The Great Conversation

Leadership and Security

Guy Beveridge believes in teaching executives and their security teams how to navigate risk and opportunity. Although he is a professional security consultant he first and foremost is focused on the mind of the leader and how they communicate a risk, resilience, and security mindset to their people.

We have a great conversation around human investment, empowerment, and how to handle the deadly curse of organizational culture; not exposing the fear inside.

Keeping the Lights On through Protective Intelligence

Sam Queeno is the Director of Digital Identity and Physical Security for a major utility: American Electric Power (AEP). We have a great conversation around the journey toward AEPs convergence of physical and logical security, first organizationally, then through the baby steps they are taking with the tools.

The conversation then became centered on something all security leaders consider a less then desirable situation: when something bad is happening and you are the last one to know.

This led to a focus on proactive intelligence, first with the hiring of a leader with an analyst background, the manual gathering of information on persons of interest (POI), and eventually the digital transformation of the intelligence gathering process through the purchase of a protective intelligence platform. (Ontic)

“We now have intelligence served up to us”, said Sam. Public records from disparate sources are organized, stored, managed, and delivered to the key people on Sam’s team. However, what Sam said later was telling. I was looking for business and security executives applauding his team’s progress. He corrected that assumption by acknowledging this is the baseline everyone expects their program to have.  “This is expected”, said Sam.

Be Less Zombie

We are not will-less. Or speechless. We do not need to act like the living dead. That is the beginning of my conversation with Elvin Turner, an award-winning innovation expert and associate professor of innovation, entrepreneurship and marketing for MBA and executive education programs.

His clients include some of the world’s most innovative organizations in the finance, technology, music, and publishing industries.

His recent book: Be Less Zombie: How great organizations create dynamic innovation, fearless leadership, and passionate people is intended for leaders and their teams who are suffering from creative constipation or creative indigestion where ideas never get heard or never get executed.

I was struck by Elvin’s relentless heart and mindset focused on the leadership opportunity to steward tomorrow’s ideas.

Augmenting the Protector with new Eyes and Ears

Bill Marcisz is the President of Strategic Security Management Consulting. He has 30 years of experience in Security Management, most recently with the highly acclaimed AdventHealth network. Bill also has a Doctor of Law Degree which he has leveraged in compelling ways throughout his career.

We had a great conversation around some of the technologies we hear about in the news such as body cameras, which Bill successfully integrated into the fabric of this organization. We explore the technology, the new business processes that were launched because of the technology and the impact on the true metrics that matter, the de-escalation and reduction of violence, investigative forensics, and prosecutorial success.

The Moment for Meta-Leadership

Eric McNulty is the Associate Director of The National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI). NLPI is a joint venture of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Division of Policy Translation and Leadership Development and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.

NLPI has a crisis leadership training and research program dedicated to preparing those who lead in safety and security, business continuity, and disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. They have trained more than 10,000 leaders across 30 U.S. States and 10 countries.

Which brings us to the book. I originally tracked down Eric to understand a term he used: Meta Leadership. This took us on a journey to understand the term ‘leadership’ and the need for a big picture view.

Why is this needed? Today, in an instant, leaders can find themselves face-to-face with crisis. An active shooter. A media controversy. A data breach. In You're It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most, the faculty of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University takes you to the front lines of some of the toughest decisions facing our nation's leaders-from how to mobilize during a hurricane or in the aftermath of a bombing to halting a raging pandemic. They also take readers through the tough decision-making inside the world's largest companies, hottest startups, and leading nonprofits.

Eric McNulty and his co-authors introduce readers to the pragmatic model and methods of Meta-Leadership. They show you how to understand what is happening during a moment of crisis and change, what to do about it, and how to hone these skills to lead high-performing teams. Then, when crisis hits, you can pivot to be the leader people follow when it matters most.

The Scorecard for Managing the Fragility of our Ecosystem

Lisa Oliveri is the Director of Global Safety and Security for EDC (Education Development Center), a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity. EDC has been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.

With this global perspective, I sought to find out how this business-savvy global influencer in security management was understanding our world at this moment and what guidance she could give us in helping us achieve a measure of personal and corporate readiness.

Lisa oversees all activities related to security, risk assessment and management, crisis response, protocol development, information analysis, and technical assistance to the field. She manages security for international projects and advises on US Home Office security policies and procedures. She also is coordinating EDC’s international crisis response protocols, supporting business continuity planning, and assisting with incident management.

As you can imagine, she must maintain a detailed knowledge of the national and regional security and operating environments where EDC works, the changing security dynamics and trends, and how that may affect EDC project operations and implementation. This means collaborating regularly with members of Legal, HR, IT, Operations, Facilities, and others to support EDC projects and operations.

A Window of Opportunity for the Next Generation Risk Operations Center

The times call for trusted advisors backed by a cutting-edge risk operations center leveraging a network of human and digital assets. It is a model that is difficult to fund, design, operate, and maintain. But there is a window of opportunity to fundamentally change the way companies manage their risk and to executives like Robert Dodge, that time is now.

