Cyber Leader's Blueprint 4 - From Operational Excellence to Servant Leadership: Architecting Impact in Cybersecurity

Post 4 in my 5-Part thread: The Cybersecurity Leader's Blueprint

I have already highlighted the importance of technical expertise and operational excellence as core tenets of cybersecurity leadership. How you manage and lead your teams is another critical element to address on your journey.

Serving in a management or leadership role means scaling beyond your own capabilities. This involves not just delegation but cultivating the growth of your team. The transition from individual contributor to manager is often challenging, requiring a shift from doing to enabling.

One of the most difficult elements of the transition from independent contributor to manager is providing the proper level of oversight of your team's work. The micro-manager will burn their team out and the absentee leader will find a team full of resentment.

A manager best strikes that balance through SERVANT LEADERSHIP, a philosophy where the leader's primary goal is to serve others – prioritizing the growth, well-being, and needs of team members over personal agenda. In practice, this means:

• People Development: Focus on coaching, mentoring, and removing obstacles for your team.
• Empathy and Community: Emphasize listening, empathy, stewardship, and building shared purpose.

Think of the above as inputs to a high-functioning, high-performing team. By focusing on these elements, a lot of other elements will take care of themselves.

Actionable Examples of Servant Leadership:

• Taking Ownership, Sharing Credit: A servant leader takes responsibility for team shortcomings in public, while eagerly sharing credit for successes, specifically recognizing individual contributions.
• Active Support in Crisis: During demanding periods, a servant leader remains visible, available, and supportive. While not necessarily staying on a conference call all night, demonstrating your presence provides tangible and intangible support.
• Building Trust: TRUST is the vital lubricant that allows teams to operate at higher efficiencies. As Stephen M. R. Covey's “Speed of Trust” highlights, every interaction is either a deposit or withdrawal from your trust bank with stakeholders and team members. This includes both your team and your stakeholders.
• Providing Direct Feedback: Servant leadership doesn't mean avoiding tough conversations. Immediate, critical feedback is essential for growth. Like a demanding coach, you must be direct, not tolerate mediocrity, but always deliver with empathy for honest mistakes, ensuring growth opportunities rather than blame.

You are likely to encounter plenty of thought leadership on this, and of all the white noise, I think Simon Sinek’s various videos available on YouTube and two of his books, “Begin with Why” and “Leaders Eat Last”, convey valuable lessons related to effective management and leadership. Additionally, Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” is not explicitly a book on servant leadership, but some of its core take-aways have stuck with me, notably placing focus on empathy and encouragement and operating with reciprocity and genuineness.

One historical example of effective servant leadership, at least in my view, is George Washington, specifically during the American Revolution. George Washington was not the world’s greatest strategic planner or tactical general. In fact, a number of well-documented blunders, especially early on, could have led to an early demise of the Continental Army. Just as important as any individual battle, it was the ability to keep the Continental Army intact through multiple harsh winters, especially the winter at Valley Forge, that helped sustain the effort, develop the army into a formidable fighting force, build alliances, and ultimately outlast Britain’s desire to continue funding the war effort. What made Washington stand out was that he led from the front, often putting himself at higher risk, and did not leave his troops. Throughout the entire course of the war, he only left camp when absolutely necessary to deal with issues with Congress.

One thing to remember is that you cannot do it all on your own. Servant leadership is how you will build and foster the team that helps get it all done.