Mark Landry, Director of Security Intelligence, AMAROK Security explores why a new leadership style for corporate security could maximize the value of your team.
“When I grow up, I want to work in corporate security” is a phrase that is seldom heard from the youth of America.
I certainly didn’t have it on my top 100 careers list during my formative years.
Doctors, lawyers, military personnel, law enforcement officials, teachers, business people and politicians usually dominate that conversation.
As a result, corporate security is often relegated to a secondary career, with the majority of my peers in corporate security being former military personnel, former law enforcement officers or former government employees.
These primary careers are steeped in the traditional “command-and-control” model.
Military, law enforcement and government agencies often thrive due to their clear hierarchies and the need to adhere to strict protocols, which are crucial for rapid and decisive action in high-stakes, life-or-death scenarios.
These very strengths, however, can easily become liabilities in the corporate world, which typically values adaptability, innovation, collaboration and calculated risk-taking.
Increasingly, especially as the workforce becomes younger, a leader with a strong command-and-control style can be perceived as insecure, controlling or “old school.”
This has the potential to devastate organizations with younger members.
There may be a “place” for crisis-level command and control during some corporate crises, but over-utilization of this leadership technique is done at these leaders’ peril.
Most of the time, this approach is antiquated and unnecessary.
A workforce with diminished psychological safety, due to their fear of an overbearing “old school” leader, could lead to quieter meetings where young employees are afraid to speak up, scared to make suggestions and thus reduce innovation.
In corporate security organizations, this means potentially mission-critical information about vulnerabilities or near-misses may be withheld, and frontline personnel may hesitate to exercise judgment, waiting for top-down directives.
Such an environment fundamentally undermines the evolving, proactive, adaptive security posture essential in today’s C-suites and in today’s threat landscape.
So is the counterpoint to overbearing “command-and-control” leadership “no leadership” whatsoever?
No, I am not proposing a “no leadership” approach to overbearing leadership; I am mainly referring to more of an “invisible leadership” approach.
This leadership methodology presents a compelling alternative for the modern corporate security organization – a subtle and less forceful approach to influence.
Balancing traditional leadership methods with quieter actions creates space for others to engage and fill in the gaps.
The aim is to empower individuals to internalize safety and take personal control of their work, shifting motivation from external compliance, ‘do this because if you don’t, you will be written up,’ to intrinsic desire, ‘do this because you should want to do it.’
Think of “invisible leadership” as “servant leadership 2.0,” where there are many common themes, but this “invisible leader” is even more behind the scenes, creating an environment where others are empowered to make decisions and achieve results without the leader needing to get involved or take a modicum of credit.
Invisible leadership pours fuel onto the flame of professional development of your team.
To effectively implement invisible leadership, the modern corporate security leader can adopt several strategies:
Strategic delegation and empowerment: Strategically do less and empower others to do more, providing space for your team members to grow and take on these leadership functions, especially less critical functions.
Empowering your personnel to lead certain functions or domains fosters ownership and development.
Continuous participation: Regularly encourage participation across your entire team by using open-ended questions that prompt critical thinking and engagement.
As a leader, you may need to initially focus on the quiet ones who may not feel comfortable at first.
I have found that sometimes the quietest ones when encouraged to participate, turn out to be some of your most outstanding leaders.
This continuous participation encourages proactive problem-solving and a sense of shared responsibility.
Foster peer leaders: actively identify informal leaders within your team. Don’t discount the openly critical or initial cynics on your team who are skeptical of your new approach.
By respectfully supporting these individuals, they can be transformed into effective advocates and proponents, oftentimes through simple leadership techniques and encouragement of personal development.
Authentic recognition of initiative: Be genuine and give credit for meaningful initiatives, regardless of their size.
This can be as simple as a “thank you” pat on the back or as in-depth as honoring and sharing case stories of employees who demonstrate proactive security behaviors, reinforcing positive actions through authentic appreciation.
This builds morale and encourages further initiative.
Promote self-discovery: Instead of direct instruction or giving orders, encourage your team to try out new methods or insights, especially during innocuous inquiries where the impact of failure is minimal.
This allows the individual to embark on their own discovery, fostering a sense of accomplishment and encouraging future initiative.
Focus on internalizing skills: Shift training emphasis from rote memorization of procedures to transferring greater cognitive skills.
This includes self-monitoring, directing attention more effectively and weighing options before making adjustments or decisions.
You may be reading this and thinking that I have lost my mind and hit my head.
It is okay to be skeptical of this approach, but we must be aware that our workforce is constantly evolving and great leaders must adapt to the changing times.
You may think I have gone too “soft” with my leadership advice.
I would be skeptical myself if I hadn’t witnessed the value and benefits with my own eyes, both within the organizations I have led and those of my peers who have adopted this approach to leadership.
This leadership approach isn’t all roses; there will be a transition period where some on your team may not initially see your vision and may even perceive you as “lazy!”
You may also have team members who, despite your best efforts to encourage them to embark on their own professional development journey, are not interested.
You also need to make sure your own leadership team are aware of your leadership style and get their buy-in as well.
A challenge for any corporate security organization is demonstrating value or an ROI of their programs, but the profound impact of invisible leadership, manifesting as enhanced trust, psychological safety, improved morale, greater innovation and a more resilient security posture, represents the true, strategic ROI.
While metrics designed to measure deterrence or claims avoidance are nearly impossible, corporate America has mastered metrics designed to measure “leadership.”
This “invisible” value, though challenging to quantify financially, represents a significant strategic advantage stemming from a deeply embedded security culture.
It shifts the perception of security from a reactive cost center to a proactive, human-capital-driven asset that enhances overall organizational resilience and reputation.
The future of physical security leadership lies not in louder commands but in the quiet, unseen hand that empowers an entire organization to own its destiny.
Mark Landry, CPP, is a recognized thought leader and highly sought-after speaker in security technology implementation, security R&D and risk intelligence.
With over two decades of experience, he has consistently been at the forefront of integrating advanced security solutions to strengthen and optimize protective strategies.
During his 20-year tenure at FedEx, Mark held various executive leadership roles and founded the Corporate Strategic Security Organization.
After serving at FedEx, Mark went on to become Senior Director of Global Security Transformation at CEVA Logistics and currently, Mark is the Director of Security Intelligence at AMAROK Security.
His work centers on developing advanced risk visualization tools that deliver actionable intelligence, uncovering both obvious threats and hidden vulnerabilities that organizations might otherwise miss.
He also serves as the chair of the ASIS CSO Center Board.
This article was originally published in the August edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.