RC Miles, CPP, Global Director of Safety and Security at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation discusses how he was building and flying the plane at the same time as he shaped the security program at his organization.

Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I am a security executive with over 25 years of private sector experience in designing, developing and implementing comprehensive security, investigation and intelligence strategies in various business climates and organizational cultures.

I have led global security teams to create successful solutions in executive protection and travel safety, special events security, business continuity, emergency response, crisis management and security systems.

Before my current civilian career, I served as an Officer in the US Army for over nine years, with assignments domestically and overseas.

In my current role, I am the Global Director of Safety and Security for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF).

I am responsible for the safety and security of our 7,400 employees working at about 1,000 sites dispersed in 45 countries, where we currently care for about 1.9 million patients.

What did the AIDS Healthcare Foundation look like when you joined?

When I arrived in 2017, the AHF was, and continues to be, a growing operation. It had one million patients in care worldwide and was expanding into more markets.

This expansion and the leadership’s foresight led the organization to seek someone to help meet the challenges of a changing security environment.

Additionally, the leadership had just decided to create a division called the Healthy Housing Foundation to address the low-income and affordable housing crisis within the US.

At its heart, AHF is a non-profit organization that has always been willing to take on the toughest challenges we face, whether it is the HIV/AIDS epidemic or homelessness in the US.

Regarding security, capital investment and operations security was generally based on the regional or business units.

As a rule, the organization was trying to address needs as they arose, but required the expertise to design or create a plan that would be flexible enough to meet future challenges.

What were your first steps at the AHF?

I began by implementing a 90-day plan based on the book The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins.

I had not worked in a non-governmental organization (NGO) before and I believe it is critical to come into a new position, especially when it is essentially a start-up, as open-minded as possible.

This led me to spend most of my time interviewing employees, from the line employees to the CEO, to get a broad-spectrum view of the challenges and opportunities.

Additionally, I studied the active policies, procedures and systems in place that served as the security infrastructure.

The result of this program of study and analysis was very effective and led to an agreement with the leadership that this was generally a start-up situation.

Additionally, we agreed that the key areas where we needed quick growth were personnel safety training, workplace violence prevention and intervention and organizational resilience/emergency management.

It is in these areas, the ones most recognized at all levels of the organization, where I started to address the concerns.

From a security perspective, these concerns were legitimate, but they also were the ones that most impacted employees and leaders.

By focusing on these areas, we achieved successes relatively early on that not only improved security but were perceived as improving the security by stakeholders at all levels.

How did you go about building your team?

Before you can build a team, you have to get buy-in on the strategy. I’m a firm believer that you approach this in a structured fashion.

I started with strategy, understanding the organization and adapting that strategy to it.

In my case, that meant we needed to have a flexible organization that targeted the most critical needs that were identified during my first 90 days.

Then, I took a look at the structure.

We started with more of a vertical by-business unit approach, but pretty quickly, it became evident that we needed to move to a geographical solution.

Then we took a look at the staff.

Knowing what the needs were of my organization and the requirement for buy-in from the leadership, we targeted hiring in the place where we had the greatest need and the most significant security challenges. In our case, it was Africa.

So that opened the door for how we hired and built the team.

Finally, it was resource; in order to achieve anything, you have to have a commitment from leadership to provide the necessary resources to meet the needs of the business in terms of security.

Using this systematic approach, we went from zero, or more accurately, one with me as only employee in security, to a team of about seven security professionals working together to meet the business needs.

The critical thing in my mind when looking for staff, when you start at zero, is to look for people who want to work in a collaborative fashion.

Our CEO, Michael Weinstein, is fond of pointing out that he’s looking for people who will engage in “radical collaboration”.

I think this commitment to working together is critical when starting a security operation for an organization.

How did you overcome any challenges you faced along the way?

I believe the biggest challenge we faced was maintaining focus.

Many tasks need to be accomplished when starting a project and it’s easy to spread yourself too thin.

This can lead to a situation where you cannot develop viable solutions.

When I was in the US Army, my boss was fond of the quote “see your attacks everywhere and you attack nowhere”.

Essentially, you can’t solve all problems at once, so it’s essential to prioritize and implement a triage system.

This approach worked well for us as we built out the program, but it wasn’t without its challenges.

Everyone wants their problems addressed first, often believing their issues are the most important.

Therefore, being able to tactfully explain that there is a prioritization process that must be followed is a skill that takes time to develop and practice.

What successes have you seen?

The other area we’ve had great success in is emergency management and preparedness.

You never know what’s going to happen or when it’s going to happen.

In our case, we’ve had a number of conflicts where we had to respond and provide assistance in getting people to prepare.

The most remarkable success was our efforts to keep our operations working in Ukraine.

As a result of what we’re able to do, the team remained operational all the way through the war so far; in fact, we have increased the number of patients to which we provide services.

What are your further plans for growth?

As with any support function, our success is directly tied to the organization’s success.

I think we will see growth in our Healthy Housing Foundation since the issue of affordable housing seems to be worsening.

In this area, we play an active role in helping to make sure we do everything possible to protect our employees, tenants and property within the limits of the law.

The other area where I expect to see great growth is as we expand internationally to continue to address the HIV/AIDS crisis.

We have moved from being just a single-issue NGO to one that is seen as a key member of civil society when it comes to public health.

Our understanding of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as well as the lessons we’ve learned, means that we understand both the strategic issues in terms of policy and how to address the challenge of public health.

The result of this is that we can go into locations where others won’t and help provide service to patients, as well as best practices that have been demonstrated, documented and reported in peer-reviewed documents.

The leadership looks to us to provide input regarding the risks and how to mitigate them.

It’s our mission to help them by providing the information needed to support their growth in a way that is consistent with the values and mission of our organization.

How do you see your security role changing in the future?

This is a very good question and I see my role changing from being a lot more hands-on to being increasingly strategic.

When I started, I was the only security professional they had on hand and they didn’t have one previously in the organization.

I was fortunate in that I had a CEO and a boss in my Senior Vice President, who really encouraged contact within the organization.

The CEO agreed to meet with me once a month, which allowed me to better understand the mission and the thinking of the leadership.

This kind of access is rare in our profession and I consider myself very fortunate.

What key advice would you have for someone in a similar position to you?

I’m going to emphasize my previous point: I believe my success is a direct result of implementing the program in Watkins’ The First 90 Days.

This is the plan that worked for me, so much so that I stress to new security team members that they should do the same thing.

You have to have a plan. Your plan has to be thought out in advance but needs to be flexible.

It should not be haphazard, it should be a disciplined process with specific goals that you’re trying to achieve so that you are a better able to adapt into the organization quickly.

If you don’t have a plan, then you will probably not succeed.

The final thing I’ll note is that a vital part of that plan is to develop the relationships you need with stakeholders.

Take the time to study your organization the way you would design an access control system.

Apply the same level of discipline that you need to make sure that the system is integrated into your operations when you are studying the various stakeholders and leaders within your organization.

Be an active listener; ask questions and let them answer.

It has been my experience that if you engage in listening more than talking, people will tell you what they are concerned about and what you need to do to be successful. 

This article was originally published in the Special February Influencers Edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.