Breaking into Cybersecurity Leadership - Meghan Gorman

Christophe Foulon: 00:00:23

Welcome to another episode of Breaking into Cybersecurity

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Leadership, where we develop the

cybersecurity leaders of tomorrow.

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Today's guest, Megan Gorman,

will be sharing her experience in

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cybersecurity sales leadership,

and how she got to where she is.

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Before we get there, the whole point

of this show is to share with others

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so that we have a diverse perspective

of individuals coming into this field.

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Without that, we won't be

able to solve the complex

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cybersecurity problems of tomorrow.

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So please do share this with

others that are interested in

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cybersecurity and sales today.

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And let's develop the leaders of tomorrow.

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. Megan, would you be able to share some

of your background and what you were

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doing before you got into cybersecurity?

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Meghan Gorman: Good morning, Chris.

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Absolutely.

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I had a pretty untraditional

path to cybersecurity.

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I started working on Wall Street

straight outta college, and then I

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worked I worked in economics for a

couple years doing commercial real

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estate applications of that field.

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Then I got into technology in general.

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Not really specifically

cybersecurity, working with

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hardware and software, understanding

networks, the basics of it all.

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And and then I got a an opportunity

with specific software that

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dealt with SI with security.

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So I started to learn more

about cyber in that way.

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Then I landed up starting my own

managed security services practice

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and ran that for about seven years.

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And with that really, had to learn very

quickly services, product, all of the,

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all the things, bringing it all together.

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I, we offered, virtual.

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ciso opportunities to clients, and

it was really a, it was a very steep

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learning curve, but it was a way that

I really accelerated my knowledge

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and was able to establish myself

as, a sales leader in the industry.

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So in, in brief, that is my

background, but it was I was

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trained at both the undergraduate

and graduate level in economics.

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Definitely not something

that I started out pursuing.

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Christophe Foulon: So for those that

are interested in sales but might not so

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know cybersecurity or might be interested

in getting into cybersecurity and I.

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Might not have a sales background.

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How would they learn each of these skills

and competencies based on your experience?

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Meghan Gorman: I think a big piece

of it is to, consider jobs that

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They may not be exactly what you're

looking for then, they get you closer.

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They get you closer to cyber

or to technology in general.

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And then there's also, doing

your own your own research kind,

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your own investigations, starting

to familiarize yourself with

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the various areas of the field.

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And then I think, networking is a really

big part of succeeding in this industry.

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Just getting to know people.

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That are currently in the industry and

learning, all the different paths because

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there are so many paths that you can take.

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Sales is just one path.

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You could do, product, you could product

engineering, you could do you could be on

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the services side and, be a Vcso virtual

ciso if that's what you're preparing for.

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I, there, there's a lot of ways to go

and, I would advise anybody that, your

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first job may, it may not be the perfect

ideal fit, but if it gets you closer if

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it's gonna teach you something that you

can build on, if it's a building block,

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then you should consider taking that.

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And then, take and then having next

steps after that, that you can get

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ultimately to where you want to go.

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Christophe Foulon: I love the advice

of looking at the industry as a broader

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perspective and then narrowing down,

taking building steps to get there.

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'cause I think often individuals

try to jump too far and I.

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They burn out, trying to catch up and

drink from the fire hose all at once.

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Now, as you grow in your career, what are

some of the things that a leader should

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know as you're growing into leadership?

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Meghan Gorman: A, a couple things.

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I think that one, first and foremost

being in this industry you're

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telling people a lot of things

that they don't want to hear.

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So you know, whether it's, on from

a sales perspective or a leadership

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perspective, you're coming in a lot

of times and saying, we we need to

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re-engineer what you've done here,

or we've, we need to get rid of some

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of the things that you've been doing.

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And you're gonna have to change

habits, change hearts, change minds.

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And as we know that

that's not an easy task.

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So I think be, you have, but you

have to be prepared for that.

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It's not you're not always

gonna be glorified so to speak.

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You might be thought of a little bit as

the enemy because you are Really trying

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to make some major changes and that

may or may not be well received by the

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organization that you're in initially.

