Let me be honest with you — I didn’t expect this conversation to hit the way it did.
Host Dominick Watters sits down with a lot of impressive people on the Clues of Leadership podcast. But Episode 8 was different. His guest, Dr. Rhonda Glover Reese — retired FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, executive leadership coach, and founder of Noble Youth — showed up and gave it all away. No filters, no corporate-speak, just real talk about what it actually takes to lead people well.
Watters calls her “auntie.” After listening to this episode, you’ll understand why.
Meet Dr. Rhonda Glover Reese
Picture this: a little girl in Washington, DC, sitting on a green carpet in her bedroom, watching The FBI on TV. That image planted a seed that never died. Years later, that same little girl walked into the FBI — not as an agent right away, but as a switchboard operator — and eventually rose to become an Assistant Special Agent in Charge.
Dr. Glover Reese joined the FBI as professional staff in 1984, entered Quantico in 1988, and spent decades working drug investigations, undercover operations (domestic and international), and senior leadership roles. She later earned her doctorate studying why certain women break through to the highest levels of federal law enforcement. Today, she coaches executives, mentors emerging leaders, and runs a youth leadership program that has touched more than 4,700 young people.
Leadership, she says, is her second language. And once you hear her speak it, you’ll want to learn it too.
Section 1: The Job You Have Right Now Is Preparing You
Here’s a story that’ll make you rethink the position you’re in.
Dr. Glover Reese’s first assignment at the FBI? The switchboard. She had just graduated college, walked in ready to take on the world, and found out she’d be answering phones. She nearly didn’t come back the next day.
Then she called her mom. And her mom said something simple: “I guess someone heard your voice and thought you would be good on the switchboard.”
That was enough. She went back. She learned every shift, every system, everything about that switchboard. And here’s what she discovered — the FBI switchboard was the center of everything. Every executive, every director, every decision-maker called through that line. So instead of being stuck, she was perfectly positioned.
From there, she became a photographer. Then an investigative specialist tracking spies in New York City. Then an agent. One deliberate step at a time.
Key Takeaways:
- The role you’re in right now is building the foundation for where you’re going.
- Mastery creates access — and access creates opportunity.
- Your perspective on where you are determines how you show up.
- Excellence in “entry-level” work opens doors no résumé can.
Section 2: Let Go of the Idea That Leadership Is About You
This one might sting a little — but it needs to be said.
When Waters asked what she had to unlearn early in her leadership journey, Dr. Glover Reese didn’t pause: “That it was about me. Leadership is not about you.”
She described leaders who get it right — the ones who check in on their people, who sit with them when life gets hard, who understand that a financial problem at home will absolutely show up on the job. And then she described the leaders who get it wrong — the ones who say, “I don’t care what’s going on in your personal life, just get the work done.”
Those leaders, she said plainly, are missing the mark.
Waters backed her up with a story from his own week — an employee who came to him stressed about her taxes. Completely unrelated to work, right? Except it wasn’t. Because if she’s carrying that anxiety into her shift, it’s going to affect everything she does. That’s the whole person showing up, and a good leader sees that.
Key Takeaways:
- What’s happening in your team’s personal life will eventually show up at work — leaders who ignore that pay for it later.
- You can have a hard conversation and still have someone leave your office feeling respected.
- Going to your team, rather than always summoning them, sends a message about who you are.
- If you don’t genuinely care about people, leadership is going to be a rough road.
Section 3: Stop Leading Everyone the Same Way
Here’s the thing a lot of leaders won’t admit: a one-size-fits-all leadership style is actually no leadership style at all.
Dr. Glover Reese was intentional about getting to know every person she led — individually. What motivated them. What they didn’t need. Where they needed to grow. She had one supervisor who was quietly outstanding and didn’t care about recognition at all. She had others who needed more development and attention. She led them all differently, because they were all different people.
And here’s where she gets really honest — she was a Black woman leading a team of mostly white male agents in the FBI. Her approach? Straight talk. Transparency about what she didn’t know. And a commitment to going to bat for her people whenever they needed it.
“There is no shame in not knowing,” she said. “I kept my mouth shut and learned from them.”
That humility created something real. So real, in fact, that when her boss tried to pull her back into the office over Christmas, her team — the supervisors she led — called her one by one and said: Don’t come back. We’ve got you.
