As Rodgers puts it, “What you put here won’t get you there. You know how to set up the firewall, but now you have to contact the administrators. You must know the business and be able to talk about your technology, your security, the solution in business language. Being able to have those conversations is what separates great leaders.”
Liz Rodgers, CISO, RAND
RANDI
Because they are so fundamental to the role, great communication skills have a negative impact on leadership effectiveness. Transparency, for example, tends to build more trust, which leads to better collaboration and cooperation. “There is little doubt about the motive,” said Noaman. “We talk to each other and find out why we have to do this. I think the only way you can work together is to be clear and simple in your message. Because I might think we’re compatible, but unless you’re in the same boat as me, we’re not.”
These intuitive, human-centered skills are essential, especially in the kinds of high-pressure, stressful situations CISOs face on a regular basis. As Deaner says, “I can talk about the CVSS score. But at the end of the day, nobody wants to have a bad day. And I think that’s a better way to put it in place than being too technical, or using fear, uncertainty, and doubt, or not making it easy to meet people where they are. “
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