About Tom Coyle
Leadership as a Lifestyle
NCIS Special Agent (RET) and Adjunct Leadership Lecturer at the University of Virginia.
With 21 years of NCIS criminal investigative and counterintelligence experience, Tom brings a unique perspective shaped by complex investigations, hidden identities, and high-stakes decisions. His insights go beyond theory, equipping people to think critically, recognize deception, and lead with confidence.
A 28-year law enforcement veteran, he has held counterintelligence and insider threat leadership roles with the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. His career has taken him into complex investigations and high-pressure environments where understanding people, building trust, making difficult decisions, and leading through uncertainty were essential.
Today, he brings those experiences to audiences as an Adjunct Leadership Lecturer at the University of Virginia and a trusted trainer for law enforcement agencies throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Through compelling real-world cases and lessons learned throughout his career, he teaches four principles that he believes are essential to exceptional leadership: Trust, Humility, Inspiration, and Self-Awareness.
What are the burdens of leadership?
Giving credit, not seeking it
Serving without the spotlight
Putting the mission ahead of personal advancement
Having the courage to make the tough calls, even when they're unpopular
People first. Mission always
In addition, he has served in three different Volunteer Fire Departments - one in Connecticut as a teenager and two in Virginia, where he currently serves as an active business member, contributing approximately 450 hrs per year, serving his community.
Leadership is also deeply personal to him. His family's commitment to service continues through a son who is a newly promoted Marine Corps Colonel and a son-in-law serving as a Special Agent (Senior Executive-Select) with the FBI.
Whether speaking to law enforcement professionals, government leaders, corporate teams, or organizations navigating change, he gives audiences more than leadership theory. He connects unforgettable cases and decades of experience to practical lessons about building trust, strengthening teams, understanding people, and becoming a more effective leader.
Credentials
21 years NCIS Special Agent (RET)
28-year law enforcement veteran
Counterintelligence & insider threat leadership roles, Department of Defense and Office of the Director of National Intelligence
National Insider Threat Task Force, in support of the White House National Security Council
Adjunct Leadership Lecturer, University of Virginia
Former Police Officer, Gaming Commission Investigator and Instructor at the Department of Defense Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy
Global Security Policy Advisor to Executive Branch agencies, senior officials and private sector business leaders
Senior roles at CACI and Leidos; founder and CEO of Talon Security Solutions
Two-time recipient, Navy Civilian Meritorious Service Medal
2024 Distinguished Alumni Award, GCDS
Founder and CEO, Leading4Life
Speaking since 2004
Published: “Invest in the First Line of Defense”, Infosecurity Magazine
From the field
A career of service
U.S. Navy/NCIS recognition (U.S. Atlantic Fleet Commander ADM Flanagan)
Supporting the USSS protection in Crete, 1991 (President George H.W. Bush)
Aboard USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65), 1995–96
Imagine being strapped into a seat facing backward, in the windowless belly of a propeller plane on the deck of an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean. A catapult grabs the plane, and in about two seconds you go from a dead stop to roughly 130 miles an hour and off the bow, slammed back into your seat the whole way. I served aboard USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) from 1995-1996 and took this trip multiple times. Scary but also exhilarating!