When Soulful CxO Host Dr. Rebecca Wynn and N2K Networks’ CyberWire’s Chef Security Officer (CSO), Chief Analyst, and Senior Fellow Rick Howard got together on the podcast, these heartfelt lessons and highly engaging conversation flowed over a variety of topics, including:
- Successes, failures, and lessons learned in supporting the U.S. Government in cyber security projects
- The value of mentorship and how that shaped their careers
- Leadership principles with the importance of leading as humans, with kindness
Cybersecurity Mentorship
As with many of Dr. Wynn’s past guests, Howard and Wynn discussed the role mentors have played in getting them to where they are today. Both currently mentor others, and Howard noted that the onus is on the mentee, which is, similar to what Jim Routh shared during his appearance on the podcast. Dr. Wynn and Howard recognize the importance of giving back and that helping other security professionals is part of their role. Typically, Howard shares, someone reaches out via email with a question or two and eventually following a phone discussion, they ask if they can have routine meetings which evolves into a mentorship role. In our recent article on women in cybersecurity featuring Dr. Rebecca Wynn, mentorship was also a critical commonality .
The Ability to Communicate an Idea or Vision
The discussion shifted to the comfort level in speaking and writing and how best to prepare oneself for those opportunities in their career. Howard provided a few suggestions starting with “just do it.” There are thousands of cyber security conferences, and there’s no better way to improve your public speaking presence than to get out there and do it repeatedly. Dr. Wynn shared that Toastmasters International (www.toasmaters.org) is another good option for increasing comfort level with speaking.
Writing is also a critical skill; whether it be to author something for the community, present to the Board, or pitch an idea internally, the ability to communicate through writing an idea/vision to be able to get your point across is necessary. Howard recommends On Writing by Stephen King, which talks about his craft/art, sentence structure, e.g., passive versus active, and what you should be trying to do.
Leadership Skills
We read quite a bit on LinkedIn and social media channels about good and toxic leaders. Both Dr. Wynn and Howard shared examples of good leaders they had in their careers. Howard vividly shares when he was a young captain teaching at the military academy. He was also in charge of the network and stuff in the electrical engineering and computer science department. He devised a big plan for an upgrade and shared it with his boss at the time. Although it was clear his boss wasn’t confident in the idea, he let him do it – and he failed. In his words, “it was just a disaster.” His boss said, “Okay, what did you learn, and how do we fix it from here?” That exemplifies a true leader. He was allowing someone to fail and learn.
How To Ensure a Seamless Transition of Cybersecurity Posture When Changes Are Made
Their discussion rounds out with talk around strategic or financial leadership changes , and how to ensure a seamless transition of cyber security posture when changes are made. They also discuss their opinions on penetration testing. This episode variety looks at various cybersecurity leadership concepts and even touches on Netflix’s approach. Listen to the full Rick Howard episode here.