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So you have to, I think you have to

kind, have that thick skin that and the

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passion and the belief that this is the

right path for them and that the risks of

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not doing anything and the consequences

of not doing anything are too great.

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To ignore, so that, that would be

one of my big pieces of advice.

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Christophe Foulon: Okay.

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And . For you personally, why did you

become a cybersecurity leader versus

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staying an individual contributor?

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Meghan Gorman: I think it was always a,

dream of mine to have my own company and.

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I saw, a niche that was at the time

fairly underserved, and I thought,

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if not now when, and, what kind

of, what am I waiting for, right?

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There, there's an opportunity

out there in the market.

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I see that's real, that I've validated.

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I had sold some other investments

that I had, so I was like, I have

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some capital to, to start, start this.

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And it was always a dream of mine.

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And it know I liked it.

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It was it was extremely cha

the challenge of it all.

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An individual contributor, you're

pretty focused on one thing.

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When you do your own business,

you have to wear a lot of hats.

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Yeah.

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you have to become, an

expert in a lot of areas.

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And even though that's

challenging, it's, it's it's fun.

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And there, there's really, again,

I think that the opportunities for

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learning are really unbounded because,

you're getting approached by a lot of.

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A lot of subject matter experts

and people who you know are very

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prestigious in the field to work with

you or have a partnership with you

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or consult or something like that.

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I just I really the, the unbounded

opportunities that the owner being

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on, having my own business presented.

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Christophe Foulon: And what are,

what do you think the critical skills

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for cyber security leader should be?

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Meghan Gorman: I think you know, first you

need to have the technical knowledge to.

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Maybe not in the, in, in-depth level as

an engineer, but you do need to have a

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technical knowledge and definitely be

very familiar with the tools out in the

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market and really, what the results are.

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What can you expect from these tools?

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And then I think a lot of the other

pieces are, compliance is a big piece.

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You have to know, different

compliance and regulations get

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sets, what it takes to get there.

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And obviously which one, one of

those applies to organization.

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And then also, to So to bring

that as a goal and or an

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objective to your organization.

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And also, bring that, I'm

gonna make some waves here.

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We're gonna change some habits and

have the, the gravitas to to see

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that through to, to the better end.

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Christophe Foulon: Now let's talk

about some specific skills, and

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I'll ask you for your comfort level

on a scale of one to five, and why

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do you think you're so important?

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So the first skill is delegation.

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I.

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, why is, what's your comfort

level with delegation and why

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is it such an important skill?

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Meghan Gorman: I am, I'm very

comfortable with delegation.

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It.

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It is important because you simply

can't, there's not enough hours in

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the day to do everything yourself.

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And in any leadership position, you

have to learn to trust your team,

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trust their skills and abilities.

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If you don't, then you

shouldn't have hired them.

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And also, you're getting a lot of

Of good diversity there because,

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you may have somebody who's very

good in a certain area, or even,

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potentially stronger in an area that

you're stronger than you in an area.

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Giving tasks to them is advantageous for

everybody because that's gonna get done

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in a very precise and detailed manner.

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And then.

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That's going to, elevate the

team and elevate the function.

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Yes I think that delegation is extremely

important and yes I'm very comfortable

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with it because I've seen the positive

outcomes when it's done right.

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Christophe Foulon: And in line with

delegation, there's collaboration.

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How would you rate yourself

a scale of one to five?

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Why is it such an important.

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Skill.

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Meghan Gorman: I would say a five.

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And I think collaboration, you

bring, everyone brings their own

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mindset to the table, based on their

experiences and what you know, what

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their particular path was, right?

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And when you collaborate with

people, you're getting all of

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those experiences together.

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Instead of maybe just an engineering

perspective or, just a, hacker

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perspective, or former hacker perspective.

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So you're able to leverage all of that

knowledge instead of just, maybe one

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or two or if you're not collaborating.

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So it's really, again, it goes back to

the power of the team and what people

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with those different skill sets can all

bring to the table is I think at the end

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of the day, a lot more powerful than any

one person can bring to the discussion.

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Christophe Foulon: And for

communication, how would you rate

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yourself on a scale of one to five,

and why is it such an important skill?

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Meghan Gorman: I would read myself a.

