Big Bob, Cyber Imposter Syndrome & Giants

Big Bob came to mind recently as I needed to ‘step in’ when one of my personal giants, Steven Bradley , needed someone to lead the 2nd half of a session on Archimate (https://www.archimatetool.com/) in our Cybersecurity Architecture program (https://www.cyberwayfinder.com/security-architecture). Me? Step in the shoes of Steven? Really? In this, his domain of excellence? Imposter Syndrome Front and Center! Then I thought of Bob.

“Lift Your Own Weight” - Many years ago my partner took me to a gym in Sacramento. Here we met Big Bob. And Bob was indeed large, he had been an ‘extra’ in the original 1980’s Conan the Barbarian movie and had arms larger than most of our thighs. While initially intimidated, my partner challenged me (to paraphrase) “… do not watch how much weight Bob lifts, look at -how- he lifts it, look at his stance, look at his reps, look at his daily and weekly sequences…your goal is not to be a big as Bob or nearly as strong, but be as good at lifting your own weight ... and watch your form, never get sloppy just to lift more static weight.” And indeed, Bob was a brilliant scientist and technician and the very definition of a gentle-giant willing to share his skills and work when approached about the science of what he was doing.

"Here be Giants” - In addition to syndrome, I use the lesson of Big Bob in our CyberWayFinder academy “Hack Your Cyber Career” (https://www.cyberwayfinder.com/hack-your-career). Not everyone entering cybersecurity is going to instantly, or ever, become a giant. In the BeNeLux I am continually astonished at the global cyber-talent giants among us; whether Didier Stevens building and generously sharing tool sets ( NVISO Security ) and I am convinced dreaming in 1’s and 0’s, or Xavier Mertens ???? appearing time and again on SANS Internet Storm Center , or Alexandre Dulaunoy doing amazing research and defense sharing tool-building at CIRCL (Computer Incident Response Center Luxembourg) and of course Steven Bradley and Bonnie Demeyer and their work on the Security integration to Archimate and so much more. Very few of us have the back-story and depth built over decades of doing this kind of work. Few of us even aspire to be these giants. But this does not mean we cannot be good at what we do. We can look to our own personal giants, the persons and role models we collect. And we can lift our own weights, properly. And when working among our own personal giants, even if from a distance, we listen, learn and grow. And after 20 years or more, we may surprise ourselves to become giants that new generations of beginning-experts look to. Irrespective of the any imposter syndrome or the humility of our (non)STEM, (non)academic or (non)technical starting points.

“Our Own Personal Giants” - This is part of why I remain so very enamored of the work we are doing at CyberWayFinder . We get to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our own giants; instructors like Steven, Guillaume, Omnia, Peter, Maria, Malcolm, Marijke, Stefan, Elena, Emmanuel, Anne, Timmy, Glenn, and the inestimable Rosanna Kurrer … and so many more. By doing our own heavy lifting, properly, day-by-day. We are building new resources, colleagues and partners to help us in securing our digital community. And I am certain in 20 more years, more than a few of our ‘starters’ will surprise themselves by becoming ‘giants’ along the way … ?by lifting their own weights, properly. By letting other see how hard we work and sweat and care about our missions. And perhaps most importantly by helping others along the way. We can all stand among our own personal giants.

“Not Faking It” - There is the phrase, much maligned or overused, “Fake it Until you Make It” that it as better characterized as “Fake it Until you Become It.” But lets can take this another way. Avoid the word ‘Fake’ entirely it implies dishonesty and encourages imposter syndrome. We may not initially understand the actions of our giants. But we see the attributes of their success. By following their behaviors and actions, with attribute mimicry and via copying actions of masters even before we fully understand, we can learn the muscle-memory of masters and do good solid work. And by regularly inhabiting the rooms and spending time with other people also doing good work, and by constantly learning, thinking and finding mental models and improvements, we become. ?So in the deep recesses of my ego, a small tagline tickles …

“We Build Giants.”

How fun is this!

Thanks Bob!?https://www.californiafamilyfitness.com/gyms/midtown?utm_source=local&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=midtown

Patrick Wheeler