Learning from your peers

Sep 1, 2000 12:00 PM, Larry Anderson

Wanted: A top-notch security professional to manage a growing department in a progressive company. Applicant must be adaptable, people-oriented, a team-builder, and a self-starter. We are seeking a high-level manager who will lead by example and be a role model for the staff. Must be able to sweat the details without micromanaging, be knowledgeable about technology while emphasizing people skills. Applicant should work to raise the profile of security at the company, making the department's services user-friendly and setting a high standard for security. Position will require constant emphasis on training and educating employees in security awareness and prevention. Incentive-based pay: The more you give, the more you get back.

Ever wonder who writes those help-wanted advertisements? It's usually some human resource person who may or may not understand the job he or she is writing about. It is interesting how much information is summed up in those ads, expressing the highfalutin standards that applicants will be held to while emphasizing the highest ideals of what the job should entail.

In compiling our interviews this month for the articles on the Security Director of the Year and the Security Honor Roll (see page 50), our staff of writers and editors have spent a lot of time thinking about what makes a good security director. The fact is that each person profiled in this issue provides an excellent example of what a security director should be. At the same time, each person also defines the role in a uniquely individual way. Each is very effective in performing his or her duties, while each has defined and fine-tuned those duties to fit their own profile of what they have to offer. Some offer more in the way of technological expertise, while others are more into training, others into team-building. As Dan Consalvo of State Farm Insurance puts it: "As practitioners, we can offer a lot from our own experiences."

There is a lot to learn from reading about the experiences of other security directors. We hope this month's collection of articles helps us to fulfill our goal of spreading the word about the importance of effective security practice in protecting today's companies and institutions. Here are a few nuggets of advice to be gleaned:

- Select good people as an all-important first step in building an effective security practice. So say Robert Hayes of Georgia-Pacific Co. (page 55) and Don Hubbard of PricewaterhouseCoopers (page 58). Others would certainly agree. What does your department do to make sure that you are recruiting the cream of the crop?

- Do your homework and know your enemy. It's a lesson that Douglas Florence of the Mirage Hotel and Casino can never forget as he works to keep one step ahead of those tricky casino crooks. But it's also a lesson that James Wiles of BI-LO Inc. faces with sadness: The majority of thefts at his company come from within.

- Look for ways to expand the services your department provides, thus making the department more important and raising its profile in the company. It's a lesson to be learned from Bonnie Michelman's efforts at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Empowered and inspired by the experiences of the nation's top security professionals, how can you, dear reader, work even harder to do your best and be your best? Try getting started today.

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

This month in Access Control

• Targeting The Customer
• Electronic Pedigrees
• One Hero Among Many
• Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• More from September's issue