Security Leadership: Learn from failure

2. Learn from failure
Failure is a road map to success.  Learn from your failures in security management and from the mistakes of others.  Don’t be afraid of taking risks, failing, and then learning from failure.  Thomas Edison never gave up, even after 10,000 failures when trying to invent the incandescent light bulb.  Have you failed 10,000 times in your security management leadership?  If not, then don’t give up!  Learn from failure!

-- From (http://blog.csoboard.com/cso/2007/07/security-excell.html)

One of the important lessons often over looked by security professionals and executives is simple: Effective security is not achieved with technology alone. 

Senior security executives (CSOs/CISOs) often are forced into untenable positions, when business units in their organizations ask for security solutions as an afterthought to information technology (IT) initiatives.  CSOs/CISOs are then forced to provide quick technology centric solutions to those business and IT requirements--setting aside the lesson that effective security is not always achieved with technology alone.

It is your responsibility as a security professional and executive to break this cycle of reactionary effectiveness.  If we are to be effective security leaders, we must create the personal relationships within our own organizations--across business units with other leaders--to make our work a strategic part of the business.  As a security professional and executive, when was the last time you reached out to other business units to understand their business problems? 

We can add value to every corner of our organizations.  The lessons are out there for us to learn and put into practice.  If you have a lesson you'd like to share with me and the other readers of this blog, please leave a comment or email me.

Wishing you continued success in your security leadership.

Jaime