Michal Gnatek is the Department Head of the Enterprise Risk Management program at The MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates multiple Federally Funded Research & Development Centers. In this episode, Michal talks about the dynamic group of people he gets to work with across a wide variety of sectors, why this field is such a fascinating space to be in, and the power of networking in this industry.   Key Takeaways: A little bit about Michal and his work at MITRE. Because a lot of the work MITRE does is for the federal government, traditional risk models don’t necessarily apply at Michal’s company. MITRE manages risks in some big sectors like cybersecurity, aviation, data integrity, and healthcare security. Is it a challenge to talk to different industrial sectors about risk? Michal sometimes has to ask his industry expert to dumb it down so that he can figure out the true risk. How did Michal get his start in insurance? Insurance is never really going to go away. However, the past two years really have shown that risk management is part of our daily lives. Michal took a big risk in his career by switching to a startup. What was that transition like? How does a non-compete work when you’re switching to a new insurance broker? Michal is grateful for the past opportunities he’s had because they’ve prepared him to be a better risk manager than ever before. If you really want to excel in your career, get good at networking and connecting people to other people. Is Michal ever tempted to go back to the broker side? When you connect the dots through people, really unique opportunities begin to show. Risk management is a far more interesting industry than people give us credit for. Michal loves staying active and has a passion for biking to keep himself healthy.   Mentioned in This Episode: Mitre.org Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear