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Podcast Transcript:
[Episode Start]
William “Ryan” Brown: Well, first of all, Sarah good afternoon, happy upcoming President’s Day Weekend and thanks for taking the time to be with us today on this “Leaders of Public Policy” segment of the GPPR podcast. How are you doing today?
Sara Sendek: I’m great. Thank you so much for having me! I’m very excited to be here.
Brown: No worries, just thank you for being here. We truly look forward to your thoughts on leadership based on your impressive resume. So, for starters, can you just describe your early upbringing, your Georgetown fellow experience so far and how your upbringing has played a role in your leadership and work today?
Sendek: Sure. I’m originally from Huntington, Michigan. It’s a small suburban town outside of Detroit and I grew up with four brothers and I’m the middle child. I had two parents who are lawyers, so I think my family life growing up truly helped lead me to this life of politics, where there was debate at the kitchen table every day, every night for dinner and then, overall, just arguing with my brothers. With four brothers, you have to learn to get a word in edgewise and learn to be a little tougher than everyone else. I think that’s really helped develop me as I’ve grown up and pursued this field. I’m really excited to be at Georgetown and it’s been such a great experience so far—I think we’re 2-3 weeks into it now. Everyone has been so impressive, with just the best people here. I’ve really enjoyed this opportunity and I really look forward to next week when I start my discussion course, which will be on Wednesdays at four o’clock. I met with my student strategy team this week who are just fantastic individuals, and I can’t wait to work with them on these courses.
Brown: Awesome. Being the parents of two lawyers, I mean wow, no pressure there. I love it for sure. So based on your bio, which is on the GU Politics Fellow website, it states that you were a former Director of Public Affairs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) as well as a Former White House Director of Rapid Response, in the Bush administration. For starters, can you talk about your journey in these avenues, and what has been the most rewarding about these opportunities?
Sendek: Sure. First of all, I think anytime you get to serve in the government in the White House it’s an incredibly rewarding privilege to do so. I was lucky enough at the end of the Bush administration (George W. Bush) to be able to join his White House, which is just a remarkable experience that I don’t think I could ever replace. One of the most special feelings that I think anyone that’s ever had the opportunity to serve in the White House will say is that it never gets old. You never walk on to the White House campus and don’t stop and think how lucky and how amazing of a privilege it is to serve in the nation’s highest office. Being able to come back and continue doing that for CISA has just been an incredible experience for me. CISA is actually the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency–which we call CISA for short—[it] is the newest federal agency in the United States Government. It was actually signed into law in November of 2018, so I got to be there when it first started, when it was called the National Protection and Programs Directorate–which is quite a name. I got to be there as we pushed this legislation through Congress to stand-up this agency and be part of just helping it grow and become a very recognizable name. Everyone in CISA was very excited this week, as Jeopardy used CISA as a clue and you know when you see our name on Jeopardy, it just feels like, “finally we’ve made it.” I went from no one in my family having any idea what this agency is called and now we’re on Jeopardy, so it’s just been such an experience watching it grow and I look forward to continuing to watch this agency grow and become such a critical part of the Federal Government for years to come. I know I’ll always be able to look back and say I was part of making that happen and be very proud.
Brown: You know when you make Jeopardy that’s huge and an awesome standard right there. What CISA as an organization is doing today in the news is fantastic and for you to see it at the start of its infancy is awesome.
Sendek: [We made] Jeopardy and Saturday Night Live, which means you’re there.
Brown: Exactly. In current events, when you hear about leaders today, they have to be morally and ethically sound. So, who is in Sara Sendek’s “circle of trust” that provides feedback, criticism and serves as a moral compass to keep you sound and humble as a leader, director and public servant?
