Home » Security Leadership » Career/Staffing

In Depth

Security and Business: Communication 101

Communication skills are the number one requirement for leadership success. In security, step one in communication is understanding the language and priorities of the business.

By William Brandel

Page 3

Mentoring and Managing
While communication is a universal human experience, the language of security is not one that is universally shared or understood. This nomenclature and terminology may be immediately recognizable between two security professionals. However, it can be indistinguishable to downright frightening to people who speak the language of business, says Howard Schmidt, former White House cybersecurity adviser.

Schmidt started his career in law enforcement and had benefited from doing public speaking in performing that role. However, even with that background, he found that as he made the transition into the business arena his communication skills still fell short. Schmidt was fortunate. A supervisor not only made him aware of this but helped mentor him early in his career.

"He said, 'You need to develop a dialogue on the business of security, and not just security,'" Schmidt says. Security people tend to focus on what could go wrong and how to avoid it. This is often not only off the radar for many businesspeople, but it is often demoralizing and can tend to get tuned out. "When you just talk about bad things, and bad things don't happen, you just lose your credibility."

The major struggle for many security executives is to demonstrate that they understand that they are part of the business equation, says Bob Hayes, managing director of the Security Executive Council, based in Washington, D.C. "If communication is cited as an issue, it is often because of the failure to demonstrate alignment with their company's strategic objectives," Hayes says.

"Management today expects a strong security system as a given," Hayes says. "The question is, What is a reasonable amount of risk? Can you add value while you provide security?"

As for which skills a security executive should be proficient in, the answer is simply: All of them. Strong writing skills are needed to communicate in a global environment. Speaking skills—knowing not only what to say but how to say it—are critical as well. This is especially important when you're interacting with other executives, who don't have the luxury of time to figure out your message. Presentation skills are extremely important, to know how to make the point in front of a board or management team.

Like any skill set, security executives have to play to their strengths but work on their weaknesses. While business schools are now offering communication seminars, security executives should not hesitate to take Dale Carnegie courses or join groups like Toastmasters to help hone their public speaking skills, says recruitment manager Snyder.