Hey Security Leader, You Need to be a Better Storyteller
CISOs that can sell create more secure organizations.
What is the biggest challenge of security leaders? Is it understanding and cataloguing your growing attack surface? Getting employees not to click on that Phishing email? Patching?
Those are big challenges, but perhaps the biggest challenge is convincing other leaders in your company about what security is, why it's a shared responsibility, and why they must invest in it with you.
You need to learn to be a salesperson.
Soft skills. Persuasion techniques. Charm and grace. Positive attitude. Tough love.
Put that sleazy ambulance chasing salesperson out of your mind and embrace the power of persuasive conversation, artfully crafted pitches, perfectly timed comments, expertly prepared research, compelling data, and a winning mindset.
At HackerOne I helped produce 30 live hacking events over 5-years for almost 20 customers including Goldman Sachs, Yahoo, Dropbox, Airbnb, Uber, Shopify, Mapbox, and The US Department of Defense.
Do you think those leaders got approval to spend between $500K - $2M without having a compelling narrative? They did not.
Leverage your sales and marketing partners if this is an area you need to upskill in.
CISOs that can sell, create more secure organizations.