Robert Dodge is the CEO of Global Risk Services at Prosegur, a world leader in the private security industry. Through its five business lines —Prosegur Security, Prosegur Cash, Prosegur Alarms, Cipher and Prosegur AVOS— it offers companies, households, and retail businesses security they can trust, based on the most advanced solutions in the market.

Robert has a proven track record of building high performing businesses/teams spanning multiple regions around the world. He was formerly responsible for G4S Corporate Risk Services Division which provides specialized protective/investigative/consulting and intelligence services globally.

The Recipe for Creating Trust

Mark Oakes has spent 40 years in security and owns 7 successful businesses. So, naturally, I wanted to know how he thinks about creating a valuable business. Our discussion quickly became a tutorial on the nature of trust, the ‘bedrock’ or cornerstone of a corporate DNA he has persistently nurtured. To Mark there is no grey. And rather then being a constraint, he sees it as enabling people to develop trust in themselves while earning the trust from others.

You will want your pen in hand as he defines the path to trust.

Mark is the founder and CEO of Concentric Security, one of the nation's foremost Perimeter Security Solutions Providers for homeland security and force protection applications that meet the federal guidelines and standards. They deliver a full range of services including planning, security engineering, technology selection, full site integration, construction and follow-on service and maintenance

A Conversation with a Protection Futurist

When I sat down with Scot Walker and he began to tell me what he is reading and his passion for service, I realized I wasn’t talking to your typical security consultant. We dig deeply into the definition of a protector and the role of the stakeholders in creating a culture of security.

Scot runs Walker & Associates a boutique Threat Mitigation, Investigations & Due Diligence firm. He helps Attorneys & Businesses make risk-informed decisions. Empowering his clients, such as attorneys and global businesses with information that will help them navigate risk and opportunity is his passion and his profession.

A Culture of Development

I don’t know how to describe these two minds. They have mastered the art of the question anchored by a deep background in the science of human behavior and a deep empathetic heart for everyone’s individual journey.

By their questions and insights, we begin to explore the question “How do I see?”

This WiLD process ( Whole + Intentional Leader Development), becomes the north star that integrates the functional areas of our lives with the human reality of our hearts and minds.

A little background: Rob McKenna, PhD is the Founder + Chief Executive Officer of WiLD Leaders. He was named among the top 30 most influential I-O Psychologists. He has been a TEDx Speaker, and featured in Forbes,

His research and coaching with leaders across corporate, not-for-profit and university settings has given him insight into the real and gritty experience of leaders. His clients have included the Boeing Company, Microsoft, Heineken, Foster Farms, the United Way, Alaska Airlines and Children’s Hospital. He is the author of numerous articles and chapters on leadership character, calling, effectiveness, and leadership under pressure. He served as the Chair of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Seattle Pacific University up until 2020, with a total time at SPU of 25 years. His latest book, Composed: The Heart and Science of Leading Under Pressure, focuses on the specific strategies leaders can use to stay true to themselves and connected to others when it matters most. Rob lives in Kirkland with his wife, Jackie, and their two sons.

Daniel Hallak, PhD is WiLD’s Chief Commercial Officer driving strategic commercial initiatives, and other operations such as product development, and marketing efforts that support the development of whole leaders. Before WiLD, he spent over a decade developing whole leaders in business, academic, and not-for-profit settings. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Seattle Pacific University.

Born for Impact

Steven Bowler has been on a self-described journey to make an impact on his world. A former Marine, he is now responsible for a ground-up opportunity to reassess the management and impact of global security in one of the most recognized leaders of insurance, risk management and consulting services, Gallagher.  Gallagher is an international group of partners that provide cost-effective, client-centric, and expertise-driven risk management solutions. The leadership team fosters a dynamic, entrepreneurial culture that has made Gallagher an innovator in creating new products and services for our clients.

We learn how Steven is carefully assessing and constructing the architecture of the risk, resilience, and security program including a Security Operations Center, Global Intelligence, as well as safely and securely monitoring travel for his stakeholders.

Our conversation on the evolving human intelligence platform is intriguing and insightful.

The Science and Heart of Knowing Another

What is human? What is behavior? How do those two terms merge in a practice that serves the risk, resilience, and security industry? We turn to the incredibly rich experience of Miranda Coppoolse, the Founder of MC Global Security and one of the top security influencers in the world.

We find out there is a fire burning in Miranda’s core that infuses her approach to people. And she applies the science of human behavior in a language that can be consumed by her peers and her community.

Miranda Coppoolse is the Founder of MC Global Security Consulting. She is a distinguished Behavioral Analyst and serves as a Security Risk Advisor on various interrelated security topics. In July 2021 she received an award for Global influencer in Security & Fire for the year 2021, from IFSEC.

While known for her behavior analysis trainings & seminars tailored to any industry and profession, her mentoring and coaching and public speaking Miranda also serves as a Board Member on several Boards.

Creating the Value Creation Team: An Inside Look at a Private Equity Group

In The Great Conversation, we attempt to bring all the voices to the table to create the narrative and the leverage to increase the value of the risk, resilience, and security industry. Some of the voices are the investors in organizations that may be changing the face of our industry. Last year we sat down with Michael Levenberg a partner in LLR Partners, a private equity group who is leveraging marketing intelligence, domain expertise, independent board member recruiting, and a “value creation” team to accelerate the path to value of organizations in our industry. 

LLR Partners is a lower middle market private equity firm investing in technology and healthcare businesses. They collaborate with their portfolio companies to define high-impact growth initiatives, turn them into action and create long-term value. Founded in 1999 and with more than $5 billion raised across six funds, LLR is a flexible provider of equity capital for growth, recapitalizations, and buyouts.

Michael focuses on Security and Industrial Technology. A few companies he has led LLR investments in are ACRE and Mercury Security.

Listening: The Art of a Leader

Gene Deisinger, President of Deisinger Consulting, is a thought leader in risk and threat assessment, provided his perspective on our time and what it might mean for the future of the security industry. "A riot is a language of the unheard", a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King is the foundation by which we explore our collective challenge in the days ahead. How do we listen differently and more effectively?

Through his training and experience as a licensed psychologist, certified health service provider in psychology, and as a state-certified police officer (now retired from law enforcement), he brings a unique perspective to the field of forensic & law enforcement psychology and his work in behavioral threat assessment & management.

The Selfishness of Selflessness

The retired former CSO of Microsoft Mike Howard now President of Howard Consulting, LLC, and author of The Art of Ronin Leadership, reflects on his experiences and what he has learned. When we spoke in 2020, he was anticipating finishing and launching the book and his new podcast. We also learned how he might construct a “scorecard” for a leader. Finally, we tease out a phrase to explore in the future: “The Selfishness of Selflessness”.

The Ecosystem of a School’s Security and Safety

In 2020, we wanted to check in on the state of our schools. We turned to Michele Gay, the co-founder of Safe and Sound Schools.

Michele is an educator and a mother. Her journey with Safe and Sound Schools was a result of losing her daughter Josephine Grace on December 14, 2012, in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children between six and seven years old, and six adult staff members. Earlier that day, before driving to the school, he shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. 

Since that time, Michele has channeled her work as an advocate, improving safety and security in schools and communities across our country. With a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Towson State University, Michele earned a Masters’ degree in Curriculum and Instruction from McDaniel College. Prior to the Sandy Hook tragedy, she taught at the elementary level in the Maryland and Virginia public schools. Now a nationally and internationally recognized public speaker and school safety expert, Michele reaches audiences and consults with all levels of community institutions — schools; municipalities; houses of worship; educational and public safety leadership; state and federal governments; law enforcement agencies; and top news media sources. Through her work, and always with a goal of helping others increase the safety within their own  communities, Michele shares her personal experiences and the lessons she has learned.

The Chrysalis Mindset

Mike Mason, the former CSO of Verizon, shares the mindset he developed to lead his organization and his life. “I am not a finished product.” This conversation took place last year right before his retirement.

Michael A. Mason joined Verizon Communications in January 2008 as the company’s Chief Security Officer. He oversaw and coordinated global security efforts throughout Verizon and all its business units, including enterprise-wide security strategy and programs, physical security, cyber security, and law enforcement liaison and security matters.

Before Verizon, he was responsible for the Criminal Branch of the FBI, to include the Criminal Division, Cyber Division, Office of International Operations and the FBI's Critical Incident Response Division and the Office of Law Enforcement Liaison.

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“We are Converged” – Reflections on ISC West

The Data Waterfall is forcing a change. The current definition of integration that is pervasive in the physical security industry is changing as well as the organizational convergence spurred by digital transformation. And the next generation is forcing change. New ideas. An expectation of real time. A DNA of technology at the speed of business.

Jeff Slotnick is President of Setracon Enterprise Security Risk Management Services a company focused on professional services related to Risk Consulting, Enterprise Security Risk Management, Physical Security, Physical Security of Logical Systems, Resiliency, Training, Protective services, investigations, and the conduct of all hazards risk, vulnerability, and threat assessments.

We leveraged his eyes and ears on the floor at ISC West. His insights were valuable in helping us understand the shifts taking place in his discipline and in the industry at large.

The Security Industry is Back: Live from ISC West in Vegas where the Focus was Innovation and Collaboration

ISC West is a key event for the Security Industry. It took a pause in 2020, but recently brought the industry back together in July. We caught up with two senior consultants who survey the floor every year to explore the show and what they learned.

They found an eagerness to “get back to work”. There was a passion undergirding the event around relationships; relationships that can drive innovation and change.

Although the size of the crowd was quite a bit lower than in the past, ISC managed to “get the ball rolling again”. And new innovations on the floor focused on outcomes amid societal and environmental change.

One of the key insights was this “We are now monitoring our monitoring.” The point was that information (data) is the new oil and a new assurance expectation through transparent reporting is needed. These ‘dashboards’ are now a condition of a security manager’s evaluation of their vendors.

The consultants were J. Kelly Stewart the Managing Director & CEO of Newcastle Consulting, LLC  and a former CSO. Newcastle is a premiere Security Risk Management Consultancy that provides security strategies ensuring your Piece of Mind through a proactive prevention strategy to reduce risk.

Kelly draws upon more than 30 years of public and private sector experience as a Security Advisor, Subject Matter Expert, and former Chief Security Officer focused on assisting executives in directing their organizations on core competencies where they can achieve definable advantages and add value that facilitate and protect organizational objectives.

Steven Oplinger, a Senior Consultant with Star Asset Security, has been in the security industry for over 28 years, primarily as a security systems designer. he has been responsible for projects nationally to include shopping malls, resorts, and government facilities.  Mr. Oplinger represents Star Asset Security at numerous security industry events  as both a presenter and keynote speaker. He is a regular contributor to security association events and trade publications. He has been one of the primary authors and instructors for the Security Industry Association Security Project Management workshop. He also is an active member of ASIS International, and has served as the Chairman of the Physical Security Council

A New Model for Purchasing Appreciating Outcomes vs. Purchasing Depreciating Assets

We have a great conversation exploring the mindset and tools to finance innovation and change in the era of digital transformation. 99% of purchases in physical security are in an ownership model. Pure cash using after tax dollars or a lease to own model. Other industries are ahead of the curve.

Ahead of the curve means they are buying outcomes not things.

Owning things is expensive. 50% of the value of the asset is lost on the day of your purchase. You have abdicated agility in an era of massive technology investment in R&D. Your program is not bleeding edge or cutting edge. It is off the edge of the table.

It is time to measure the investment by outcomes and design an “assurance model” future proofing your outcomes and technology innovation with your vendors.

We explore this concept with Paul Metzheiser, Managing Partner, of Tamco. Since 1996 Tamco has been helping Security, AV, and Technology Integrators deliver an easier way for customers to procure equipment and services.

 

The DNA of Innovation

It's all about experimentation and discovery. We have a great conversation with two companies who have the DNA of Innovation: one a prospective vendor and the other a leading hospital.

Our risks and business are constantly evolving. We need to pursue change and not have change pursuing us. I brought these two companies together to discuss how they think, how they partner, and an exciting pilot that promises to redefine how we think about learning how our people and processes are acting and performing. They are looking to collect data from a ‘turnstile on the ceiling’; a sensor that collects presence. This data will be fed into a machine learning engine that will help management determine what actions to take to optimize people entering a building. In this case it would be applied to the problem of false alarms caused by tailgating. False alarms cost time and breaches the confidence of the technology and the security program.

Their multi-dimensional pilot is testing not only if it will work but does it have value, helping Children’s establish one more spoke in the wheel of digital transformation.

Dylan Hayes is the Cyber-Physical IT Security Manager at Seattle Children's Hospital. He is a seasoned leader, planner, and enterprise change agent with 20+ year progressive career record spanning a wide range of critical business systems and operations including enterprise risk, resilience, and response.

Mike Johnson is the Program Manager of Occupancy Sensing Solutions at Orion Entrance Controls.   He is helping lead the charge to further develop the Orion vision and bring this highly anticipated, award winning product to market that will lead the industry in friction-less security, making Access in Motion a true reality.

ESRM: A Cornerstone of Leadership Enablement

Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM) is seen as a useful methodology for security consultants and executives. We turned to a security executive and a consultant who practice, train, and utilize ESRM to get the latest thinking and found it be a cornerstone of leadership enablement.

Once seen that way, it then can be infused with other leadership elements to take security and the organization to the next level. And, according to our great conversation, we learn that the greatest path to ‘me’ is through ‘we’. Lean in, listen, and learn from these great examples from the next great generation.

Jonathon Harris is the Vice President of Group337, a group of executives focused on business creation in the CRETech, proptech, and smart home markets in the security, access control, and IoT industry.

Tim Wenzel is the Head of Global Security, Privacy Protection for Facebook. He also was the Founding Partner of Getting Security Done (GSD) a group dedicated to accelerating the advancement of the security industry through thought leadership and directed innovative conversations. And, finally, Tim created a movement amid the pandemic called The Kindness Games urging people to “ferociously” pursue shout outs of kindness in a world of unrest and silos of polarized communities. #TheKindnessGames

Why We Need a Great Conversation and Playbook

A senior security consultant working on some of the largest projects in the world, discusses his unique approach to helping his customers bridge the gap from good to great. He helps me reframe the digital transformation discussion into a more accurate term: Digital Acceleration, which captured the anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and doubt that can occur when change is impacting your industry, your certifications, and your career.

He also captures the heart and soul of the professionals in the security industry by telling his highly personal story of ground zero after 9/11.

Matthew Dimmick, CPP, PSP, CPD, is the translator between his clients and his engineers. He is a senior consultant at STV, an award-winning professional firm consistently ranking among the country's top companies in education, justice, highways, bridges, rail, and mass transit sectors. They provide a complete range of planning, engineering, architectural, environmental, and construction management services to transportation, infrastructure, design-build, institutional, commercial, energy, industrial, and military clients.

Business Process Optimization and Digital Transformation starts with ‘Who’

According to one CEO survey, the greatest challenges they are facing are a disparate remote workforce, finding the right talent, and building highly optimized operational processes. There are profit leaks everywhere. And one of those hidden cost centers is how identities are managed across the corporate silos of excellence, including security.

What we have identified in earlier conversations is the new role of the CISO in leading digital transformation. We also have identified traditional security integrators attempting to map to this trend. In our research we found a ‘boots on the ground’ Identity Assurance Principal who is an evangelist for his team of subject matter experts who are entering organizations asking the most important questions around the most urgent problems facing the CEO, CISO, and the CSO. The breakthrough thinking promises a huge return in TCO, ROI, and, most importantly, competitive positioning.

Doug Greenwald, with Convergint Technologies’ Advanced Solutions Group, is responsible for helping global companies navigate the technology evolution taking place in the security industry to identify and implement complex solutions ranging from PIAM, PSIM, Workspace Efficiency to Event Management, IOT Security, and optimization. 

When Security Matters to the Customer, the Stakeholder, and the Business

Are hospital employees concerned for their safety and security? Are they making this part of their evaluation on whether to become an employee or whether they stay? Is the business of the hospital disrupted by an unusual number of potential and actual WPV incidents?

We turned to an executive leader at a hospital that has a cultural DNA of innovation and change, to find out if the risk, resilience, and security program is keeping pace. If you listen to the entire podcast, you will discover the answers to the above questions as well as some key technologies that are helping them, make important data driven decisions.

Mark Reed, CHPA, is currently the Director of Support Services at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, (MLKCH) in South Central Los Angeles overseeing Security, Safety, Emergency Management, PBX, Parking, and numerous other programs.

Mark was recognized by Campus Safety Magazine as the 2019 Director of the Year. Under Mark’s leadership, the MLKCH Public Safety team was recognized as the 2019 Outstanding Security Team at the OSPAs presented by ASIS. He also is a current member of the Hospital Association of Southern California’s Safety and Security Committee. And in 2020, he was named one of the most influential security leaders in the world by Security Magazine.

Surfing the Data Tidal Wave: Risk Intelligence Moving from Analog to Digital

Back in the day, embedded intelligence teams worked with few resources, limited budget, and little to no technology. They had their art and their science. They had a process, but never called it a workflow. Their data was captured through face-to-face interviews, phone and post it notes.

Now we have human and digital sensors and a tidal wave of data. Technology must be involved at a scale we never imagined… back in the day.

We asked Tom Kopecky, who bookended both the analog world and the digital in investigative intelligence, to take us through this evolution, break it down for us, and provide us some thoughts on where it goes next and why. What we found is the new technology is bridging the old organizational silos, the technology silos, and the communication silos that have kept us from the promise of proactive and protective intelligence. As well, it is opening the door to non-intelligence personnel through its guided workflows and multi-modal communications.

Tom was a founder of IRC Intelligence & Fortis Protective Services, both boutique security intelligence firms with offices located in Chicago & Austin, where he helped clients coordinate threat assessment investigations and develop their protective intelligence programs. He and his team were constantly searching for more optimized approaches to create more insights in the protective intelligence workflow. He eventually decided to build his own as the co-founder of Ontic Technologies.

Supply Chain Innovation for the Digital Age

For innovators, timing is everything. And when the window opens, only a few recognize it. And for those who do, they intuitively sense when it might close. The ability to seize the opportunity when it presents itself is both art and science.

A new utility has exploded on the scene. Like electricity, it keeps the data moving from substations that drives the economy and our lives. $50B of these utilities are being built each year. They are called data centers. If you are a company that requires this utility to meet your market window, you need it built fast, built cost effectively, and at the highest levels of design/build quality.

You also may not want to own it or operate it. You still will want to manage your business but have a partner that makes the utility function to your specifications.

We found a man who, as a child, watched Michael Dell provide a menu of parts you could pick from to build a computer. Dell’s company would assemble them at high speed, high quality and at a low price. Chris Crosby has done the same think for the business and construction process for data centers that Dell did for computers. He is the recognized visionary and leader in the data center space and has served as founder and CEO of Compass Datacenters since 2011. We caught up with him to have a great conversation about this business process innovation that he has successfully deployed that created a multi-billion-dollar business in 10 years. For our security executive community, you will be pleased to hear how he is leveraging his physical security team to do the same thing for the security processes and technology as he did for the construction of the datacenter.

The Scorecard for the Next Generation of Access Control

Lee Odess, CEO and Founder of Group337, discusses his new ebook: The Six Phase Changes Shaping Access Control as well as his upcoming keynote at the Security Investor Conference, hosted by Imperial Capital. The 6 Phase Changes Shaping Access Control explores the forces shaping the access control industry as it goes mainstream. Imagine than taking these 6 elements and creating a scorecard for the top 40 access control manufacturers. This should stimulate great conversations for months to come.

Cybersecurity is not a Technology Problem: It's a Management Opportunity

Combating cybercrime is a necessity of doing business in the 21st century. Financial and identity thefts occur with annoying frequency, and no executive today can afford to ignore the damage phishing, malware, and malicious code pose to their company's future. But, with this invaluable guide, anyone, no matter what their skill level or bandwidth, can become an effective cyber risk manager. In "Fire Doesn't Innovate", cybersecurity expert and vCISO Kip Boyle of Cyber Risk Opportunities, LLC, provides the tools you'll need to:

• Recognize, prioritize, and mitigate cyber risk and online threats.

• Develop daily company-wide habits of good cyber hygiene.

• Protect passwords, credit card information, and other sensitive data.

