Making the jump from a technical cybersecurity role to a leadership position is one of the most challenging transitions in a professional's career. In a recent panel on the Exploring Information Security podcast, experts Chris Anderson, Roger Brotz, and Mike Vetri shared the hard-won lessons they learned while moving up the career ladder.
Here are the four essential shifts every technical professional must make to become an effective leader.
Shift from "Doing" to "Empowering"
The biggest trap for new leaders is staying in the technical weeds. Roger Brotz, CISO at Acadia Healthcare, notes that while you must understand the technology to make the right moves, you cannot be a people leader if you are still the primary person on the keyboard.
Chris Anderson calls this the "mind shift from I do the work to I empower others." A leader’s job isn't to solve the technical puzzle themselves; it’s to remove obstacles so their team can solve it.
Master the Art of the "Why"
Security teams are often unfairly labeled the "Department of No." To combat this, the panel emphasized the need for Business Translation.
Technical professionals see a vulnerability and think, "This is bad." A leader must be able to translate that into a business reality: "If we don't fix this now, it will cost us $X in revenue or Y hours of downtime." Mike Vetri argues that security isn't a cost center; it’s a profit-promoting department because it prevents catastrophic losses.
Lead with Empathy (The 20% Advantage)
Cybersecurity is a high-tempo, high-stress field. The panel cited research showing that leaders who prioritize Emotional Intelligence often see their organizations exceed revenue goals by 20%.
Empathy is particularly crucial during incident response. Mike Vetri shared a story of failing to detect team burnout during a two-week crisis. He compared a burnt-out security analyst to a tired heart surgeon—eventually, fatigue leads to mistakes that the business cannot recover from.
Protect Your "Barometer"
To lead others, you must first lead yourself. The panelists shared their strategies for maintaining sanity in a 24/7 industry:
Set Hard Boundaries: If you say "yes" to every late-night request, you are inadvertently saying "no" to your family and your health.
Find a Non-Cyber Hobby: Whether it’s coaching a daughter’s soccer team, building Legos, or playing music, you need a space where "Zero Trust" doesn't exist.
Listen to Your Barometer: Most panelists agreed that their spouses or families were the first to notice when they were out of balance.
Final Thought
Transitioning to leadership doesn't mean losing your technical edge—it means using that edge to inspire others. As Mike Vetri quoted: "If your actions inspire others to do more, dream more, learn more, and become more, then you are a leader."