Try This 10-Minute Cybersecurity Management Talent Boost

'Tis the season to deal with respiratory illnesses, adjusting to that new 'better eating' regimen you had as a New Year's resolution -- and to increase your cybersecurity leadership talent.

As anyone who starts an exercise or weight-training routine knows, you don't seek to start at your maximum capacity; that's what you build toward over time. In fact you will injure and embarrass yourself, not in that order, if you start out trying to max out your workout. 

Let's take that incremental mindset to improvement of your cybersecurity leadership talent.

Our HR guru, JP Elliott, started the new year with a post on increasing your impact as an HR leader. (I get that he writes about HR and this is about cybersecurity so scale as you see fit but...) Here is JP:

After more than 20 years in HR, I've noticed a pattern among the leaders who consistently rise and make the biggest impact. It's not their technical expertise. It's not their business acumen. It's something far simpler, and something most of us have never been formally taught.

They're incredible at asking for help.

He outlines a four-step process to increase your leadership talent and impact, and as you read it you can imagine this process taking less time than getting a fancy latte:

1. Ask for help with intention. "The more specific your question, the more useful the response. Specificity also signals that you've already done some thinking and truly value the other person's perspective."

2. Apply immediately. "When someone shares their wisdom with you, implementing their ideas quickly shows respect for their time and experience. It also gives you real data to work with, not just theory."

3. Acknowledge the impact. "Go back to the person who helped you. Tell them what you did and what happened as a result. Be specific: 'I tried your approach in my meeting with the CFO on Tuesday. I opened with the business impact data like you suggested, and for the first time, he actually engaged with my proposal.' People love knowing their advice made a real difference. This simple acknowledgment turns a one-time favor into a genuine relationship."

4. Ask again. "Go back to the person who helped you. Tell them what you did and what happened as a result. Be specific: 'I tried your approach in my meeting with the CFO on Tuesday. I opened with the business impact data like you suggested, and for the first time, he actually engaged with my proposal.' People love knowing their advice made a real difference. This simple acknowledgment turns a one-time favor into a genuine relationship. Don't wait for the "perfect moment" to try their suggestion. Test it within days, not weeks."

He continues:

For you, it provides a structure that makes asking feel less vulnerable. You're not just requesting a favor; you're building a relationship.

For the person helping you, it triggers reciprocity and provides closure. Most people who give advice never find out if it helped. When you close that loop, you give them something rare and valuable: the satisfaction of knowing they made a difference.

And perhaps most importantly, the flywheel demonstrates two qualities that every organization values: humility and follow-through. You're showing that you don't have all the answers, and that when you receive guidance, you act on it.

As a leader, especially one in a technical field, you may seem aloof or disconnected. You're the one people come to for answers, not the other way around. That's the wrong perspective. Leadership is a team sport -- people on your team, peer leaders, and your leadership chain all rely on you to build the team by being on the team.

Building out your leadership relationship talent is a resolution you should keep. This process improvement approach is simple and basic, but it will work. And it's a lot easier to do than keeping that resolution to not get as many fancy lattes.

Ask us how you can boost your cybersecurity leadership talent.

(picture credit: Sanli72, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)