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Career Transition: Public Sector to Private

Moving from the public sector to a private sector security job can be a huge leap. In this book excerpt, David Quilter points out the strengths you'll bring along with the skills you may need to develop.

By J. David Quilter

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In this position I was responsible to manage Special Agent recruiting; to select candidates for the DEA Academy; to re-assign and promote Agents. My peers called me the Job Fairy, although I preferred the title: Duke of Deployment. Later, in Texas, I returned to field work. Moving from the highly charged and frequently changing environment of headquarters, where internal politics can be challenging, back to protecting the lives of agents and others in the field is a valuable exercise.

By contrast, many employees in business have spent entire careers in finance, or sales, or marketing, or human resources, or communications. Their experience tends to be either headquarter-centric or field-centric. This is especially true of middle managers, who may be confined to one department only. Perhaps they are expert at what they do, but their experience can also be self-limiting.

This is especially true when it comes to dealing with serious incidents, or a crisis that crosses multiple functions in the corporation. While you can learn what many of these executives know, they may never have the tested mettle that is yours because of your life history—your path. Therefore, they need you—as long as you are also willing to learn everything you can from them—about their business. This becomes a win-win situation if you work hard, look for opportunities to apply security skills within the company's culture and keep your eye on enhancing the bottom line.

In every organization there will be some who will never see the value you bring. Do not allow them to frustrate you. Once you have given them a fair chance to collaborate, leave them behind, and deal with those leaders and parts of the business that are receptive and responding. This is something like driving down the highway and encountering major construction. It may slow you down, but you don't let it keep you from continuing your journey, unless you develop a bad case of road rage and have an accident. Difficulties come with the security leader's territory; a sense of humor also helps you deal with them effectively.

When someone moves into a new leadership in role in business, it is not unusual for them to rely on their subordinates to give them an orientation. If you assume the lead security position in a corporation, you have no such luxury. You will be expected to hit the ground running and get your decisions right the first time.

The Security Executive Council recently concluded research that highlights key skills that the next generation security leaders need in order to be successful in bringing value to their company's business operations. The following leadership skills are considered essential: