The Leadership Skills for Cybersecurity Professionals

When hiring for jobs in cybersecurity and other technical fields, managers and company leaders deliberately look for the specific technical skills a given job requires such as programming or data analysis. This makes sense; they want to hire someone who has the skills needed to complete the tasks within the scope of the role. Furthermore, most managers aim to hire someone with previous experience in a given role because it helps them feel confident that the candidate is competent in the role in question. Unfortunately, these conventional hiring practices create a series of critical oversight based on one underlying misunderstanding. The truth is, experience, degree, or even certification does not equal skill. Real skill means not just being able to do one define action, it means understanding how those actions and day-to-day processes impact a business and being able to solve problems creatively and swiftly. Just because I’ve been doing something for 15 years doesn’t mean I’m skilled at it. It just means I’m good at repetition. And hiring based on experience often means bringing in people’s both good and bad habits that was embedded over time in the field. 

So, if technical skills alone aren’t enough then what should these companies and hiring managers be looking for, on top of the required technical skills? Simply put, the answer is soft skills. In cybersecurity, the number one most valuable trait is having the ability to communicate in a precise verbal way to all the relevant people. Unfortunately, schools and training programs focus on technical skills and ignore communication. This poses a real problem, since we already established that communication skills are paramount in this industry. In cybersecurity, business and technology teams converge to work together on achieving the same end goal, which is to help the company become more profitable while maintaining security. If the IT guy can’t speak to the business person, who already doesn’t understand the technology, then there’s going to be a disconnect. Hiring managers are starting to understand they should focus their efforts on bringing in folks who can explain a complex topic in such a way someone can easily understand, and from that explanation, can also understand their action items. A good IT person can only make good recommendations when they understand the company's objectives and avoid working in a silo. Understanding the big picture leads to innovation and system and process improvements. And on a personal level, if you want to take your career to the next level, you’ve got to understand the big picture. 

This course will show you how to stop being the typical IT guy and become a business technology professional. In addition to that, will deliver expert advice on leadership skills and understanding the importance of sales skills, which will enable you to shine and stand out compared to the other candidates that is interviewing for the role. Are you thinking about that dream job you desire? However, you’re struggling in the interview, and it feels like an interrogation. You will also learn how to take control of the interview and convey to them that you are the person for the job. Don’t be just another IT guy, be a business IT professional.