• Adopt a 5-Principle approach that will help safeguard your business from cyberattacks.

Cybersecurity is not just a technology problem, it's a management opportunity. Learn how to manage cyber risks and ensure your company is cyber resilient now, and remain in the game no matter what the future holds. Combating cybercrime is a necessity of doing business in the 21st century.

Why Cities and Buildings Need to Get Smarter to be Safer

Back in 2020, we were able to meet Martin Gasulla at The Great Conversation which was being held in Palm Beach Florida. At the time he was managing the Security Operations Center for Vicente López in a partido in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina 20 kilometers north of downtown Buenos Aires and 80 kilometers north of the city of La Plata, the provincial capital. It is one of the country´s most affluent municipalities. In this podcast following our forum, Martin outlines his journey in helping his city become more safe, secure, sustainable and, most importantly, more efficient and valuable to its citizens. Martin deployed a comprehensive network of cameras, backed by an open and highly interoperable VMS and Communication technology backbone. 

Real Time Communications

Mark Reid, Director of Safety and Security at Seattle Pacific University, visited us last year in a spontaneous and transparent conversation around his journey in creating a near-real time incident response system using intelligent IP audio integrated into access control, video, and multi-modal communications. He was told it was too expensive and, likely not possible. But he challenged those prevailing assumptions and now can activate an emergency communication procedure, including a campus-wide lock down, notification of internal emergency response team, police and/or fire emergency (911), all in under a minute.

The Tipping Point of Insider Threat

We were able to get a hold of Dr. Michael Gelles, a Managing Director of Deloitte Consulting, in 2020 to share with us his insights regarding the insider risks posed by the pandemic such as the consequences of prolonged stress on organizations, their leaders, their supply chain and their people.

Dr. Gelles is a director with Deloitte Consulting LLP Federal practice, consulting in the areas of law enforcement, intelligence, and security. Mike is a thought leader and widely published author on critical national security issues to include, insider threat, security processing, secure workforce, asset loss, exploitation, sabotage, and workplace violence. Previously, Mike served as a naval officer and the chief psychologist for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

 

Entering the Mind of an Entrepreneur

I was introduced to Michael Zalle, the CEO & founder of Yellowbird, by one of our Great Conversation leaders. Zalle is a voracious student of people and how they try to get things done. This is a unique trait of a successful entrepreneur. He has also always attempted to “use technology differently”.

We discuss his journey, his unique way of seeing the world, and the unique value proposition of his latest company that is disrupting how companies can source expertise on demand to optimize their budget, process, and value.

Michael likes to say “You have finite resources. How do you optimize them?” In the people world, he is currently using technology (an on-demand platform) to optimize heavily constrained and backlogged Environmental Health & Safety assessments and audits.  He has set up a Global infrastructure that identifies, vets, and connects the skill set of subject matter experts in the $9B compliance marketplace.

Everything is Becoming Smart: We Need to Engage Technology So Technology can Engage Us

Seen by his industry as a thought leader, we have a great conversation with Morgan Hertel, the Vice President of Technology, and Innovation of Rapid Response Monitoring Services. He lets us get up close and really see how he has continued to innovate within his company.

One of the first things we explore is Natural Language Processing (NLP) and how he applied it early on. At first the customer base was confused. They had little experience with voice enabled systems. Like many innovations, they had to experience it. Morgan takes us through this transition and the powerful new trends using voice and audio that are happening today and in the future.

Morgan is in the Audio and Intelligent Communications Working Group of the Security Industry Association (SIA).

Uniquely Designed for Impact

Mark Demos has a unique gift. He helps people have the confidence, courage, and the tools to find themselves. He wrote a book called The DNA Code: The Forensics of Purpose, Passion and Performance, is the defining work for discovering your Life Purpose. Using the most innovative, exciting, and scientifically comprehensive discovery process of the 21st Century, Positive Forensics, you will discover the hard-wired DNA Talent Markers that map out your life path.

The DNA Code will give you the pathway to profile your purpose and predict your future success.

We discuss the top 10 questions we should be asking ourselves to challenge our assumptions of who we should be and what we should do.

Piercing the Veil to get to the Truth.

I used this title for the podcast because the gentlemen I asked to join me in a conversation, presented several times at The Great Conversation over the years. And he was always piercing the veil of convention to get to the truth. I called him a muckraker in the podcast. A little history: muckrakers were reform-minded journalists who reported on the irregularities in established institutions and leaders of their day.

The term now references investigative journalism.

Steve Hunt has always sought the truth.

Our great conversation leverages his work with Communities of Excellence, online mentoring platform for security and cybersecurity professionals as well as his survey of over 400 organizations where he sought to understand what made them cyber resilient.

What he found is a leadership lesson that you must hear to appreciate.

The Magic Keys of Leadership

Carlos Francisco spent 21 years at Walt Disney Company informing and infusing his leadership principles. Today he is an executive at Facebook with a new book launching around the same time as this podcast: “So You Want to Get into Corporate Security”. We have a great conversation around putting the magic in your personal and professional life through the Magic Keys.

