Image credit: Flatiron Books
Every so often one gets lucky enough to find someone to align with — someone
to look up to. I met such a person a few years ago. I reported to him directly
in a position with a firm based on the east coast. I found him to have a strong
moral compass, a love for engineering, and an unmatched drive for excellence
in our solutions and our people. The company fell on troubled
times and I don't work for him anymore, but I feel it's important for me to
stay in contact with him. It doesn't have anything to do with employment —
it's about remaining connected to a leader I admire.
In A Higher Loyalty, Former FBI Director James Comey writes about
the stuff we saw in the news — the Clinton email scandal, the Russia
investigation, his relationship with President Trump — the headliines that made
him a household name. But his perspective on these events isn't as important as
how he came to make the decisions he made. For that, Comey prepares us by offering
images of formative moments from his youth and early career, describing people who
inspired him and events that terrified and taught him; the history that provided
him the tools to evaluate and make the difficult choices in the best interest of
the FBI and the American public it serves.
The attentive reader will come to understand Mr. Comey as a private man
who dedicated himself to honesty and truth, and in turn, that dedication
helped him navigate what I consider as the most politically turbulent time
for our nation this century. This book is not just about current events; it's
about what good leadership looks like, and what poor leadership looks like. It's
about the difference between loyalty to one's values and mission and loyalty to a
person. And over the course of the book, one will come to understand how badly
we need people like Mr. Comey at the highest levels of our federal government.
And I feel connected to another leader I admire.
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