Former federal attorney Brendan McGuire has won convictions against some of the world’s worst criminals and terrorists. He successfully prosecuted cases in New York City courtrooms against Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani immigrant who tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, and Abduwali Muse, a Somali pirate who hijacked Captain Richard Phillip’s American-flagged cargo ship (that drama was captured in the 2013 Oscar-nominated thriller “Captain Phillips”). This spring, he moved to the private sector, joining the law firm WilmerHale where he helps white-collar clients identify illegal money laundering, fend off cybersecurity attacks and comprehend the complexities of international trade law. In a conversation with NationSwell, McGuire reflected on the value of his public service and what the country can do to attract younger workers to government jobs.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given on leadership?
The best advice I’ve been given is really rooted in communication and understanding how to make those with whom you’re working feel invested in whatever it is they’re doing. Obviously that can take a number of forms. But in many respects, some of the most effective leaders have been those who attempt to build up the people they work with in such a way that, in theory, the leader could be rendered irrelevant.
A really formative experience for me was playing basketball in college. I had two coaches who understood that you don’t need the five best players on a team to win a championship. What you need are the five most complementary players, players who are going to do different things and have different strengths and weakness. But ultimately, they must be prepared to surrender themselves to the mission of the team. [This was instrumental] for me in setting goals once I entered the professional world.
What’s on your nightstand?
Right now I am reading a biography of George Washington, which approaches him in a frankly different way: not as the first president of the country or as the first great general, but as the first entrepreneur in the United States. It is an interesting, different take on a relatively well-known figure. And then I’ve got a bunch of other half-read books about terrorism and intelligence, which is what on what I focus on for work.
What innovations in your field are you most excited about right now?
Law enforcement, in many ways, is a very traditional field that is often playing catch-up with the next innovative criminal method or criminal objective. One of the true challenges now, which the current administration has made a real effort toward, is trying to harness technological innovation to support the country’s intelligence and its counterterrorism and other law enforcement efforts. Continuing to foster a productive relationship among Silicon Valley, younger generations and the intelligence community will be key to national security. Doing so will also dispose with the myth that the government, in aiming to protect us, is always trying to spy on us and dispel any misconception, particularly among younger Americans, that they can’t feel good about serving the country. There is an ability to balance privacy and security. To me, the most important innovation we should be focused on is really a human one, and that is continually trying to make government service, particularly in the cyber field, as appealing as possible — that’s the direction the world is heading in and for which there will be an incredible need in this country and around the world.
You’ve prosecuted some tough, high-profile cases, and I imagine they caused a lot of sleepless nights. Where do you find your inner motivation?
There’s a lot of cynicism about certain aspects of government today, and that can allow for misconceptions about working in government. Many people who have served in government in different capacities will often tell you that it is the most rewarding job they’ve ever had – that it combines the privilege of serving with a job where your self-interest aligns with the public’s. When you’re able to do that, there’s real potential for significant satisfaction, because you’re doing something that is both personally fulfilling and serves a higher cause. It can be very challenging work; there are nights without necessarily a great deal of sleep. But for those who find fulfilling government jobs, that’s a very small price to pay.
What do you wish someone had told you when you started this job?
Focus most of your time on doing your job, and don’t obsess over the next job. Often, those coming out of school and graduate programs feel pressure to script their professional narrative from day one, which means they’re spending time figuring out their next chapter as opposed to doing the best job they can in their current chapter. You can’t be blind to the future but, in many respects, the next thing will take care of itself if you prove yourself to those you work with. If you treat people with respect and do what you’ve been hired to do, a lot of things will present themselves naturally.
What’s your perfect day?
I wish I could tell you that I’ve discovered the formula, but for me, the perfect day is not having to check my phone and getting to look instead at my two kids for as many hours of the day as I can. Probably, at this point, with a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old, it’s as simple and boring as that.
What’s your proudest accomplishment?
Professionally speaking, it was being sworn in as an assistant U.S. attorney in New York. It was a position that my father had when he was younger. It was the job that I had sought for many, many years, and one that I always had hoped would be my dream job. And it ended up being that. Looking back on it now, that day where they actually let me in the building and I held up my right hand to be sworn in is probably the day I’m most proud of.
What don’t most people know about you?
I’ve mounted my own private protest: I have refused to attend a New York Knicks game for about 10 years because of the team’s current ownership.
To learn more about the NationSwell Council, click here.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Homepage photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.
Tag: cybersecurity
Inside Delaware’s Cybersecurity Job-Creation Hack
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was an unlikely presence at this year’s annual SXSW interactive music festival in Austin, Texas. His clarion call for vigilant cyber security during a live video conference on March 10 was even more unexpected.
“America has more to lose than anyone else when every attack succeeds,” Snowden said. “When you are the one country in the world who has sort of a vault that’s more full than anyone else’s, it doesn’t make sense for you to be attacking all day and never defending your full vault.”
His charge was prescient: Cyberattacks rose by 14 percent in 2013, causing President Obama to propose the creation of a $35 million cybersecurity campus staffed with federal experts responding to cyberthreats in his fiscal 2015 budget.
Until then, the mid-Atlantic state of Delaware is working to train the individuals who can fill the plugs in the cybersecurity workforce. It’s all part of the Delaware Cyber Initiative, a cross-discipline effort to create a talented crop of cybersecurity workers.
In an ever-changing job market, the cybersecurity field is a large, stable one. According to Burning Glass Technologies, the demand for qualified workers is more than double the overall IT job market. The shortage isn’t just troubling for employers — lax security invites hackers, both in large companies like Target and in the government. As Governing reports, South Carolina learned a costly $14 million lesson in 2012 when hackers broke into the state’s Department of Revenue computers, exposing millions of Social Security numbers, thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information. Such incidents are more likely with insufficient employees.
That’s where the Delaware Cyber Initiative comes in. Governor Jack Markell announced the $3 million proposal in January as a way to unite academia, workers, the private sector, and even the Delaware National Guard to develop a skilled and innovative cybersecurity workforce. To do so, Markell envisions a partnership between the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical Community College and private companies to create a collaborative learning and research network dedicated to cyber innovation. The initiative is part-research lab, part-workforce development and part-business park.
The work done there will prepare individuals to be future cybersecurity experts that can expect to earn $15,000 more a year than general IT workers. “There’s a significant number of jobs available for cyber graduates in the area,” Ann Visalli, the state’s director of the Office of Management and Budget told Governing. In a state that’s home to the DuPont chemical company and many banking and financial services due to its generous tax laws, that’s a big deal. And it’s good for Delaware, too— since it’ll stem the brain drain in a state with a need for highly-skilled workers.
Delaware plans to locate the cyber facility on the site of a former Chrysler assembly plant that’s now owned by the University of Delaware. The university business park setting is borrowed from other states, where non-profits and businesses in close proximity to academic research have promoted innovation and quality training. For a field that aims to make everyone and everything safer, that is a very good thing.