Teach, don't just learn, to build your security career

Learning new skills is crucial for your security career. But, according to security-career expert Michael Santarcangelo, so is teaching your job to others, as illustrated by one popular movie about war

By Michael Santarcangelo

June 23, 2011 — CSO —

More than a powerful movie about war, We Were Soldiers reveals a key way to improve a security career while improving the organization.

During a training scene, Lt. Col. Hal Moore — legendary on many levels — is participating in the process of how a team gets off a helicopter as it swoops to the landing zone and hovers.

He steps back and watches the first team saunter out. As they hop off the helicopter, full of adrenaline and celebrating their abilities, Moore sees a problem.

[See also: Set expectations for a successful security career]

As the next helicopter lands, he runs to the door, grabs the officer (in front) and screams that he just got shot. The officer of the team is dead, and now they need to figure out what to do.

Stunned, everyone stammers& and no one moves.

Moore screams over the sound of the rotor beating the air, "What are you going to do?"

More hesitation& Moore points to the next guy in line and yells, "He's dead." Now the first two in line have been shot.

Again, he screams over the roar of the engine, "What are you going to do?"

"Get off the chopper!" one of the team finally screams, making his way for the door.

"Get off the chopper," Moore repeats.

With that, the balance of the team scrambles to get off the helicopter as fast as they can.

Moore deftly proved his point.

As the men on the ground contemplate what they just experienced, Moore pulled them together and informed them that each of them is responsible for learning the job of the man above them, while teaching their job to the man below them.

For a team going into a war zone, this is brilliant. Making it an individual responsibility to build resilience into a team strengthens the entire team. More than a good strategy for war, this is a smart way to advance a security career.

The Hal Moore strategy for a successful security career

While the concept is simple, success hinges on execution. Making this work requires discipline and focus to actively develop the ability to teach effectively while consistently seeking to learn. This is not a one-time event; this is a different way of looking at how to build a successful career.

A common objection about this approach is that trying to learn someone else's job absent military structure creates friction while teaching your job to someone else makes you obsolete and less important. At a time when people are fearful for their job security and generally working in a hectic and compressed state, changes like these are sometimes scary. The concerns, however, are unfounded.

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