leadership<\/a>.\n<\/p>\nPeak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise<\/p>\n
\n \u2014 Anders Ericsson & Robert Pool (2016)\n<\/p>\n
\n What It\u2019s About: Expertise is less about genetics than about deliberate practice on specific elements of your craft, targeted feedback and hard work. Which is why I\u2019ve played 1,000 games of ice hockey in my rec league career and have only marginally improved because I don\u2019t work on edge drills, pivot transitions, or breakouts.\n<\/p>\n
\n Relevance for Security Leaders:\n<\/p>\n
You can build the skills you need to thrive. You don\u2019t have to have a \u201cknack\u201d for secure coding or countersurveillance.
\n It encourages structured development plans for security teams, from business planners to EP agents.
\n It suggests the power of developing junior staff and building a culture of continuous improvement.<\/p>\n
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York<\/p>\n
\n \u2014 Robert Caro (1974)\n<\/p>\n
\n What It\u2019s About: A fittingly massive volume on a man with a massive ego and a mixed legacy on his massive construction projects that transformed New York. He built highways, parkways, bridges, beaches, parks, and public works, but at the expense of public transportation, long-time communities, and equal access to amenities. How he built his power is a study in savvy and tenacity.\n<\/p>\n
\n Relevance for Security Leaders:\n<\/p>\n
This is how power really works: where it comes from, how it\u2019s wielded, how it can accomplish miraculous things, how it compromises, and how it corrupts.<\/p>\n
An exquisite profile of organizational politics, bureaucratic influence and unchecked mission creep.<\/p>\n
Essential reading for anyone managing up, working cross-functionally, navigating complex political environments, or developing funding sources.<\/p>\n
How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer<\/p>\n
\n \u2014 Sarah Bakewell (2010)\n<\/p>\n
\n What It\u2019s About: A literary biography and philosophical guidebook to the life and thinking of Michel de Montaigne, the 16th-century French essayist who invented the personal essay and questioned everything, especially himself.\n<\/p>\n
\n Relevance for Security Leaders:\n<\/p>\n
It covers often underappreciated leadership essentials such as self-awareness, tolerance, doubt and curiosity.<\/p>\n
Montaigne\u2019s approach of Que sais-je? (\u201cWhat do I know?\u201d) derails the hubris that often plagues risk management.<\/p>\n
The text helps leaders cultivate intellectual humility, which improves listening, learning, and leading across differences.<\/p>\n
Meditations<\/p>\n
\n \u2014 Marcus Aurelius (Editions published from 1559 \u2013 2025)\n<\/p>\n
\n What It\u2019s About: Private reflections by the Roman emperor on how to live, lead, and endure with integrity, humility, and discipline.\n<\/p>\n
\n Relevance for Security Leaders:\n<\/p>\n
A stoic \u201cbible\u201d for maintain inner calm in the face of chaos, such a cyberattack, hurricane, or even a divided staff.<\/p>\n
It encourages restraint, self-awareness and accountability, all of which are crucial for command roles or high-stakes advisory work.<\/p>\n
Marcus Aurelius models values-based leadership over ego-based control.<\/p>\n
Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences<\/p>\n
\n \u2014 John Allen Paulos (1988)\n<\/p>\n
\n What It\u2019s About: Illiterates can\u2019t read. Innumerates don\u2019t grasp numbers, especially statistics. A highly readable exploration of how poor quantitative thinking leads to flawed decisions, including on crime risk.\n<\/p>\n
\n Relevance for Security Leaders:\n<\/p>\n
Paulos exposes common statistical fallacies that affect everything from alarm fatigue to risk scoring to vendor performance claims.<\/p>\n
It encourages a more numbers savvy approach risk management, metrics and resource allocation.<\/p>\n
The book equips leaders to challenge data misuse in boardrooms or media narratives, a critical tool in an era of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation.<\/p>\n
On Writing Well: 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction<\/p>\n
\n \u2014 William Zinsser (2012)\n<\/p>\n
\n What It\u2019s About: Writing with clarity, simplicity, and strength begins with thinking with clarity, simplicity, and strength.\n<\/p>\n
\n Relevance for Security Leaders:\n<\/p>\n
Strong writing in strategic plans, board decks, and memos amplifies credibility and trust.<\/p>\n
Direct writing eliminates jargon, clarifies threats and persuades with force.<\/p>\n
Zinsser\u2019s emphasis on \u201chumanity in writing\u201d aligns well with the modern security leader\u2019s role as influencer, not just enforcer.<\/p>\n
\n Bonus: A leadership book, but with a twist:\n<\/p>\n
The Power of Noticing: What the Best Leaders See<\/p>\n
\n \u2014 Max H. Bazerman (2015)\n<\/p>\n
\n What It\u2019s About: Even smart, well-intentioned people miss critical information in plain sight. Bazerman helps leaders become more aware of what they\u2019re overlooking.\n<\/p>\n
\n Relevance for Security Leaders:\n<\/p>\n
Flawed situational awareness, cognitive filtering, and ethical lapses are all manifestations of the absence of noticing, and all could have profound negative impacts.<\/p>\n
A change in mindset is a powerful tool to enhance post-incident reviews, fraud detection, insider threat programs, and board-level risk reporting.<\/p>\n
It encounters a \u201cstop and ask\u201d habit that counters organizational complacency.<\/p>\n
\n Now go forth and read, heed and lead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"]]> This column has previously cited or recommended books on security, risk and leadership. Having just submitted a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,26963,156,111,139,69,26960,26961,26962],"class_list":{"0":"post-27103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-corporate-culture","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-security-career","15":"tag-security-leaders","16":"tag-security-leadership-skills"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}