People Over Policies, Pt. 7 — Leadership in the Trenches

Leadership in cybersecurity isn’t about control.
It’s about credibility.

Anyone can sign policies.
Not everyone can stay calm when the alerts flood in, the SOC is on fire, and the board wants answers yesterday.

When things break, your team doesn’t look to the org chart.
They look to the person who’s been there before.
The one who’s pulled cables, built firewalls, restored backups, and rebuilt systems at 2 a.m.
Because in the trenches, titles don’t matter—trust does.

I’ve always believed that leadership is earned one incident at a time.
You earn it when you take the blame but share the credit.
When you pick up the keyboard next to your team instead of standing behind them.
When you admit, “I don’t know yet, but we’ll figure it out together.”

That’s what makes a team follow you when things go wrong.
Not authority—authenticity.

Because leadership in cybersecurity isn’t a spectator sport.
It’s a contact sport.

👉 What’s one thing you do as a leader to earn credibility—not just authority?