.
1952-1957 – Inspirational life involved in participating in changes like reduction of segregation barriers especially in high school and self taught photography skills that got me hired by CIA as well as eloping and marrying a wonderful life partner Rose Marie Battle Osborne who enabled us to have six children, raise 11 other children and stay married 52 years.
1957-1968 From the CIA’s DO become CIA Case Officer w/o a college degree and graduate from the CIA’s Career Training Program (CTP) after having a tour abroad in the Far Northern Country (FNC) that enabled the family and me to serve as genuine change agents, including actually meeting and talking with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rose talked with Coretta while I was talking to Dr. King for over one hour at the US Ambassadors reception for Dr. King, Jr.
1968-1972 Acquiring language and college degree overcoming obstacles that godfathers and mothers helped me resolve.
1972-1974- Latin American tour as Case Officer involved in clandestine service change management and accomplishing firsts in tech operations, agent access opportunities and even sending out information that was from a tech op that become a formal CIA intelligence dissemination to the NIC.
1974-1976 While holding down a significant position as CI for Central America, I was selected to be an advisor to two CIA Directors: Colby and “daddy” Bush 41. These opportunities enabled me to serve as a transformation agent while being on the DCI’s EEO Advisory Panel that brought greater equality to the CIA. That advisory opportunity was extra-curricula and enabled me to have the same vantage point on the CIA as the DCIs. Thus, from this platform, I made the decision and move to desegregate the management of CIA’s Office of Communication and I became a Communications Security (COMSEC) officer.
I led a transformation team in COMMO and again advised another DCI Admiral Stansfield Turner. Two of our recommendations impacted NIC telecommunications and creation of CIA’s move to separate telecommunications and information management. One of the other significant events was the participation in the NIC’s decision to no longer depend on host government’s to provide protection for US Embassies and personnel but for the USA to include such matters in NIC protection of US property and personnel.
1976-1981 As the only known CIA Spy Manager with six years COMSEC experience, I was able to transfer the NIC especially on improving NIC tech information across agencies and departments.
1982-1984 As Chief CI for the Directorate of Operation’s Libya Branch, again I was position to use past transformation experiences especially knowledge of CIA Commo to improving the DO’s handling of vital and important raw information from the field so that it went through the maze of barriers easier and faster to the NIC customer.
1984-1988 Private sector experiences as an international food broker, commercial mortgage broker and security and sales director for one of the few Black owned armored car companies in the world provided more experiences and insights into what works and what does not work. I even had the experience of working with the FBI to investigate a million dollar armored car robbery.
1988-1994 Return to govt via tempo jobs at the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in l988 and l989. The latter OPM opportunity besides serving as the platform to continue as a change agent allowed me to re-enter government service but now in government procurement as an advocate for small business owners, I began learning and keeping book on many things, but the government vertical systems that don’t work such as Equal Employment Opportunity and the Inspector General enabled some of us to gain greater understanding of government barriers and challenges to equality and justice. With the peer election of me to serve as the Director OSDBU, I along with key other govt employees worked through Public Law 95-507 and even improved Congressional understanding of the adversities impacting small business. The OSDBU Director experiences resulted in my assisting in the creation of FAR Part 10 which was part of the stimulus that eliminated my OPM job as Director OSDBU when I retired in l994.
1994-2010 Performing as a “sales consultant” guiding companies in Marketing to the Government (MTG). Note that these 16 years of private sector procurement experience and the prior five (5) years inside of government with several significant transformation managements surely enabled me to influence government to improve contracting for small business owners while these same events also helped set the stage for much of the current government success with government contracting preference programs today.
In conclusion, the family “relationship” responsibilities for over 50 years of marriage as well as various leadership roles in the Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus enabled me to gain significant insight and sensitivity for community stake holder expectations that further assisted me in being the transformation agent that I am.
Thus, Osborne feels feels he epitomizes the transformational leader. If we examine the overview of Transformational Leadership Theory, we see he fulfills the criteria and has experience in each segment.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP: The Ties that “BOND”
Pulitzer Prize winner, James MacGregor Burns first brought the concept of transformational leadership to prominence in his extensive research into leadership. His key innovation in leadership theory was shifting away from studying the traits of great men and transactional management to focus on the interaction of leaders and led as collaborators working toward mutual benefit. He is best known for contributions to the Transformational, Aspirational and Visionary schools of leadership theory.
Excerpts from his book Leadership:
* Leadership over human beings is exercised when persons with certain motives and purposes mobilize, in competition or conflict with others, institutional, political, psychological, and other resources so as to arouse, engage, and satisfy the motives of followers… in order to realize goals mutually held by both leaders and followers….
* Transformational leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.
* That people can be lifted into their better selves is the secret of transforming leadership and the moral and practical theme of this work.