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I guess four or five on, on communication.

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It's an important skill because you,

especially in cyber, because you need

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to all know what each other is doing.

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And, not only do make deliverables,

but also to, make sure that

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you are you're all working.

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Towards the same goals, right?

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And communication's a key part of that.

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If you're not communicating,

you don't know that.

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And you know that, that's where

things can really break down.

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So I think it's very important

to, to have those open lines of

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communication no matter what, between

leadership and team, and really

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make sure that those go both ways.

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That, it's just not either a top

down, only, there's also you would

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a 3 6, 360 degree feedback and

communication that's always going on.

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Oh, I would say daily is ideal to

make sure that everybody is on.

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On the same sheet of music and

what, what our tasks and what our

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priorities are, because those are

obviously constantly changing.

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It's a con, it's a very

fast evolving industry.

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You could come in and think your

day's gonna go one way, and then

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something happens unexpectedly, and

then, you need to completely pivot.

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And the only way to do that successfully

is to be able to communicate

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effectively with everyone around you.

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Christophe Foulon: How important would you

consider the skill of influence and why?

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Meghan Gorman: I think

influence is very important.

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I think it goes back to what I said

earlier about the job of leadership.

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It, cyber is really a lot of, you

know that you're Your charge is to

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change, habits and mindsets, and

those are very difficult things to do.

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So I, I think that you to position

yourself as an influencer and learn to

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influence and persuade is a key part

because that you're gonna spend a lot

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of your time initially doing that.

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Because, as humans, we don't.

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Really like change, relate

things to be the way they were.

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And you're taking on a task

that's, that, that's difficult.

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So I think that that ability to be

an influencer is critical to your

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success because that's really,

I would say one of the top five

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most important things in your job.

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Is to be able to influence

people's mindsets and their,

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and change their habits.

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Christophe Foulon: How important would you

consider networking as a skill and why?

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Meghan Gorman: I think networking

is a really, a very necessary skill.

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And I think it comes from, you it's

helpful if you do have A passion,

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like something, an aspect of the field

that you are very passionate about.

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Whether it's privacy, whether it's, you

protecting data, that you just don't, you,

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you just feel very personally, violated

when these, breaches and things happen.

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And I think that, if you bring that to,

networking and find other, like-minded

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people and groups and there's so many out

there, focusing on very specif specific

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niches in cyber you can grow that and then

eventually, I think leverage that down

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the road not only for your own Ification

and learning, but also as valuable

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contacts for when, you're going out there

to look for a position or, a consulting

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opportunity or something like that.

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Because this field is very I

would say networking friend of a

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friend oriented, and it really is

about building that community of.

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Of not only the champions, but also

people that you can learn from and

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people that you could help them.

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They can help you.

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And I think that's the one of the key

values of networking in this industry.

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Christophe Foulon: What final advice would

you give to future cybersecurity leaders?

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Meghan Gorman: I, I would give the

advice of, be, to be flexible to be

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the, I guess tough, but fair, but fair

and have, when I say tough, having that

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don't take everything personally, that.

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People may say, because what you're

representing sometimes isn't something it

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may not be something particularly welcome.

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Again, depending on the organization that

you're at, if how mature they are and how

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they been breached, have they not been

breached, those are, those events change.

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Change an organization.

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Significantly and therefore the reception

of you coming in as as a leader.

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So I think it's important to, be

prepared for what kind of organization

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you're getting involved with and

then you know what their in the

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reception will be for you initially.

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But that's likely gonna change because

there's likely gonna unfortunately, be

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something that may, that's gonna happen.

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That will change their mind about you

and what you represent, but it may not be

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something that's present out of the gate.

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So I think, just have a thick skin

and be ready to call on all the skills

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that you have, in your tool set.

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Collaboration, communication

technical skills networking all

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those things that we discussed.

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Christophe Foulon: Wow.

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Megan, thank you so much for coming on to

breaking into Cybersecurity leadership.

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We really appreciate your advice.

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Love hearing about your

background, and thank you for

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taking the time outta your day.

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Meghan Gorman: Thank

you, Chris for having me.

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It was a pleasure.

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Thank you.