Cybersecurity and the Board, Achieve More with Less, & Authentic Leadership is Hard – BSW #308

Despite investments of time and money, 65% of board directors still believe their organizations are at risk of a material cyberattack within the next 12 months, based on a survey of 600 board members by Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan, a confidential academic forum in which leaders and managers can benefit from the experiences of CSOs and CISOs across many sectors. Within many organizations, the prevailing attitude is that cybersecurity is the responsibility of the CISO or a company’s IT department. But with the cost of cybercrime on the global economy measuring about $445 billion every year, and $160 billion in reputational damage, data leaks, ransoms and monetary losses, cybersecurity is a board-level issue that needs to be strategically addressed from the top down.

CISOs, chief technology officers (CTOs) and chief information officers (CIOs) at leading organizations are almost entirely responsible for securing data and information systems. It is a task that has grown increasingly challenging in recent years, given the rise in digital transformation, remote work and an ever-expanding cyber threat matrix.

At the beginning of 2023, CISOs were optimistic about the prospect of higher budgets for cyber security, anticipating continued investments in risk reduction. However, given unforeseen macroeconomic events, including a global economic downturn, some CISOs are now preparing for potential slow downs in budgetary approvals and security spending.

As leaders, we know we’re supposed to be authentic. But that’s often easier said than done (or as Jason would say, "Say Easy, Do Hard").

This article will discuss the importance of self-awareness in leadership development, the benefits of self-awareness for leaders, the role of emotional intelligence in self-awareness, how to develop self-awareness as a leader, the impact of self-awareness on team dynamics, case studies of successful self-aware leaders, and resources for developing self-awareness as a leader.

Most of us have had the experience of attending a meeting that veered off course, leaving us feeling confused or like we wasted our time. But meetings don’t have to be time consuming, unproductive, or otherwise painful. Understanding a few common dysfunctional behaviors can help managers turn meetings to instruments for team success. The author presents four dysfunctional behaviors that cause meetings to derail, as well as what managers need to know to make their team’s meetings more effective, efficient, and productive.