“Essentially the leader’s task is consciousness-raising on a wide plane. The leader’s fundamental act is to induce people to be aware or conscious of what they feel – to feel their true needs so strongly, to define their values so meaningfully, that they can be moved to purposeful action.”
In this leadership style, the leader enhances the motivation, moral and performance of his follower group. So according to MacGregor – transformational leadership is all about values and meaning, and a purpose that transcends short-term goals and focuses on higher order needs.
At times of organizational change, and big step change, people do feel insecure, anxious and low in energy – so in these situations and especially in these difficult times, enthusiasm and energy are infectious and inspiring. And yet so many organizational changes fail because leaders pay attention to the changes they are facing instead of the transitions people must make to accommodate them.
In Osborne’s view it is the responsibility of the director leading the change to supply an infusion of positive energy. The transformational approach also depends on winning the trust of people – which is made possible by the unconscious assumption that they too will be changed or transformed in some way by following the leader.
Bass defined transformational leadership in terms of how the leader affects followers, who are intended to trust, admire and respect the transformational leader.
He identified three ways in which leaders transform followers:
* Increasing their awareness of task importance and value.
* Getting them to focus first on team or organizational goals, rather than their own interests.
* Activating their higher-order needs.
Bass has recently noted that authentic transformational leadership is grounded in moral foundations that are based on four components:
* Idealized influence
* Inspirational motivation
* Intellectual stimulation
* Individualized consideration
…and three moral aspects:
* The moral character of the leader.
* The ethical values embedded in the leader’s vision, articulation, and program (which followers either embrace or reject).
* The morality of the processes of social ethical choice and action that leaders and followers engage in and collectively pursue.
The four components of the transformational leadership style are:
(1) Charisma or idealized influence – the degree to which the leader behaves in admirable ways and displays convictions and takes stands that cause followers to identify with the leader who has a clear set of values and acts as a role model for the followers. Idealized Influence provides a role model for high ethical behavior, instills pride, gains respect and trust. Charisma is seen as necessary, but not sufficient, for example in the way that charismatic movie stars may not make good leaders. Two key charismatic effects that transformational leaders achieve is to evoke strong emotions and to cause identification of the followers with the leader. This may be through stirring appeals. It may also may occur through quieter methods such as coaching and mentoring.
(2) Inspirational motivation – the degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appeals to and inspires the followers with optimism about future goals, and offers meaning for the current tasks in hand. Inspirational Motivation – the degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appealing and inspiring to followers. Leaders with inspirational motivation challenge followers with high standards, communicate optimism about future goals, and provide meaning for the task at hand. Followers need to have a strong sense of purpose if they are to be motivated to act. Purpose and meaning provide the energy that drives a group forward. The visionary aspects of leadership are supported by communication skills that make the vision understandable, precise, powerful and engaging. The followers are willing to invest more effort in their tasks, they are encouraged and optimistic about the future and believe in their abilities.
(3) Intellectual stimulation – the degree to which the leader challenges assumptions, stimulates and encourages creativity in the followers – by providing a framework for followers to see how they connect [to the leader, the organization, each other, and the goal] they can creatively overcome any obstacles in the way of the mission. Intellectual Stimulation includes the degree to which the leader challenges assumptions, takes risks and solicits followers’ ideas. Leaders with this style stimulate and encourage creativity in their followers. They nurture and develop people who think independently. For such a leader, learning is a value and unexpected situations are seen as opportunities to learn. The followers ask questions, think deeply about things and figure out better ways to execute their tasks.
(4) Personal and individual attention – the degree to which the leader attends to each individual follower’s needs and acts as a mentor or coach and gives respect to and appreciation of the individual’s contribution to the team. This fulfills and enhances each individual team members’ need for self-fulfillment, and self-worth – and in so doing inspires followers to further achievement and growth. Individualized Consideration includes the degree to which the leader attends to each follower’s needs, acts as a mentor or coach to the follower and listens to the follower’s concerns and needs. The leader gives empathy and support, keeps communication open and places challenges before the followers. This also encompasses the need for respect and celebrates the individual contribution that each follower can make to the team. The followers have a will and aspirations for self development and have intrinsic motivation for their tasks.
Transformational leadership applied in a change management context, is ideally suited to the holistic and wide view perspective of a program based approach to change management and as such is key element of successful strategies for managing change.
Yukl (1994) draws some tips for transformational leadership
1. Develop a challenging and attractive vision, together with the employees.
2. Tie the vision to a strategy for its achievement.
3. Develop the vision, specify and translate it to actions.
4. Express confidence, decisiveness and optimism about the vision and its implementation.
5. Realize the vision through small planned steps and small successes in the path for its full implementation.
Transformational leadership is defined as a leadership approach that creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. A transformational leader focuses on “transforming” others to help each other, to look out for each other, to be encouraging and harmonious, and to look out for the organization as a whole.
