What makes a good security leader?

July has been a jam-packed month for security professionals. It started with an attempted assassination on former United States President Donald Trump and ended with U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation.

The whole saga has triggered debate on what it means to be at the helm of a security-focused organization. Some demand that leaders need to accept greater accountability in the face of crises. Others insist security managers should do more to prevent threats in the first place. There are multiple facets to effective security management.

Security leadership isn’t all black-and-white.

What makes a good leader is not straight forward, emphasizing any single factor. Adept security professionals embody a combination of qualifications that in our view must include the ability to step into the mind of the adversary and make preemptive decisions that protect against any number of catastrophes.

Seven core traits define the best security leaders.

There isn’t an official or academic way to determine if someone’s character is ideal for roles in security leadership. But even so, there are more than a few indicators that can signal someone’s likelihood for success in the hot seat.

1 - Relevant Expertise

The traditional pipeline for many security leaders begins with a career in law enforcement or the military. From there, individuals climb a public or defense-centric ladder, and later transfer out to private sector work. However, those CVs don’t always translate easily to civilian life. Military and/or law enforcement experience and skill sets can be really valuable yet, security leaders must be able to adapt to the culture and rules of the sector in which they work.

2 - Planning Propensity

Security is an industry measured almost entirely through failures. Attacks happen, and then success is gauged based on the efficacy of a response and extent of resulting damage. Because of the cause-and-effect nature of security, leaders need to ensure their staff are trained, that processes and protocols are thoroughly and regularly exercised, and plans are written with threats in mind. Planning never stops.

3 - Healthy Skepticism

The best security leaders harbor doubt as a general working assumption. In other words, they’re always hoping for the best but expecting the worst – planning for contingencies and never resting on their laurels. They understand that even the best plans fail, and they go to great lengths to bake in operational redundancies, wherever and whenever possible.

4 - Test Obsession

Scrutiny. Good leaders understand that no person, process, or system is ever perfect, necessitating constant refinement to keep edges sharp and staff well-versed in the latest methodologies and approaches. A plan is one thing. A tested plan is so much more. In doing so, security management creates strong barriers against bad actors and position their teams for the best chances at operational success, no matter the circumstances.

5 - Motivational Mindset

Leaders of all types need to be motivational and compelling. But for security executives, this responsibility is acute. It takes complete motivation and buy in to combat passionate, determined adversaries. It is no small thing to be prepared to risk one’s life to save the lives of others. Instilling that level of commitment in a security force is therefore critical. But security leaders also must ensure that officers and personnel are motivated to adhere to the everyday, ‘mundane’ security protocols with equal zeal.

6 - Boots on the Ground

The need for fighting from the trenches in a security context is paramount. The best security leaders are as capable and skilled as the professionals they employ and exhibit a willingness to roll up their sleeves and get tactical when the occasion calls for it. Spending time with the troops also affords management insights they might otherwise not get from the C suite.

7 - Adversarial Understanding

Good security leaders seek to fully understand their adversaries. An intimate knowledge of bad actors should be the basis for a security system and all its components. The threats posed inform everything from placement of a CCTV array to training curriculum for security personnel. Boilerplate security offers the enemy too many potential loopholes versus security that is designed to match the specific characteristics of a given security environment and the threats it faces.

Training to develop security leaders

Even if a security leader checks every box on paper, they require development opportunities just like any other role. Trainings for security professionals are available, but less so for those charged with oversight and management. To ensure organizational leaders can direct their teams in an effective and efficient way, companies should put more effort into executive development courses, like these.