Welcome to the second part of our insightful conversation with Mircea Geoana, the Deputy Secretary General of NATO. Mircea was born and educated in communist Romania, finished his education in the West, and built a successful political and diplomatic career.

He was appointed as an ambassador to the U.S.A. and became the youngest ambassador in Romania’s history. He later served as a president of the Romanian Senate, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Deputy Prime Minister. In 2009, he narrowly lost the elections for the president of Romania when he received 49.6% of the votes.

Mircea is a board member of several organizations, including the World Economic Forum, The Aspen Institute, and the European Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a published author and has written several books on foreign policy and international relations.

00:00 NATO’s billion-dollar entrepreneur fund

NATO created an ecosystem where young entrepreneurs can test their ideas for free
Testing ideas in DIANA – Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic
The Innovation Fund – The first ever multi-national sovereign venture capital fund
Competition with China
European HQ for DIANA is based at Imperial College in London

10:23 Mistakes made and things learned from them

Don't be satisfied with your learning
Aspen Institute in Colorado
Started Aspen Institute in Romania
Wishes to become a moderator of Aspen leadership seminars

15:20 Five ingredients of being a great leader

There are no natural-born leaders
There are many different types of leaders
Never be happy with your success (make room for progress)

17:55 How important it is to be funny as a team leader

A tendency to become rigid and dry from within over time
Try to be humble and listen to others
Everybody has something to offer
There is always something to learn

20:32 What does it take to be successful

Life is tough and has ups and downs
There is always another chance
Never give up

21:36 Extreme Preparation

Romanians are very talented people, but sometimes neglect preparation
Hard work is very important (talent is not enough)
In NATO, everything is done with thorough preparation
Preparing for the unexpected
Don’t take things too seriously

26:30 The importance of mentors

Believes in mentorship and, even more, in indirect mentorship
Started mentorship program with NATO
Randall’s mentorship program
Mircea’s dream is to bring programs to Romania

31:33 The secret to work-life balance

The balance between mind, body, and spirit
A tendency to have a foresight for bad things to happen
A Randall’s intern spoke in NATO about the anti-microbial disease
Focusing on simple things – love, compassion, giving back, improving yourself
What is next after leaving NATO?

35:41 Fill in the blank to excellence

Mircea's biggest lesson in life
Mircea's number 1 professional goal
Mircea's number 1 personal goal
Mircea's biggest regret in life
Mircea's biggest dream
Mircea's advice to a 21-year-old self

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