With this leadership, the leader enhances the motivation, morale and performance of his followers through a variety of mechanisms. These include connecting the follower’s sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers that inspires them; challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimizes their performance.
This is in contrast with pseudo-transformational leadership, where, for example, in-group/out-group
‘us and them’ games are used to bond followers to the leader.
CHANGE AGENTS: Research on champions or change agents typically examines the behaviors, attributes, and motivations of the individual leading the organizational change. As such, “championing” is understood as a near heroic venture by those with a near innate ability and expressed interest in such work. However, change leaders generally rely on the support of a team of employees and consultants.
The experience of the members of change teams is less well understood despite their role in introducing, legitimating, and managing change among the rank and file of the organization. Interviews with full-time members of change teams reveal that they do not begin as skilled, motivated agents of change but rather they undergo extensive training and, in many cases, describe themselves as having experienced a personal transformation during their intense involvement in the change activities. The findings suggest that organizations, in the pursuit of change, produce change agents and that these change agents seek opportunities in the labor market that allow them to continue this work – initiating, championing, and implementing business process management – in other organizations.
Tags: Leutrell Osborne, CIA, Sr., DNI, intelligence, US policy
MORE CLOAK & LESS DAGGER
CIA Veteran Leutrell Osborne says Covert Action is Obsolete
Can We Maintain Security with a Kinder, Gentler Intelligence Community?
also see http://voices.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/2010/07/odni_memos_outline_contracting.html
Annapolis, Md. June, 2010. “When did the DNI’s new leadership start determining that we had to give up rights so we can protect a vulnerability in our nation-state’s security? What is the real DNI agenda? When will the HUMINT capabilities be improved and increased? When will the funds be pulled from Covert Action intelligence operations so the funds can be used for greater results? Tell me when you news people will really get the more important stories going? ” –Leutrell Osborne, Sr.
“The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.” –Rilke
Leutrell Osborne, Sr. bids for Director of National Intelligence
June 7, 2010. Annapolis, Md. In late May of 2010, President Obama forced out his Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and began reevaluating the post, which is probably best led by a civilian, according to top lawmakers. “The president needs to decide what he wants the DNI to be,” Feinstein said, “and then work with the intelligence committees to see that the necessary authority is, in fact, in law.” It needs to be someone who can work with Directors of CIA, NSA and FBI, as well as the support agencies.
But, as of this writing, the President supports tough-sell candidate James Clapper, with his military background. Since retiring as a US Air Force general, he’s headed the Pentagon’s intelligence operations, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. But, he may lack Congressional support and credibility. Further the function of DNI, who doesn’t actually direct anything, needs to be clarified by Congress. Legislation is required to increase the power of the position.
Clapper is a personal favorite of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who selected Clapper as undersecretary of Defense for intelligence in January 2007. When he stayed on in 2009, he became one of the few holdovers from the Bush administration in a top policy position.
Two former intelligence officials said the nomination of Clapper would send a signal that, by design or default, the administration was accepting a more limited mandate for the DNI than advocates for the position had in mind when Congress created the job in 2004 to address intelligence failures prior to the 9/11 attacks.
While Obama said Clapper would be his principal intelligence adviser, former officials said that task was increasingly in the hands of John Brennan, the White House’s Deputy National Security Adviser for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security.
It is sad that the Military Covert Actions intelligence umbrella now covers the NIC. It may be worse than what went on in the Soviet Union when the KGB and GRU did Covert Action intelligence operations. Given the oil chaos the US Govt has to regroup on all major fronts and that means even NIC CA.
Osborne wonders how things will get done especially knowing that the govt has two major internal weaknesses: each agency and department refuses to adequately collaborate with each other nor is there any tech system that works between the entities in the NIC. Today only big dog companies are being hired by the NIC agencies and departments without hope of solving the inability of the agencies and departments to communicate to one another with harmony.
Top Spook
The DNI needs to wear many hats to coordinate and deploy the 16 intelligence agencies and report those filtered results directly to the President. First and foremost he needs visionary insight to navigate through the turbulent waters of international sociopolical complications, as well as the diplomatic power to mesh all the powerful players involved in the National Intelligence Community (NIC).
An effective DNI needs credibility to get the job done and the clout to determine and execute direction. He needs the capacity to mobilize and transform the Draconian bureaucracy. He even needs to be able to stand up to the President, helping him navigate and course correct the ship of State.
One intent in establishing the DNI was to gain control of the budgets of the 16 agencies and departments of the NIC. Congress was previously unable to handle budget issues of the NIC. Hence, Congress created the DNI layer of management over the NIC.