Sendek: I would say, first and foremost, my family. I have an older brother that lives out here in DC who also pursued the political course along with my sister-in-law and her brother so it’s really nice to have Sunday dinners with the family and sit down and go through decisions and thoughts. All my brothers, along with my parents, are very good at challenging me and making me think through ideas. I actually joke that sometimes I never know what side of the political aisle my dad or some of my brothers are on because they just like to be contrarian with me and start an argument to make sure that I’ve thought through both sides and can really stand by [my] position. I think that’s always been the most important aspect about our family. They provide these instances where you must determine do you feel like you are doing the moral and ethical right thing and can you defend this position, no matter what. That was really important for me especially this past year, where I faced some increasing challenges working on the election security issue at CISA and stopped to think, “Am I doing the morally right thing and do I feel like I can back up everything I’m doing?” And luckily, I’m able to go back to that experience and look back and say, I believe I did the right thing, I stand by what I did and I’m proud of the actions I took.
Brown: The beauty about this podcast is not only does the audience get to hear from you, but I also get to learn so much. And one thing you talked about that I circled was how your family was important in setting that solid foundation for you, as far as your moral and ethical type of character. So, as we transition, I feel that “leaders are readers” so what books are you currently reading and what are your “go to” books in regards for those who want to learn more perhaps about cybersecurity?
Sendek: Sure, and you know it’s funny because it’s not a typical DC answer, but I really like to mix up my books between biographies and fiction. I like to keep reading enjoyable pieces. As somebody that reads the news all day and watches the news all day, sometimes it’s nice for reading to be more of a fun thing. So, the most recent book I finished was “Where the Crawdads Are (Sing),” which is a fiction book, but it was beautifully written, and I enjoyed it. And, you know, cybersecurity there’s a lot of great books out there, but for somebody who’s getting into it at an early stage, the kind of overview I would maybe recommend would be “The Perfect Weapon” by David Sanger, which is good. It takes a look at how cybersecurity has taken over in the past couple years. I read it briefly on a plane as it was great.
Brown: I agree with you, I think it’s good to kind of mix your books up and have a book that just kind of takes you away to another world if you will.
Sendek: Yeah. I mean of course there’s other great books that I love as well. [I liked] George Bush’s “Decision Points” which I actually am lucky enough to be acknowledged in because I helped do the research on it after the White House.
Brown: I love it. Yeah, I’m going to have to put that one in the Amazon cart for sure. We just talked about President Bush–it can be said that there can be lessons learned from both good leaders and bad leaders. Obviously, without saying names, what are some specific examples from your experience of what made the good leaders good and what made the bad leaders bad.
Sendek: I think a good leader is always somebody that’s going to uplift their team, uplift their staff and work in a very collaborative environment. A good leader wants to hear from people as they don’t trust that they only have the best opinion. They want to bring people to the table, and they want to help them grow as team members. I think some of the best bosses I’ve worked for, you can tell that they were proud of cultivating their team and they were proud when their staff improves, learns and does better. One of the things I think a leader can do really well is to set clear expectations and give constructive feedback. I don’t think it’s helpful when somebody is leading a team and isn’t sharing. In those instances, how could I do better? I always want to know, “how can I do better if I’m not doing something, I want you to tell me, and I want to be a better member of the team.” Those are the leaders that make you feel comfortable having those conversations, where you are paying attention to their work and wanting to do better every day. A team that works well together is going to be a very successful team and it only makes you as a leader look better too.
Brown: Now that is great, just clear expectations, uplifting your team and even if you think you’re a great leader, you always have room to improve. That’s awesome. So, they say adversity makes leaders better and we got to talk about how you were a director at CISA during its infancy stages. My [next] question would be, what adversity, if any, did you have while progressing as a director in this organization and what did these moments alongside other instances teach you about yourself?
