Jim Guckin

Yesterday in the office, I got to have a great conversation with some of my colleagues. It started around the Crowdstrike incident and then somehow morphed into my leadership philosophy (I don’t remember how), but thought it would be good to share some of what I think makes a good leader (and I try to follow these). These are in no particular order and it’s honestly not an exhaustive list. Some of these I learned from both good and not as good leaders in my career, not always because they did it, but maybe because they lacked doing these things.

1. Open Honest Discussion: I think this is something that many many leaders somehow get wrong (I’ve been lucky). You need to foster your team (direct reports or other teams) into having open discussions. This does not mean, just letting everyone speak, but discussing a strategy or choice and having them comfortable with saying their actual opinions (respectfully). Any leader that thinks they have all the answers, isn’t a leader, they are just a boss. I do not have all the answers, I am only as good as the teams I have surrounded myself with, my success is honestly their success. I have gone out of my way to make sure I foster that in my teams, and I want to work for organizations that do the same. In the end, the open dialog doesn’t mean the decision needs to change, sometimes it’s just being heard, but sometimes it does. Leaders listen (really listen) to their teams and have honest discussions without it being used against them in their evaluations, if they need help, that’s why I’m there, not to judge but to make sure our job is done to the best.
   
2. Doesn’t Blame, Build: In my career, I’ve said often, “I’m not looking to single anyone out, but want to know what we can do better!”, usually in the aftermath of a security incident or an event. I feel compelled to say it because it’s often a failure in established processes or a gap area that was never accounted for in the planning phase. One this fosters people to be more honest and second, we can all have a bad month, week, day, hour, or minute. Organizations aren’t built well on blaming a momentary lack of a person, but was there a process that can be implemented that accounts for human nature? I’m much more interested in fixing that than I am in throwing someone under the proverbial bus. because that’s something I can fix.
   
3. Ask questions not demand: If you know me, then you generally know this is one of my favorite things to do because it fosters better communication and doesn’t make people defensive. If something isn’t working or needs some level of tuning, I generally ask “why” or “I thought” questions, even if I am sure that I know the answer. The number one reason is my first point, I don’t know everything, so maybe my knowledge is lacking. Second, can be because it can get the person to your same line of thought, or at least understand where I am in the thought process. I want to get something accomplished and don’t need someone to feel like I’m on the offensive when I’m not.
   
4. Lead by Example: I wish I could say I had a career path where I never needed to help my team get into the weeds. Honestly, I can do it, but my skillset isn’t that of my teams. Yet, when things get tough, a good leader needs to be able to help where they can. Some bosses, see their teams under pressure and just sit by the side and try to inspire the team. I’m going to get into the trenches with you, and while I can only do so much, I’ll help. Need phishing emails looked at; done, need a file scanned; done, whatever is needed I will be in it with them. I’ve seen C Suite level help in any way they can when a team is under pressure and those teams are bonded in a way that a boss’ team never will be.
   
5. Grows Power/Authority: I do have a title, but that title does not mean instantly that I have power. I would like to think my teams listen to me because authority was cultivated over time, by them learning about my experience or building trust with them. Some bosses are bosses because their title dictates it and they let you know it, while a good leader doesn’t ever have to say their title. It’s a hard relationship to cultivate because it’s not a single path, since everyone is different, and building that trust is different with each.

As I said this isn’t an exhaustive list, but it should be a start of what you think a leader should be. I want to say, the hardest lesson that I needed to learn as I moved up the corporate ladder was that not everyone will like or respect you, but I still try to do my best by them. The 5 points ahead, don’t always work for everyone, and sometimes you can try everything and still have to discipline someone. There are a handful of my team leadership failures, where despite my best efforts and intentions, things just didn’t work out. My personal leadership mantra, I hold onto those failures to learn from them, no matter why it ended, even in failure we need to learn something. Bosses fire people and move to the next action on their plan, a leader is different, they are always looking to learn.

If you are not a leader, then this is still important to understand what makes a good leader. There are questions, you can weave from this or any list about a good leader and find ways of asking it in an interview. Honestly, I’ve turned down offers from organizations because I didn’t get the impression of someone being a good leader. I’ve taken jobs on the sole benefit of feeling like the management understood what building a good team takes. I cherish when I have a leader who I can disagree with, and we can respectfully go back and forth, even if it’s not what I wanted, I at least got an idea of their vision.