As in Rilke’s line, “The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens,” the future has entered Leutrell Osborne, Sr. Advocating the ethical High Road, he would like to bring transformation to the NIC’s clandestine intelligence operations while balancing equities of governance with stakeholders and career government employees. In short, US foreign policy can be improved by re-inventing the NIC especially regarding “Covert Action (CA) intelligence operations.”
The creation of the DNI has been a transformational and very tumultuous time for the intelligence community and particularly the CIA. When you ask somebody to do so much transformational change, often it makes sense to let somebody then take the agency forward from there.
Osborne suggests he has “natural leadership qualities” with his “decades of experience in the intelligence community,” government and private business world. He suggests Intelligence needs to be more human. Humans provide the best intelligence. An extrovert and “relater,” he emphasizes the value of the human connection and even intuition. The county’s core needs are changing. Citizens are fed up with corrupt government, institutions and corporations.
Transformational Leadership
Osborne doesn’t mind admitting that transformational leaders need to listen to their Spirit and ethical conscience. He advocated against “dirty tricks” and for the moral/ethical approach during his tenure with CIA. CIA is somewhat infamous for an “ends justifies the means” attitude, but Osborne claims those ends simply aren’t met with “dirty tricks,” such as those chronicled in the book of greatest hits, CIA’s Family Jewels. So, we need to consider the real effects and rework our strategy.
HUMINT or human intelligence remains one of the best forms of clandestine intelligence trade crafts though other methods such as “TECHINT” continue to play a significant role in the nation-state’s effort to obtain so called secret information. The question remains, without Covert Action (CA) could the USA still have achieved what it has? This “change agent” says, “Yes, since there is little to no evidence indicating that CA ever worked, per se.”
The sequence of events prior to shooting wars remain questionable and may be where the next transformation needs to occur. That is, once the USA deals with reduction of CA it can press on more HUMINT and TECHINT clandestine operations. Please remember there is no need for CIA clandestine operations when the Department of State and our diplomats exchange overt information with other nation-states. Useful secrets are ‘captured’ or acquired on policies, scenarios and deployments, etc. through normal espionage.
Annapolis, Maryland resident, “Mike” Osborne, Sr. was a spymaster for the CIA. Case Officers function more like spy managers over independent contractors (agents, assets and recruits), overseeing select operations within their respective specialties. They are deployed periodically outside Langley as Field Officers.
Operations include three types: 1) Intelligence, or collection of information, 2) Counter Intelligence (CI) to prevent or stop foreign intrusion; and, 3) Covert Action (CA). Other CIA activities include analysis and projections. Osborne’s specialty was and still is CI – Counter Intelligence — the defensive “cloak” of “cloak and dagger.”
Intelligence is one form of control system. Other control systems on the minds of large populations include education (controls behavior), money (controls wealth), law (controls authority), politics (controls national will), economy (controls wealth), history (controls beliefs), psychology (controls thinking), philanthropy (controls opinion), medicine (controls health), religion (controls spiritual beliefs), media / propaganda (controls culture, opinion), and continuity of succession (controls power).
CIA is not the only intelligence agency deployed by and reporting to the U.S. President. There are now 16 intelligence collection agencies (IC) coordinated by the DNI. They include military intelligence, information operations (IO), satellite and electronic surveillance (SIGINT), science intelligence, even domestic spying and homeland security.
Osborne notes, “Law enforcement in the USA has to change and acquire some of the attributes of intelligence work. That’s why FBI SAs are now going to CIA for training. That’s why USA is fighting dirty tricks, aka CA, aka terrorism, formerly known as secret para-military warfare.”
“For the record,” Osborne says, “the continued preoccupation with reducing vulnerabilities is costly and just the opposite of what the “Osborne Ultimatum” recommends. We recommend more and improved HUMINT. Intelligence is a property of human beings.”
MORE CLOAK and LESS DAGGER
Osborne was trained in Transformational Leadership in both CIA and government contracting as a transformation agent. He would bring a Transformational Leadership approach to the position of DNI. His view of leadership transformational theory is one of reaching to higher moral positions without the pitfalls and conceptual weaknesses of charismatic leadership.
Osborne believes he can translate his CIA and business experience into an overview and coordination of the entire Intelligence Community and its administrative guidance needs in the rapidly shifting balance of world power.
Yet, he continuously questions the CIA’s transformation to a paramilitary organization. He also notes, while CIA was originally mandated to perform foreign espionage, Intelligence has now merged with domestic law enforcement in Fusion Centers that monitor and control the activities of US citizens.
The global war on terrorism has, if nothing else, renewed the discussion of when and how societies—especially those believing that they are constituted on some values more noble than the mere continuation of their governing regimes—can use violence or restrict (on security grounds) the liberties of their own citizens or persons they encounter from other countries, friendly, neutral, or hostile.
The military services have faced transformational decision points for centuries. We know how the right path to innovation, so easy to define in hindsight, frequently proves “too hard to do” even for devoted and capable professionals trapped in a framework of institutional loyalties and structures.
There could be an inverse rule between how much military SpecOps does and reduction in CIA CA, leaving CIA to focus on its specialties. The entire NIC does CA without genuine oversight. CIA has been the real agency that has previously received oversight after flaps. Spec Ops more than likely can be classified as CA ops. In the old days it would be secret para-military operations.
The creation of the DNI has been a transformational and very tumultuous time for the intelligence community and particularly the CIA. When you ask somebody to do so much transformational change, often it makes sense to let somebody then take the agency forward from there.
Dedicated to civil rights and protection of Constitutional law, Osborne has certain pet peeves that have prompted him to continue his own investigations into the injustices and truth of our nation’s clandestine history. His interests include what he calls more intelligent intelligence (HUMINT), the KKK Assassinations (JFK, RFK and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), 9/11, COINTELPRO, Covert Action (CA) oversight, and transnational crime including global drug trade.
Osborne was interviewed on national television channel BET the day after 9/11 with Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Anderson Cooper has also interviewed him on CNN about life in CIA when he assisted in the defense with lawyer Mark Zaid of a fellow Black CIA Case Officer (Jeffrey Sterling), who had lost his job. Osborne was also interviewed in Mike Ruppert’s book Crossing the Rubicon. He has championed many issues and been a valuable mentor and “godfather” to many.
Osborne’s personal story of his mother’s CIA employment and his own vocation was featured on CNN during Black History Month in February 2007 A highlight of his life was attending the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize for Martin Luther King, Jr. and a long conversation with the Civil Rights leader at the following reception. Dr. King was a very influential transformational leader and Osborne seeks to emulate him. But more than charisma and comprehension of task importance is needed to direct the IC of the United States and coordinate it with both military and law enforcement agendas
QUASI-MILITARY OPERATIONS
As a CIA veteran, Osborne sees the main conceptual weakness of CIA as its ineffective use of dangerous and expensive COVERT ACTION. Secret paramilitary activities within other nations have largely failed and cost the US in credibility and public opinion. Even the “most successful” operations during the Soviet War in Afghanistan have blown back upon the US which is now mired in a similar stalemate.
CIA is now taking on bigger and riskier roles in the Front Lines. In recent years the civilian spy agency has transformed into a paramilitary organization at the vanguard of America’s far-flung wars.
TARGET INTELLIGENCE
The C.I.A. has always had a paramilitary branch known as the Special Activities Division, which secretly engaged in the kinds of operations more routinely carried out by Special Operations troops. But the branch was a small — and seldom used — part of its operations.
That changed after Sept. 11, 2001, when President George W. Bush gave the agency expanded authority to capture or kill Qaeda operatives around the world. Since then, Washington has relied much more on the Special Activities Division because battling suspected terrorists does not involve fighting other armies. Rather, it involves secretly moving in and out of countries like Pakistan and Somalia where the American military is not legally allowed to operate.
The fact that the agency is in effect running a war in Pakistan is the culmination of one of the most significant shifts in the C.I.A.’s history. But the agency has at times struggled with this new role. It established a network of secret overseas jails where terrorist suspects were subjected to brutal interrogation techniques, and it set up an assassination program that at one point was outsourced to employees of a private security company, then known as Blackwater USA.
Some longtime agency officers bristled at what they saw as the militarization of the C.I.A., worrying that it was straying too far from its historical missions of espionage and intelligence analysis.
When he took office, President Obama scaled back the C.I.A.’s counterterrorism mission, but only to a point. He ordered that C.I.A. prisons be shut and that C.I.A officers no longer play a role in interrogating suspects accused of terrorist acts. At the same time, the administration accelerated the C.I.A.’s drone campaign, using Predator and Reaper aircraft to launch missiles and rockets against militants in Pakistan.
HUMINT
Human intelligence is the collection of intelligence from human sources, including defectors, voluntary sources, spies recruited to betray their country or organization, prisoners, diplomats, information from allied or liaison intelligence services.
The US needs to reconfigure how it uses HUMINT tools by examining their effectiveness in the recruitment-centered model. When using this tool, the collecting agency finds a member of an adversarial group with access to important information. He then turn him or her into a spy by building a personal relationship and eventually popping the question, “Will you spy for me?”
Back pocket agents are nefarious agents or assets, loosely associated to the Company. The key is an “agent” has a narrow meaning and in the espionage business one ought not use words and terms that are loosey-goosey. An agent generally is paid and proven. An asset may not be paid nor in agreement with the nation state.
