Cybersecurity Talent: Executive Presence Is Magnetic Cybersecurity Leadership

We at Pythia Cyber focus on cybersecurity talent. It's one of our core areas of expertise.

We've discussed ideal CISOs and CIOs. We've discuss team leadership talent. We've discussed how failing is an option but you as a leader don't have to fail.

Let's discuss dealing with the company's Board. It's time for a test. Don't fail.

Question 1. Which one of the following statements is true?

A. Once I'm a cybersecurity leader, the Board will view me with awe and reverence.

B. However I show up at executive leadership meetings is all good because of my inherent worthiness and authentic self.

C. My expensive degrees from 'elite' universities and the fact that I am descended from royalty on both sides of my family mean I know how to deal with the Board.

D. I need to step up my Board game.

Question 2. When I interact with the Board, they view me as...

A. An employee

B. A leader

C. The boss

D. A techno wiz

Question 3. The company's Board is:

A. Full of powerful people who need to be convinced that you're worthy

B. Ready to let you spend whatever it takes to maintain and increase cybersecurity

C. Very interested in your cybersecurity processes

D. Going to be fooled by your cheap smarm-charm tactics

Let's presume that you passed this test. If you did, you know that you may not pass the Board test without some insights. Here they are.

First, our friend Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic routinely notes that your "authentic self" is unimportant to anyone other than you. Do not bring your "authentic self" to your work. If you resent being told that, well, there's your problem. Instead, bring the version of your self that is willing to work with others you don't always agree with, willing to solve problems that may not be ones you think are important, and that can find some value in appreciating the workplace and its other employees. Some people are in it for the mission, some for the money; both are OK.

Second, speaking of employees: when you're working in a team, you're an employee; when you're leading a team, you're the boss; when you're leading a work function, you're a leader; and when you're dealing with the Board, you're...an employee. Do not forget that.

Third, let's talk about dealing with the Board (you can scale this down to 'dealing with executive leadership' if you're not a CIO etc.; you get the idea). No matter how polished or experienced you are, you must understand that the Board does not see you as a peer or someone with equivalent responsibilities to theirs. Thus, you must learn what leadership researcher John Antonakis calls "costly signals." Quoting John here at length:

"Costly signals increase the likelihood that receivers will take them [i.e., leaders] seriously. A line of leadership research that has adopted a signaling lens is charismatic signaling. According to Antonakis et al. (2016), communicating charismatically requires the use of symbolic tools such as metaphors, which are not easy to produce, and requires intelligence and expertise. Thus, the signal (e.g., metaphor) carries information about the signaler (e.g., skills that are costly or hard to acquire); evidence shows indeed that charismatic signaling is correlated with general intelligence (Akstinaite, Jensen, Vlachos, Erne, & Antonakis, 2022). Further features that matter for interpretation are, for instance, the signaler’s credibility and the receiver’s attention (Connelly et al., 2011). That is, costly signals from credible signalers to attentive receivers have a high likelihood of being effective."

Note that this is *NOT* "fake it 'til you make it." Remember, the Board is composed of successful people who eat fakers for snacks. Instead, costly signals take time to acquire, and then they create confidence in your skills and judgment, and this in turn creates charisma. Charismatic leaders are almost magnetic in their effect on others, even Board members, and this magnetic effect is at the core of executive presence.

Ask us how you can lead the Board into admiring you for your executive presence as a cybersecurity leader.