Sendek: I think I’ve had lots of challenges. When I came into this job, I did not have a very deep background in cybersecurity and we always had this saying at CISA that we “were building the airplane as we were flying it.” I think it came down to just really working to learn quickly and understand the issues. There’s all these fantastic men and women working at CISA who have been there for years and have deep knowledge of the agency, of the department structure, and know how all that works. I tried to understand that while bring an outside and fresh perspective. It has been challenging but ultimately rewarding, just standing up an entire agency–I don’t mean to say it like I did it all. But figuring out how to brand CISA… for me it was about having the media take us seriously as a United States Government federal agency next to agencies that have been there for a while and are well established. It was certainly a challenge, but we worked hard to show through our credentials that we were a serious agency and ready to bring serious solutions to the table. I think, through our election security effort, we really took a new model into government and it really helped grow the way that we should be looking at securing all critical infrastructure going forward. Election security was this challenge where the federal government didn’t own the election systems, they were owned by the state and local [governments]. It is a decentralized process on purpose, but the federal government has a role to help protect these election systems from foreign actors and [other] cyber actors. So how are we going to go about addressing that without actually owning these systems? It meant that we had to foster trust and partnerships, not only with our fellow partners across the federal government, but with the state and local officials, with the social media companies, with the media that were covering the elections, and with the general public. We spent the past four years building up these relationships and building up this trust, but it wasn’t easy. Our whole agency worked really hard at it and by 2020 we had this incredible whole nation effort, where we were communicating with each other, sharing information, sharing intelligence to help protect the 2020 elections, and I think it’s an amazing model that should be used moving forward for many things within federal government. It helped to show a great public-private partnership.
Brown: That’s awesome. I think one thing I circled in my notes was when you said towards the end its about building trust. Sometimes as an organization as leaders we have to work at, what author Stephen Covey calls the “speed of trust,” and it’s building that trust. Through that trust, you can have those credentials as you mentioned earlier, and lead effectively whether you’ve been an organization for 200+ years or you’re the newest organization out there. Having that trust, having those credentials, so that way you can bring something to the table, so I thought that was very interesting. So, speaking of cyber security infrastructure, you know we’re both at Georgetown, which is in the heart of DC and is the Mecca of politics and policy making, so from your perspective, what changes have you seen in policymaking in regards to cyber security and infrastructure as a whole?
Sendek: Yeah, I think what we’re seeing right now is that cybersecurity is a very central point of our daily lives, it affects the way that we’re talking right now, it affects everyone that’s sitting on their smartphones all day. You know, even kids’ toys are more and more increasingly hooked up to the Internet. We’ve seen it be an issue through ransomware, as of late, that’s actually affecting the ability for schools to open as well as our hospitals. Cybersecurity really touches all aspects of our life, and I think in DC I’ve seen that recognition grow over the past couple years. It’s been taken incredibly seriously in Congress. The House Homeland Security Committee this week held a hearing on Cybersecurity. For the first couple weeks, the new Biden administration has shown that they’re going to make it a priority, which is really reassuring. Cybersecurity can only benefit from more focus and more investment and I’m happy to see that Congress and the Biden administration are going to invest in that and spend their time on it. It’s an increasingly critical issue in our society and I’m glad to see it taken seriously.
Brown: No, I agree with you. I think it is a critical issue. You just mentioned a great point–I mean just little things like today’s kids toys with Bluetooth, wi-fi, to how we do classes over online and Zoom I mean it’s just so crucial. So, it’s good to see, no matter which administration–the outgoing and incoming–they’re holding it as a priority.
Sendek: Yeah, I think you know my former boss Chris Krebs, he’s a big advocate about ransomware being one of the most critical threats facing our nation right now. Ransomware is just taking over and it’s become a business for these criminals, and we don’t have a good solution yet as how to control this situation. Like I said, it’s shutting schools down and it’s shutting down hospitals during COVID and it’s just getting out of control.
Brown: So, we talked about administrations–one type of leadership that is heavily discussed right now is presidential leadership and, as the former White House director of Rapid Response in the Bush administration, what leadership traits stood out to you for President Bush during your interactions with them during your tenure?