This model dominates since the Cold War, when spying followed fairly predictable guidelines. The organizational solution to the question of penetration was to rely on finding agents ‘in-place’ and to develop an approach in which agent recruitment played the fundamental role in HUMINT operations. However, even using ‘in-place’ sources had its difficulties. The normal process of developing and managing a HUMINT source consists of a cycle of Spotting, Assessing, Recruiting, Handling, and Terminating an asset In the Recruitment Cycle.
Driving this is an organizational culture that elevates recruiting in the hearts and minds of the Clandestine Service cadre. Career paths are driven by asset and agent recruiting, ‘hallway reputation,’ and ‘scalp-hunting,’ which measures performance for promotions. The highest value is given to recruiting and personality traits that facilitate it. In the Cold War that meant infiltrating the diplomatic scene of embassies and consulates under the guise of ‘official cover’ – cover where an officer’s affiliation with the US is not concealed, but his or her status as an intelligence officer is.
Intelligence liason in the War on Terror is necessarily more difficult, due to access to cultural groups, de-centralization of authority, and heavy need for collection on terrorist targets. Liason with foreign security units is crucial, actually better understood as a form of subcontracted intelligence collection based on barter.
Thus, liaison for the purpose of HUMINT collection is essentially “outsourcing the task of penetration,” an approach upon which the CIA appears to regularly lean when collecting on terrorists. Herein lies liaison’s greatest weakness – that we cannot control it. In a liaison partnership, HUMINT officers may be afforded access to a captured terrorist, or made aware of or allowed to participate in the partner service’s surveillance.
THE PROBLEM
WAR, ETHICS & TERROR
Issue No. 1
US intelligence needs to be reinvented and transformed, especially Covert Action intelligence operations in all of the various aspects called “dirty tricks.” Tighter oversight and accountability with improved end results are required. Accountability boards are not enough. One still has to measure the failed Covert Action intelligence for “blowback.”
Issue No. 2
No nation-state currently polices transnational crime, which is a growing threat. Failure to provide adequate Human Intelligence (HUMINT) is a true weakness in the USA system. Most policy decisions are not based on hard HUMINT sourced information but other so-called facts and truths open to spin and interpretation. Senator Jay Rockefeller, Chairman of Select Committee on Intelligence claimed congressional oversight has increased about 100% since 9/11, but that program is now strangled.
Issue No. 3
The shadow of the Shadow Government, including domestic spying and assassinations, needs to be revealed to the American people and the world so we can finally heal. We must take responsibility for that shadow..
Issue No. 4
Our Constitutional rights are under attack, including the First Amendment. Free speech, the right to assembly, and freedom of the press are in jeopardy. It will be illegal to disagree with government policy, even with patriotic dissent. We’ve traded our democracy for corporate feudalism.
Issue No. 5
A serious consequence, the breakdown in credibility between the U.S. government and its citizenry, needs to be addressed, as well as increasing militarization of police and unwarranted surveillance of US citizens. The breakdown of domestic relations is a serious issue, perhaps concealing further manipulations. Those hunting the truth continue to press for disclosure from all knowledgeable sources.
WHY Leutrell Osborne, Sr.?
Osborne characterizes himself as, “a living a transformation and change agent from the world of espionage that can improve the DNI.” The story of his life as THE BLACK MAN IN THE CIA is currently in press and recounts the inspirational details of his rise within the Agency. He cites his decades of varied experience, mentoring and activism:
1939-1951 Birth, mother, father, WDC, light skinned black man w/o money- then at 12 mother working at CIA when he got the vision to get a job at CIA and become a Spy Manager.
1952-1957 – Inspirational life involved in participating in changes like reduction of segregation barriers especially in high school and self taught photography skills that got me hired by CIA as well as eloping and marrying a wonderful life partner Rose Marie Battle Osborne who enabled us to have six children, raise 11 other children and stay married 52 years.
1957-1968 From the CIA’s DO become CIA Case Officer w/o a college degree and graduate from the CIA’s Career Training Program (CTP) after having a tour abroad in the Far Northern Country (FNC) that enabled the family and me to serve as genuine change agents, including actually meeting and talking with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rose talked with Coretta while I was talking to Dr. King for over one hour at the US Ambassadors reception for Dr. King, Jr.
1968-1972 Acquiring language and college degree overcoming obstacles that godfathers and mothers helped me resolve.
1972-1974- Latin American tour as Case Officer involved in clandestine service change management and accomplishing firsts in tech operations, agent access opportunities and even sending out information that was from a tech op that become a formal CIA intelligence dissemination to the NIC.
1974-1976 While holding down a significant position as CI for Central America, I was selected to be an advisor to two CIA Directors: Colby and “daddy” Bush 41. These opportunities enabled me to serve as a transformation agent while being on the DCI’s EEO Advisory Panel that brought greater equality to the CIA. That advisory opportunity was extra-curricula and enabled me to have the same vantage point on the CIA as the DCIs. Thus, from this platform, I made the decision and move to desegregate the management of CIA’s Office of Communication and I became a Communications Security (COMSEC) officer.
