8 Ways Leading CISOs have Created High Performing Security Teams - Part 3 of 8

Pro Tip 3: Teach the Team How to Fail Forward

Make it Ok to fail.??Face it, we will fail at protecting all of our data.

At some point, no matter how good we are, someone will click on the wrong link, data will get shared without our permission, and most likely our passwords will get exposed by one of the hundreds or thousands of technology firms we use every day to conduct our digital lives.

Bad guys are better resourced than we are, so we will always be playing catch up.

Security leaders need to communicate to the team, the business, and to the board that failure is part of the process.?Success will follow failures.?Great leaders don’t focus on those failures.?They learn from them.?Leaders tell us, it is more important to be consistent in your approach and do the next right thing to drive long-term results.

An example of how to turn failures into success is how one becomes good at a video game. There are no user instructions on how to play a new game such as Mario Bros, Fortnite, Call of Duty, Overwatch, or most other video games.?So how do you become good at these games???You die a lot!?You learn from each failure and you keep trying new things until you make it further in the game.

Since things do not always go right on a security team, leaders need to create an environment where employees know that they will be protected if the team experiences a failure or breach.

Communicate that “We all make mistakes” and admit when you mess up as well.?When a leader shows a high degree of vulnerability, it sets the example of how the team needs to respond when they mess up.?Being authentic creates the space for people to approach you when they recognize their own failures instead of hiding them.

Due to the sting of a failure, we often learn more from?our failures than we do from our successes.

As hard as it may be, displaying a normalized reaction, even during failures or stressful times, can reassure employees. Great security leaders encourage their employees to keep trying new things. If they are not occasionally failing, then they are likely not pushing themselves enough.

For the Rest of the Tips go to?8 Ways CISOS Create Higher Performing Security Teams

In Summary:

Thanks to the input of the security leaders who joined our?CISO Forum?which provided such insightful advice on how to create a higher-performing security team.

If you are a security leader and would like to participate in our monthly CISO Forums where we discuss valuable and actionable information as well as best practices and challenges, please?register here.

About?Tim Howard

Tim Howard is the founder of 4 technology firms including?Fortify Experts?which helps companies hire the Best Cyber Talent on the Planet as well as provides expert consulting and NIST-based?security assessments.?

In addition, he has a passion for helping CISOs develop Higher Performing Teams through coaching, by creating interactive?CISO Forums, and by helping them create highly-effective team cultures.

With each new hire, his firm produces an?Employee Operating Manual?to help clients understand how to motivate and maximize productivity while meeting the needs of each employee.

He also teamed up with Lyndrel Downs to launch?Cybersecurity DIVAS?to help promote the most influential women in cybersecurity and provide a mentoring program to help encourage and support more diversity within the industry.

Tim is married with 3 kids. He is an avid runner and has completed two?IRONMAN Texas?events. He is also a graduate of Texas A&M University.?

Invite Tim to connect:??www.dhirubhai.net/in/timhoward