- I don't know if you've noticed,
but for a long time now I've seen and heard
lots of people saying we need more leaders, not managers.
So who's better?
A manager or a leader?
Well it's a trick question of course.
Neither are better.
They're two sides of the same coin
and both are needed.
John Kotter, a published leadership expert
and former professor at the Harvard Business School
says that leadership is about producing useful change.
So is management.
Is it an antiquated form of leadership?
Is it the group of people who set the policies at work?
A paper pusher?
Or something else?
While it's true that management can refer to a role
or a job, it's more helpful for us
to focus on the function and tools of management.
John Kotter said that management is about
keeping organizations operating reliably and efficiently.
And if you like getting your paychecks
and overnight package deliveries on time,
you should be glad for good management.
Kotter's definition also tells us management
is about maintaining the status quo.
A major result of your information security program
will be keeping your organization
operating reliably and efficiently.
Good management practices will help you maintain
the confidentiality, integrity, and availability
of your organization's information.
Here's some examples.
Reporting the status of your program and projects
to senior managers so they can make
high-quality decisions that are dependent on your work.
Holding your staff members accountable
for the quality and timeliness of the work
that you've delegated to them.
Processing access control requests accurately
and on time, so people remain productive.
Reviewing violation reports accurately and on time
so bad behavior online is detected and stopped.
My geeky personality and natural interests
make it easy for me to understand
and use the tools of management.
And my roles as husband, father,
project manager, IT security manager,
and IT operations manager, I've had lots of experience
with the practice and tools of management.
In contrast, the tools of leadership
have been much more difficult for me to use and master
and I've made some big mistakes trying.
In the next video we'll examine why
leadership matters for your information security program.