You also can hear Carlos have his own great conversations through his podcast The Corporate Security Translator The Corporate Security Translator Podcast | Podcast on Spotify

Snow Day: A Profile of the Best Leaders in a Crisis

I first met Mark McCourt, when I was mustering media partners for The Great Conversation in Security in 2005. He was the founder, publisher, and executive director of the leading media-centric company in the security market.

Since 2016 he has been a strategic advisor to many of the leading companies in the risk, resilience, and security industry.

Now he has authored a book called Snow Day, that captures how the best risk leaders in the industry have been successful. And what is interesting is he started having conversations with them amid the pandemic.

Where does the title come from? Well, like Mark, we both grew up in the 60s. While attending elementary school there was not a website to check on the status of school. There was not a robocall system. It was not featured news on a local cable channel There was no cable channel. So, if the snow started falling, we had Moms who developed a phone chain. That is, my mom would get the call from another mom, and then she had to make a call to the next mom on the list. As kids, we could not wait to get that call.

Mark uses this metaphor to launch a great conversation with a question: What are the ‘best of the best leaders’ in our industry doing to prepare their companies for a crisis? This conversation will inspire you to take your company to the next level for the sake of yourself, your peers, your family, and your company.

Mark will be one of the featured speakers at The Executive Summit Series on October 6, 2021, at The Boeing Company in Washington, DC. Lynn Mattice, Managing Director of Mattice and Associates and President of the National Economic Security Alliance (NESA) will be the master of ceremonies at this leadership forum.

VX: On the Frontier of the Value Exchange with Dr. Read Hayes

Dr. Read Hayes is a research scientist at the University of Florida and the Director of the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC). The University of Florida received two significant grants, one from a leader in artificial intelligence, Nvidia, and the other from the State of Florida that, combined are helping to make the university an elite institution of higher learning. They have an Innovation Square where they are testing new technology and new methods for creating a safe and secure campus. Over 150 companies are paying the LPRC and the university to benchmark these technologies and these emerging best practices so they can leverage technology to make better data driven decisions. We have a great and inspiring conversation that leads us to believe that culturally crossing the chasm of our fear and constraints to a Value Exchange (VX) that values the safety and security of people, is rapidly becoming a reality.

Completing the Intelligence Picture through Sound

According to one source, 75% of Workplace Violence (WPV) incidents occur in hospitals. And like hospitals, most companies only have one solution, call the security guard or police once the incident has already occurred. By then, someone is already likely to be hurt. What would happen to the internal evaluation of your security department if you were able to respond earlier and more effectively through a sensor that understood the conversation was escalating, or a shot had been fired, a window has been broken, or your patient had fallen out of bed?

We seek to find the answers through a great conversation with the executive team of Sound Intelligence, a global audio analytics firm. Derek van der Vorst, has had an international career in audio and speech recognition at Philips Electronics, He pioneered advanced audio analytics with his company Sound Intelligence (founded in 2000). He combines a deep understanding of the core audio analytics technology with a natural sense for what customers want to achieve with this technology. Derek has grown Sound Intelligence to become the market leader in audio analytics with tens of thousands of systems deployed around the world. He is joined by his VP of Sales, Michael Campbell, and his Director of Sales and Product Management, Dave Stanfield

Confronting the Fear of the Surveillance State

You hear of it all the time. When an incident occurs; a fire, an earthquake, or an active shooter, we want to know who was in the building. Or when we are working late at night in a building with heat and lighting controls, why does it not just sense my presence and adjust my section of the building accordingly? We have the technology to do both, and it is improving over time.

We had a great conversation with the Chief Product Officer of Ontic, Manish Mehta and the CEO of turnstile-based access control company Orion, Steve Caroselli, to discuss their early discussions in engaging this challenge. And in return we uncover the recognition that fear, uncertainty and doubt can radically change a market forcing innovations in technology, business models, and security.

Security, Safety, and Sustainability: Three-Legged Chair

Inge Huijbrechts, Global Senior Vice President Responsible Business and Safety & Security, provides us an insight into how these three domains work together, that is the sum of the parts over each individual strand. We learn how Sustainability, Safety & Security inspire and create awareness in a distributed environment, especially post COVID-19 when Tourism and Travel operate with minimal resources. We learn how we innovate in the built environment to adjust to the new normal post COVID-19. And we learn how the intersection between corporate responsibility and security become a force multiplier for risk mitigation.

Security by Design

Kent Howard, Verizon’s Global Corporate Security Operations Manager, discusses how his background in physical and information security led him to a best practice called “Security by Design.” He is one of the key resources inside Verizon’s Information Security Risk Management. By deploying ESRM and infusing the methodology with his experience with security technology, he has developed critical analytical problem-solving skills. He is the published author of Security by Design within the Journal of Physical Security.

The ESRM Imperative

Tim Wenzel, Head of Global Security, Privacy Protection, and Jonathon Harris, former Guidepost consultant and now with Group337, provide us their perspective on ESRM. Is this really the framework that establishes relationships with the business as well as acts as the platform for merging risk, TQM, and compliance into an executable strategy and plan?

Taking the Road Less Travelled

Sarah Powell, Director of Emergency Management at Temple University, shares the non-linear path from medical anthropologist to emergency management that created a different way to understand and operationalize her role at Temple University. We explore the Mind of the Leader that requires a focus on the assumptions that undergird the business and the possible way those assumptions could be disrupted creating risk as well as opportunity.

