Leading versus managing: A former US Army officer, Hensley sees leadership development not just to build continuity, but as a reflection of organizational health. “I look forward to the day that somebody fills my shoes,” he says. “You know you’re successful when you’ve worked yourself out of a job.”He believes great leaders are shaped by the people they surround themselves with and by having strong role models early in their careers. “I tell people all the time that you ought to be invited and be inspired by the people you work with and for, and you ultimately ought to get an understanding of the type of leader you want to be and the type of people you want to work with based on role models you have.”For Hensley, there’s a distinct difference between good leadership and management. He says a leader “inspires and motivates” while a manager focuses on accomplishing tasks to drive efficiency and scale, and don’t often take the time to become effective leaders.”A manager does not often get invited to a special moment of a teammate’s life, for example, a wedding or graduation, but if they’re a leader, the teammate would be honored if they could participate in the memorable event as their sincerity is true,” he says.
Run human-focused programs: At Ouellette & Associates, leadership programs are tailored to building the “human side” of technology, with a specific focus on developing skills such as business acumen, client orientation, and collaboration.One of the flagship offerings is Cybersecurity Leadership Experience (CyberLX), a nine-month program which includes one-on-one mentoring by a CISO or senior cyber leader outside of their organization. It also features interactive workshops and a capstone project to apply learnings in practice.For Kath Marston, executive director of technology leadership practices at Ouellette & Associates, the business case for investing in leadership development is clear. She warns organizations that fail to develop their people risk losing them, especially in a sector where change is constant and skill sets evolve quickly.”It’s a big playing field out there right now. To attract talent is one thing. To invest in your talent and grow them is another, and that’s how you’ll have longevity in an organization,” she says. “Many organizations attract the talent, but they lose them because they don’t grow their people. Skill sets change, our world changes constantly, we’re always innovating, always dealing with complex environments, so we have to be ready for what’s the competitive advantage.”That readiness, Marston argues, is directly tied to leadership. “We’re always looking for the next cybersecurity or IT leader to become the next CISO or CIO and we’ve got to grow them to get there.”Still, even well-meaning organizations can struggle to train their cyber professionals fast enough. As Ouellette & Associates director of leadership programs Jill Lundy explains, the challenge isn’t always a lack of investment. “It’s just that the time needed hasn’t necessarily been put aside, and they can’t move as quickly as they would like to get everyone up to speed.”
Spotting a future leader: Identifying leadership potential isn’t about a linear checklist, however, it’s about range, according to Khalfan. “Do they understand how the cyber engineering controls and the bits and bytes of code scanning or building secure products translate back to risk?” he asks. “And can you articulate that? Can you oscillate between technical speak and business speak?”Khalfan believes good CISOs should be able to dive deep with engineers while also leading boardroom conversations. “It’s been a long time since I’ve written code,” he says, “but I at least understand how to have a deep conversation and also be able to have a board discussion with someone.”Abousselham agrees that technical experience is only one part of the puzzle. He’s more focused on whether someone is ready and willing to step up to taking on a leadership role.”Our responsibility as leaders who had the opportunity to actually serve in these roles is to share,” Abousselham says. “It’s to take time from our busy days to reflect on our lessons, share publicly at scale, and help the newer generation. It’s the right thing to do to help the next generation of cyber leaders.”
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