I led a transformation team in COMMO and again advised another DCI Admiral Stansfield Turner. Two of our recommendations impacted NIC telecommunications and creation of CIA’s move to separate telecommunications and information management. One of the other significant events was the participation in the NIC’s decision to no longer depend on host government’s to provide protection for US Embassies and personnel but for the USA to include such matters in NIC protection of US property and personnel.
1976-1981 As the only known CIA Spy Manager with six years COMSEC experience, I was able to transfer the NIC especially on improving NIC tech information across agencies and departments.
1982-1984 As Chief CI for the Directorate of Operation’s Libya Branch, again I was position to use past transformation experiences especially knowledge of CIA Commo to improving the DO’s handling of vital and important raw information from the field so that it went through the maze of barriers easier and faster to the NIC customer.
1984-1988 Private sector experiences as an international food broker, commercial mortgage broker and security and sales director for one of the few Black owned armored car companies in the world provided more experiences and insights into what works and what does not work. I even had the experience of working with the FBI to investigate a million dollar armored car robbery.
1988-1994 Return to govt via tempo jobs at the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in l988 and l989. The latter OPM opportunity besides serving as the platform to continue as a change agent allowed me to re-enter government service but now in government procurement as an advocate for small business owners, I began learning and keeping book on many things, but the government vertical systems that don’t work such as Equal Employment Opportunity and the Inspector General enabled some of us to gain greater understanding of government barriers and challenges to equality and justice. With the peer election of me to serve as the Director OSDBU, I along with key other govt employees worked through Public Law 95-507 and even improved Congressional understanding of the adversities impacting small business. The OSDBU Director experiences resulted in my assisting in the creation of FAR Part 10 which was part of the stimulus that eliminated my OPM job as Director OSDBU when I retired in l994.
1994-2010 Performing as a “sales consultant” guiding companies in Marketing to the Government (MTG). Note that these 16 years of private sector procurement experience and the prior five (5) years inside of government with several significant transformation managements surely enabled me to influence government to improve contracting for small business owners while these same events also helped set the stage for much of the current government success with government contracting preference programs today.
In conclusion, the family “relationship” responsibilities for over 50 years of marriage as well as various leadership roles in the Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus enabled me to gain significant insight and sensitivity for community stake holder expectations that further assisted me in being the transformation agent that I am.
Thus, Osborne feels feels he epitomizes the transformational leader. If we examine the overview of Transformational Leadership Theory, we see he fulfills the criteria and has experience in each segment.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP: The Ties that “BOND”
Pulitzer Prize winner, James MacGregor Burns first brought the concept of transformational leadership to prominence in his extensive research into leadership. His key innovation in leadership theory was shifting away from studying the traits of great men and transactional management to focus on the interaction of leaders and led as collaborators working toward mutual benefit. He is best known for contributions to the Transformational, Aspirational and Visionary schools of leadership theory.
Excerpts from his book Leadership:
* Leadership over human beings is exercised when persons with certain motives and purposes mobilize, in competition or conflict with others, institutional, political, psychological, and other resources so as to arouse, engage, and satisfy the motives of followers… in order to realize goals mutually held by both leaders and followers….
* Transformational leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.
* That people can be lifted into their better selves is the secret of transforming leadership and the moral and practical theme of this work.
“Essentially the leader’s task is consciousness-raising on a wide plane. The leader’s fundamental act is to induce people to be aware or conscious of what they feel – to feel their true needs so strongly, to define their values so meaningfully, that they can be moved to purposeful action.”
In this leadership style, the leader enhances the motivation, moral and performance of his follower group. So according to MacGregor – transformational leadership is all about values and meaning, and a purpose that transcends short-term goals and focuses on higher order needs.
At times of organizational change, and big step change, people do feel insecure, anxious and low in energy – so in these situations and especially in these difficult times, enthusiasm and energy are infectious and inspiring. And yet so many organizational changes fail because leaders pay attention to the changes they are facing instead of the transitions people must make to accommodate them.
In Osborne’s view it is the responsibility of the director leading the change to supply an infusion of positive energy. The transformational approach also depends on winning the trust of people – which is made possible by the unconscious assumption that they too will be changed or transformed in some way by following the leader.
Bass defined transformational leadership in terms of how the leader affects followers, who are intended to trust, admire and respect the transformational leader.
He identified three ways in which leaders transform followers:
* Increasing their awareness of task importance and value.
* Getting them to focus first on team or organizational goals, rather than their own interests.
* Activating their higher-order needs.
Bass has recently noted that authentic transformational leadership is grounded in moral foundations that are based on four components:
* Idealized influence
* Inspirational motivation
* Intellectual stimulation
* Individualized consideration
…and three moral aspects:
* The moral character of the leader.
* The ethical values embedded in the leader’s vision, articulation, and program (which followers either embrace or reject).
* The morality of the processes of social ethical choice and action that leaders and followers engage in and collectively pursue.
The four components of the transformational leadership style are:
(1) Charisma or idealized influence – the degree to which the leader behaves in admirable ways and displays convictions and takes stands that cause followers to identify with the leader who has a clear set of values and acts as a role model for the followers. Idealized Influence provides a role model for high ethical behavior, instills pride, gains respect and trust. Charisma is seen as necessary, but not sufficient, for example in the way that charismatic movie stars may not make good leaders. Two key charismatic effects that transformational leaders achieve is to evoke strong emotions and to cause identification of the followers with the leader. This may be through stirring appeals. It may also may occur through quieter methods such as coaching and mentoring.
(2) Inspirational motivation – the degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appeals to and inspires the followers with optimism about future goals, and offers meaning for the current tasks in hand. Inspirational Motivation – the degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appealing and inspiring to followers. Leaders with inspirational motivation challenge followers with high standards, communicate optimism about future goals, and provide meaning for the task at hand. Followers need to have a strong sense of purpose if they are to be motivated to act. Purpose and meaning provide the energy that drives a group forward. The visionary aspects of leadership are supported by communication skills that make the vision understandable, precise, powerful and engaging. The followers are willing to invest more effort in their tasks, they are encouraged and optimistic about the future and believe in their abilities.
(3) Intellectual stimulation – the degree to which the leader challenges assumptions, stimulates and encourages creativity in the followers – by providing a framework for followers to see how they connect [to the leader, the organization, each other, and the goal] they can creatively overcome any obstacles in the way of the mission. Intellectual Stimulation includes the degree to which the leader challenges assumptions, takes risks and solicits followers’ ideas. Leaders with this style stimulate and encourage creativity in their followers. They nurture and develop people who think independently. For such a leader, learning is a value and unexpected situations are seen as opportunities to learn. The followers ask questions, think deeply about things and figure out better ways to execute their tasks.
(4) Personal and individual attention – the degree to which the leader attends to each individual follower’s needs and acts as a mentor or coach and gives respect to and appreciation of the individual’s contribution to the team. This fulfills and enhances each individual team members’ need for self-fulfillment, and self-worth – and in so doing inspires followers to further achievement and growth. Individualized Consideration includes the degree to which the leader attends to each follower’s needs, acts as a mentor or coach to the follower and listens to the follower’s concerns and needs. The leader gives empathy and support, keeps communication open and places challenges before the followers. This also encompasses the need for respect and celebrates the individual contribution that each follower can make to the team. The followers have a will and aspirations for self development and have intrinsic motivation for their tasks.
Transformational leadership applied in a change management context, is ideally suited to the holistic and wide view perspective of a program based approach to change management and as such is key element of successful strategies for managing change.
Yukl (1994) draws some tips for transformational leadership
1. Develop a challenging and attractive vision, together with the employees.
2. Tie the vision to a strategy for its achievement.
3. Develop the vision, specify and translate it to actions.
4. Express confidence, decisiveness and optimism about the vision and its implementation.
5. Realize the vision through small planned steps and small successes in the path for its full implementation.
Transformational leadership is defined as a leadership approach that creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. A transformational leader focuses on “transforming” others to help each other, to look out for each other, to be encouraging and harmonious, and to look out for the organization as a whole.
With this leadership, the leader enhances the motivation, morale and performance of his followers through a variety of mechanisms. These include connecting the follower’s sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers that inspires them; challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimizes their performance.
This is in contrast with pseudo-transformational leadership, where, for example, in-group/out-group
‘us and them’ games are used to bond followers to the leader.
CHANGE AGENTS: Research on champions or change agents typically examines the behaviors, attributes, and motivations of the individual leading the organizational change. As such, “championing” is understood as a near heroic venture by those with a near innate ability and expressed interest in such work. However, change leaders generally rely on the support of a team of employees and consultants.
The experience of the members of change teams is less well understood despite their role in introducing, legitimating, and managing change among the rank and file of the organization. Interviews with full-time members of change teams reveal that they do not begin as skilled, motivated agents of change but rather they undergo extensive training and, in many cases, describe themselves as having experienced a personal transformation during their intense involvement in the change activities. The findings suggest that organizations, in the pursuit of change, produce change agents and that these change agents seek opportunities in the labor market that allow them to continue this work – initiating, championing, and implementing business process management – in other organizations.
Tags: Leutrell Osborne, CIA, Sr., DNI, intelligence, US policy