Beyond Security Knowledge: Learning What You Don't Know

Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Jeffrey J. Berkin

WHEN YOU ARE READY to be promoted, you might find that security expertise is not enough. The skills and knowledge that have so far served you well might not qualify you for advancement to the next-level security management position.

A successful security manager requires another set of skills that have nothing to do with security per se. These are general business skills, and all too often, ambitious professionals lack them. Two skills come to mind:

• A basic understanding of business

  It is not necessary to have an MBA, but in the private sector, one ought to be conversant with fundamental business concepts. An excellent primer is a short book titled What The CEO Wants You to Know, by Ram Charan.

• People skills

  You must be able to collaborate with and influence others effectively in order to achieve business objectives. Power and influence do not come from position, title, skill, good intentions, great ideas or experience. They come from what Professor Charles E. Dwyer, a teacher at the Wharton School, describes as the ability to make others perceive that a given behavior or performance is the best thing they can do for themselves.

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Jeffrey J. Berkin, a member of the Security Executive Council (csoexexecutivecouncil.com), is a senior government executive with law enforcement and security experience.

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