That’s not compliance. That’s loyalty. And you can’t manufacture that. You have to earn it.
Key Takeaways:
- Individualized leadership takes time, but it’s what separates good managers from great leaders.
- Admitting what you don’t know builds more trust than pretending you have all the answers.
- When you show up for your people, they will show up for you — sometimes in ways you don’t expect.
- Leave your ego at the door. Seriously.
Section 4: Your Work Will Not Speak for Itself in a Closed Room
This might be the most important section in this entire post. Read it twice.
When selections are being made — promotions, lateral moves, special assignments — there is almost always a closed-door conversation happening. Names come up. People vouch for people. And if nobody in that room knows you, knows your character, knows what you bring beyond a performance report? You’re at a serious disadvantage.
Dr. Glover Reese lived this. She had mentors and advocates at the highest levels of the FBI, people who respected her and would have gone to bat for her — and she didn’t leverage those relationships when it counted most. She got comfortable. She stayed put. And the people who could have helped her? They retired and moved on.
“Being comfortable can keep you small,” she said. And she meant it.
She also pushed back on the idea that “my work should speak for itself.” Her response was blunt: “Yeah, your work should. But it don’t.”
That’s the reality. The person who gets selected isn’t always the most qualified — it’s often the most known.
Key Takeaways:
- Build your mentoring bench before you need it, not after.
- A sponsor advocates for you when you’re not in the room — those relationships are priceless.
- Comfort is a warning sign. When everything feels too settled, it might be time to move.
- Networking isn’t a game — it’s how leaders are made visible to the people who make decisions.
Section 5: Your Setbacks Are Somebody Else’s Roadmap
Dr. Glover Reese earned her doctorate researching why certain women succeed in reaching senior executive service in federal law enforcement. What she found? The lessons applied to everyone — Black, white, Hispanic, men, women, all of it.
But the moment she truly understood her purpose didn’t happen in a classroom. It happened in a bathroom stall at FBI headquarters, where she stood in a stall and cried — because three women she had mentored just received their promotions.
She doesn’t hold back her stories. She tells them all, including the ones where she made the wrong call or stayed too long in a comfortable position. Because she knows that what she went through can save someone else years of frustration.
And she’s put that belief into action. Noble Youth — the program she founded 25 years ago through NOBLE (the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives) — has impacted more than 4,700 young people by giving them access to real leadership development and exposure to law enforcement careers. This July in Dallas, they’re celebrating the program’s 25th anniversary.
Key Takeaways:
- Your hardest moments have value — share them.
- Purpose often becomes clear through the impact you have on others, not through a title.
- Investing in young people now creates the leaders law enforcement needs tomorrow.
- Doing the internal work isn’t optional if you actually want to grow.
Leadership Actions You Can Take This Week
- Go to your team — don’t just summon them. Have one conversation this week where you walk to their space, sit down, and actually listen. You’ll be surprised what you learn.
- Write down your mentoring bench. Who would genuinely advocate for you right now in a closed room? If you can’t name three people, that’s your homework this week.
- Tell a hard story. Find a junior colleague and share a moment where you got it wrong or had to start over. You don’t need to have the perfect ending — just be real.
- Check your comfort level. Ask yourself: Is where I’m comfortable right now actually keeping me small? Identify one opportunity you’ve been putting off.
- Open a door for someone. Nominate a junior colleague for a committee, a conference, or a learning opportunity. Pass it forward the way someone once passed it to you.
Here’s the Bottom Line
Dr. Rhonda Glover Reese didn’t start at the top. She started at a switchboard, almost quit on day one, and spent decades learning — sometimes the hard way — what it really means to lead.
Her message isn’t complicated. Do the work. Build the relationships. Love your people. Don’t get so comfortable that you miss your moment to grow.
Leadership isn’t a destination. It’s a language you practice, refine, and — if you’re doing it right — teach to everyone around you.
To connect with Dr. Glover Reese for executive coaching, visit rhondamglover.com or email her at rhonda@rhondamglover.com. Want to support Noble Youth’s 25th anniversary conference in Dallas (July 24–28)? Reach out to her directly.
If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to the Clues of Leadership Podcast, drop a review, and share it with someone in your circle who needs to hear it.
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