Business Problems We Solve: The Next Cybersecurity Leader You Hire

Because you're been reading our blog posts (haven't you?) you know that we write a lot about cybersecurity process leadership. Time to tidy up some themes for investors.

Your natural inclination may be to ignore the technical hires in your business plan. This is incorrect thinking. 

As an investor, you need to consider every single leadership hire as if it were crucial. Here are the four criteria to use to find the head of your cybersecurity process.

First: each of your leadership hires is a business leader first and a technical leader second. The leader of a business line should be able to talk the language of business. If not, you have just hired someone who is likely a schmoozer or a technocrat who cannot align their process with your priorities.

Second: as we tell any reader, you will hire for skills and fire for personality. There is nothing wrong with hiring the most technically skilled candidate, or the one with the most experience, or the one you "like" most. But you must consider the candidate's business skills, not predominantly their programming or systems admin skills, as part of the combined technical skill package. Think of how much you like the aggregate skill mix, not how much you personally like the individual. Review the candidates again. Are you dazzled by their agrgegate skill package or do they try to make you want to like them?

Third: yes, it is important to consider experience dealing with investors or the Board if that's what the candidate would be doing in the job -- but not if that's not what the person would be doing in the job.  

Fourth and final: your new cybersecurity process leader hire is going to be an awesome technologist on Day 1, and then their skills will decline because they are moving into a new role. Do not hire for their resume. Instead, hire for their talent to contribute, manage, and grow the function -- which includes people, technology, and peers.

Your next cybersecurity leader hire is going to face threats that are evolving. Your insurers and your own investors are expecting you to make the right call on this. 

Here is free consulting advice: it's one thing to be swayed by the candidate's charisma as the head of sales but please focus on competence for the head of cybersecurity.

 Ask us how we can help you sort through your candidate pool to find the candidate with the best technical and business skill mix.