In life, you’re always learning. Sometimes it’s the little things. Sometimes the lessons are much bigger. But quite often, you may not realize the impact until you get a little distance from the situation. We liken it to the quote, “Sometimes it’s hard to see the picture when you’re inside the frame.”
The same holds for those that take on the craft of being true security professionals. This path isn’t for everyone. It takes strength of mind and body. But because the nature of the business is an evolving one, it also takes someone who can be fluid, with an awareness that they will always be learning during it.
Our core team chose this life almost a decade ago. And through these years, we’ve amassed a collection of the most valuable lessons this business has taught us. And we want to share them with you.
1. Don’t Start With Preconceived Notions
Foundationally, this is one of the most critical lessons in the field of security. Too often, security teams can go into a situation with a preconceived notion of what constitutes “danger”. In those instances, those foggy lenses can cause them to prejudge individuals or circumstances. Or even worse, make them so blind that they miss significant clues in abnormal behavior. This can be a detrimental mistake and lead to dangerous situations and even worse…casualties.
Instead, a true security professional should remove social blinders and blockages due to assumptions. They need to be looking below the surface of what a suspect or dangerous situation “looks like” and instead be tuned into the vibrations of intentions that could be deviant.
Preconception can make a security team lazy. Heightened awareness without boundaries of predisposition increases the effectiveness of a truly professional security team.
2. Let Go Of Your Ego
Ego is a funny thing, and it shows up in many places. A big, fragile ego can be a liability in the field of security and safety. A true security professional understands that sometimes being in a position of authority means a lot of turning the other cheek. Being in a high-pressure situation – for example, keeping the peace inside a rowdy and often intoxicated crowd – can cause heightened emotional interactions. Someone with a fragile ego may interpret another’s behavior as malicious or ill-willed. A centered and egoless security pro will take into account all precursors of a person’s motives before taking action.
Egoless decision making in any situation is more likely to be effective and well-thought-out. It increases the ability of your team to make sound decisions. Sound decisions, when it pertains to safety, keep people and property secure. Understanding this lesson has changed the way we approach our training and events. It has also allowed us to communicate with each other in a free and unencumbered way. This then leads us to:
3. Not Everyone Communicates In The Same Way
If you’ve ever tried communicating with someone and they couldn’t understand the nature of what you were saying, you’re not alone. It’s not necessarily that you weren’t being clear…it’s just that not everyone communicates in the same way. Now imagine a high-pressure situation when communication is critical to the safety of others and realize how important it is to be able to speak in a way that all can understand.
Every human has its own set of filters and ways of taking and receiving information. Communication is one of the pillars of our team. We appreciate the nature of different lenses and ensure we apply them to both our team dynamics and our approach to our valued customers.
When we’re behind the scenes or doing a job, we’re lucky enough to be mixing with all sorts of races, genders, and orientations. The more fluid we can be in our communication, the more we relate to others. We may only be in our shoes, but we gotta stay nimble for all walks of life.
Which then strolls into our next favorite lesson…
4. If You’re The Smartest Person in the Room, Then You Need to Go Into Another Room
This quote has been attributed to everyone from Lorne Michaels to Marissa Mayer. Whoever said it knew what they were talking about.
Part of being an exceptional security professional is to always strive to be better than you were the day before. When you’re the smartest person in the room, there’s nowhere else for you to go. You’re not being exposed to any new ideas, new concepts, or new ways of looking at the world.
When you surround yourself with higher achievers, it forces you to up your game. Smart people essentially make YOU smarter! They introduce you to new ways of life… give you a spark of new interests…and most importantly, they allow you to learn new things.
Raising the bar by raising the quality of people you surround yourself with is one more way to continually hone the craft of being a human. We pride ourselves on always reaching higher.
This leads us to our final favorite lesson security has taught us.
5. Set Goals
Surprisingly, in the business world, it is easy to be aimless. You can tell the difference between an order taker and someone passionate about the industry they are in.
Goal setting is crucial to building a team that is always staying ahead of the game. The field of security is always evolving. Threats change and so do social situations. A team that is consistently sharpening its skills is a team that you want by your side. In addition, goal setting provides direction and a vision for a person’s life. It creates a big picture mentality and gives someone perspective on more than just the day-to-day.
When we approach our customer’s needs, we don’t simply look at their short-term needs. We take into account their long-term goals to ensure we’re aligning with their objectives. And every year, we reevaluate our goals to ensure we’re always moving forward. After all, each new year brings new lessons, and what better way to apply them than to fold them into new targets.
Choosing the field of security has been an amazing journey. It has carved out the people we are, as well as the opportunities before us. It has, quite simply, changed our lives! We are blessed to be able to take the lessons we’ve learned and apply them to the others we are fortunate enough to protect and serve.
To benefit from our lessons or to join our high-reaching team, give us a call today.