Sarah infuses into her role and her thinking a deep insight into human behavior, psychology, cognition, and culture. She is above all, committed to the human factor to create great outcomes in her role at Temple and in the world.

The InfraGard Advisory

Andrew Lanning, the co-Founder of Integrated Security Technology, a leading consulting and integration firm in Hawaii, shares his work and experience with InfraGard, a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and members of the private sector for the protection of U.S. Critical Infrastructure.  Andrew underlines the strategic importance their advisory provides to organizations viability and competitive position in the market.

Andrew is a prolific and generous contributor to the risk, resilience, and security industry. In addition to Infragard, where he serves as the Chairman of the Electronic Security Industry Cross Sector Council, He also is the Treasurer of the National Defense Industrial Association that drives strategic dialogue in national security, an active member and advocate for Woman in Security through the Security Industry Association (SIA), and does his part to contribute to the Great Conversation in Security by hosting the broadcast “Security Matters”.

The Opportunity for Leadership

Dave Komendat, the CSO of Boeing, shares with us how the pandemic confirmed the depth of character, leadership and resilience of his company and his team.

Dave is vice president and Chief Security Officer for The Boeing Company. Appointed in 2008, Komendat is responsible for the company’s global security and fire protection policy and procedures, site security, executive protection, supply chain and aviation security, structural and aircraft fire protection, government and proprietary information security, strategic intelligence, international security, business continuity and disaster preparedness, and security background investigations.

Komendat is also the lead Boeing interface for both national and international security policy engagement with numerous government and industry advisory groups. He currently represents Boeing as president of the International Security Management Association, past co-chairman and current board member on the Domestic Security Alliance Council and serves as a member of the Threats and Information Committee for the Overseas Security Advisory Council.

Komendat holds board leadership roles in many non-profits with missions to protect people within the U.S. and internationally, including Hostage U.S., International Security Foundation, and the Domestic Security Partnership. In 2018, he was awarded the Director’s Award for Exceptional Public Service by FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Komendat graduated from California State University at Long Beach with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice specializing in industrial security and is a graduate of the executive development program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Komendat joined Boeing as an industrial security specialist in 1986.

To Protect is to Enable

When you find a security leader who runs her department with the same innovation and care as the business, you pay attention. We found her in a company strategically positioned to help companies digitally transform work and communication through a frictionless use of cloud, video, audio, chat, and collaborative communication. We learn that “To Protect is to Enable”.

Shelley Benoliel is the Head of Physical Security & Business Resilience at Zoom Communications. She has been an executive security leader in major technology companies and as a Special Agent and Regional Director inside the Bureau of Diplomatic Security

Zoom Video Communications helps businesses and organizations bring their teams together in a frictionless environment to get more done. Our easy, reliable cloud platform for video, phone, content sharing, and chat runs across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems. To deliver happiness to our employees and recognize their value,  Zoom employs above-market and progressive compensation programs. At Zoom, we believe this is achieved through analyzing total direct compensation holistically.  We offer all employees equity, allowing them to become owners who are vested in and benefit from the long-term success of the company.  Zoom was founded in 2011 by experienced leaders and engineers from Cisco and WebEx. Every founding engineer has over 10 years of real-time collaboration software experience. Our mission is to develop a people-centric cloud service that transforms the real-time collaboration experience and improves the quality and effectiveness of communications forever.

Ron Worman: The Next Wave

The founder of the Path to Value™ methodology  for creating strategic value in businesses within the strategic consultancy called The Sage Group®, Ron Worman has been passionate about how ideas shape markets and change the world for 40 years. This led to The Great Conversation, capturing the voices and the ideas of the marketplace and the world through his podcast and his executive forums.

His podcast rarely features only his voice. This does. The Next Wave is his cathartic release of threat, pain, and hope in the future. ‘Normal’, especially a ‘New Normal’ is not in Ron’s vocabulary as you soon shall see.

Buildings, Humans, and the Sustainable Organization

We build businesses and buildings in a natural world brimming with lessons in the strength and power of the sum of the parts, otherwise known as an ecosystem. We sought out a practitioner in the built environment who was deeply aware of the form, function, and intent of a building or campus, as well as a student of out times.

Maxinne Leighton, PhD, Assoc. AIA, is Director of Marketing/Communications & Business Development for JB&B. JB&B has worked with many of the foremost architectural firms, corporate owners, institutions, and real estate developers throughout the world. In over 100 years of practice, JB&B has completed design projects in more than 50 countries and on 6 continents, serving as consulting engineers on some of the most iconic buildings of the 20th century as well as some of the most emblematic of the 21st.

But Maxinne has also provided her insights to the New York Chapter of Women in Security, Director of Communications for the newly formed NYC Chapter of AMFP (Assoc. of Medical Facility Planners), Honorary Council Member of the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization, ACEC Awards Committee, the AIA-NY’s Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee, NYC Builds Bio+, and has facilitated numerous panels on climate vulnerable communities.

In 2018, she was recognized with WBC’s “Outstanding Women in the Building Industry” award as well as one of the 2018 New York Power Women.