In his office, Joseph F. Hannigan has a copy of “The FBI Story,” a book about the history of the FBI, signed by two directors of the bureau: the legendary J. Edgar Hoover and current Director Robert Mueller.
“I said in front of some people that it would be nice if (Mueller) signed it and a voice called out from the back, ‘He will’,” said the associate director of executive education for the Kellogg School of Management. “A while later, there was an advance team of these guys in suits scoping the Allen Center, and I knew who it had to be. The guy from Washington asks, ‘Is the book in the room?’ ”
It could be seen as a good omen when Hannigan heads off this month to a six-month assignment as a special assistant to Mueller.
The appointment is the next step in a partnership between NU and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that began four years ago, when Hannigan was a co-director of a series of programs to train FBI leaders held at Kellogg.
The FBI put out a request to a wide range of institutions in the summer of 2003, Hannigan said. He and Kellogg Director of Custom Programs Albert Isenman worked on the winning bid, emphasizing the FBI as a unique institution.
“We designed a program to fit their needs and some of the other schools just put together models they already did that fit what they thought the FBI needed,” Hannigan said. “We went in and did focus groups and asked what they wanted.”
More than 275 top executives at the FBI have attended Kellogg programs, including Mueller. Instructors teach concepts such as strategic thinking, leading in crisis conditions, leading high-impact teams and designing inter-agency cooperation. Professor Daniel Diermeier, who teaches strategic thinking, said he likes the classroom environment the FBI programs provide.
“There’s a lot of openness toward what we have to teach them,” Diermeier said. “It’s a very gratifying teaching experience, because you’re working with people who are not your typical participants and you’re providing them with some things that allow them to think about their work in a completely different way.”
Robert Grant, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Chicago division, said that his time at Kellogg was very stimulating and that it brought his office a more open and efficient climate.
“We were notorious in the past for being like a vacuum: It all comes in, but it doesn’t come out,” Grant said. “Kellogg has tried to get rid of the idea that this is trusted FBI information and to focus on building strong partnerships and sharing more information then we had in the past.”
In his new appointment, Hannigan faces not only institutional culture, but a looming demographic crisis. Many experienced agents will reach the mandatory retirement age of 57 with too few experienced agents available to fill their roles.
“One of the things we’re going to be working with Joe on is to open faster tracks of development so we can have more time with them in a managerial job,” said Donald Packham, the chief human resources officer for the FBI.
“How do we accelerate the training so that we get keep our senior management people at senior levels for longer?”
For his part, Hannigan said he is looking forward to working with the FBI because of its unique professional ethics, summed up by the expression “the bright line,” which he saw in action when he helped lead a training session at FBI headquarters.
“They were taking up the collection for the pastries and the sandwiches, because they wouldn’t use bureau funds to pay for their food,” Hannigan said.
“The reason they do it is that they enforce the use of government funds by government officials and the most scrupulous interpretation you can come up with is that you pay for your own meals at work. I have never been in an organization where that has happened.”
Reach Michael Gsovski at [email protected]