Sendek: I mean this there’s so many great things I can say about President Bush. I was a junior staffer in the White House, so I only had the privilege of meeting him a few times, but every time was great. One of the most important things he always reminded us was that it was a privilege to serve in the White House and that it was not a right as he always made that very clear. He made clear how special each day was to be there and that he wasn’t there to serve himself, he was there to serve the American people. The other thing I always liked about him is he had this idea that nobody’s perfect and you might not always make the right decisions, but what you can do is make the best decisions. The things that you think are going to be best, not everyone will agree with it, but as long as you’re doing it with your moral compass, and knowing that you’re doing what you think is best for the country and what you think is going to benefit everybody then those are the choices you have to make. You have to be a leader and make decisions and not everyone’s going to love you for them. A lot of students might not remember this, but he got a lot of criticism back when I was there, as he was not as popular as he is today. If you went on a tour with him through the Oval Office, he had a painting of Abraham Lincoln in his office and he would talk about how Abraham Lincoln wasn’t always as popular as a president. His Gettysburg Address had been trashed in the press as he wasn’t always liked as well or respected, but over time history came to judge Abraham Lincoln’s legacy, and history judged that he did right by the country. President Bush used to always say, “I’m not going to worry about what my approval rating looks like right now, or what they’re saying about me on cable TV, history will judge me and I’ll live with that judgment but I’m not going to react right now.”
Brown: No, I think that’s awesome it’s one of the points you mentioned at the beginning, you know that he had said it’s a privilege to serve. I think, for us, as servant leaders and public leaders, I think that that is a phenomenal piece. To realize it’s not just about service to ourselves, but service to the American people that give us this trust and what we do. As we transition on, and we’ve talked about presidential leadership, it can be tied that most leadership traits can be traced to mentors who have helped you along the way, so, who has been one of Sara Sendek’s biggest mentors and how did they shaped you to be who you are today?
Sendek: You know I don’t have the one person answer for that. I think I’ve worked in a lot of jobs as I’ve had some fantastic colleagues and bosses. And I don’t think it would be right to credit just one person. I’ve learned so much from all the different people I’ve worked with, starting with the Bush administration. Just these remarkable people that taught me so much at the start of my career. They taught me to be a hard worker but to never take anything for granted. They taught me to be a stronger writer and like all of my co-workers, I can’t pick one single out here. I finally would say my family as they have been such a good mentor to me too through the good times and the bad. They always helped me look at the bright sides and become a better leader, a better worker and just always strive to do better.
Brown: No, I think that’s great, and I think one thing I kind of took from your point, that it takes a village from your family you mentioned to those you had mentioned in the Bush administration. And so many colleagues and leaders that helped you along the way.
Brown: One of the last questions I have is as a leader, you know, it’s all about a leadership philosophy. I guess my question would be is what is Sara Sendek’s leadership philosophy and what are your key takeaways for young leaders to be successful, like yourself in the future?
Sendek: I think my key takeaways are never be afraid to speak up and never be afraid to seek out an opportunity that you might not think you’re qualified for. You should always try, talk to people and learn. The other thing I’d say is don’t be afraid of failure, everybody fails at some point, you know, especially in DC. The best thing I’ve learned from that though, is I’ve learned so much more from my failures than I have my successes. I’ve been able to take those and really learn and build and I’ve been working here in DC for 15 years now. I have been able to relive the moments that I failed previously and learn what I did wrong and do better this time around. I think that’s probably one of the things that has helped me the most. I think for anybody that wants to work in politics or government it’s just being enthusiastic and being passionate. Everybody wants to work with somebody who loves what they’re doing and is only striving to do better and that’s what helped excel me in my career. I know that when I talk to people, I want to work with people who have the same passion for what we do here.
Brown: Be enthusiastic, be passionate I mean what a way to finish. As we close, do you have any closing remarks or anything as we bring this podcast talk to a close, if you will?
Sendek: I just want to thank Georgetown University and GU Politics for having me this semester, I hope I get to meet lots of the students here. It’s unfortunate it’s a remote environment, but we still have Zoom and I am learning to be a Zoom expert these days. I hope to see people in my discussion course or in office hours. One of the things I’m most excited about here is just hearing from the students. You guys are all so great and all so smart and I really look forward to your feedback and your thoughts about everything facing our country, right now, and I am privileged to be here, so thank you.
[Episode end]
