Leadership - Cristina Magro

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Three things you need to get promoted in cybersecurity

You worked hard, you got all the certs, you know your stuff. Surely, you will be the next in line for promotion in your cybersecurity job, right?

To a point, that is true. Technical credibility matters and nobody is going to promote someone who doesn’t know what they are doing.

But sometimes that is not enough, I see many competent people stay in the same place, where it is convenient (to others!) that they stay. Basically you become so good at your job that it’s best for everyone that you keep doing that and only that.

So what is actually going on?

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Emotional Regulation in Cyber Incident Response: Lessons from Stoic Philosophy

Leadership / Cristina

Studies show how much emotional regulation can pose a challenge for Incident Response teams, in terms of choices and actions in the moment, but also in terms of burnout prevention.
What can ancient philosophers teach us about a very modern challenge?

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Mindset Hacks #1: Active Listening

Leadership / Cristina

If there is one skills that as security professionals, and as humans we need to master, that is definitely LISTENING! It is, perhaps the easiest thing in the world, but also the hardest to get right. We complain about not being heard at work, yet, when someone is talking to us, what we tend to

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Cyber Assertiveness? :)

Coaching, Leadership / Cristina

Assertiveness is an essential skill for any cybersecurity professional, at any level. Acting assertively means to get your point across without aggression (even passive-aggression!!!), in a way that is respectful of others’ rights. It means acting with a genuine desire to achieve a win-win situation for everyone. In cybersecurity we encounter countless situations full of

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Which kind of leader are you?

Leadership / Cristina

Online you will find many descriptions of leadership styles, and perhaps you are left confused wondering: What is the best leadership style? Let’s have a look at this model proposed by McKeown (2014), who lists 4 kind of leaders: 1. The Visionary Lover of all things strategy. Excited by change, risk, new ideas. Exposure makes

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The Drama Triangle in Cybersecurity

Leadership / Cristina

Threats. Attacks. Defence. Vulnerabilities. In the constant battle against cyber criminals, it’s easy for blue teams, red teams and management teams to fall into unhelpful roles and interactions. Stressful, emotional, high conflict situations can lead to “my team” vs. “your team” conversations and eventually compromise working relationships. Developed by Stephen Karpman, the Drama Triangle can

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CISOs’ biggest threats: stress and burnout

Leadership / Cristina

In these past few days the Nominet report “Life Inside the Perimeter: Understanding the Modern CISO” is informing numerous articles about CISOs’ physical and mental struggle due to the stress they are under. CISOs are battling some huge threats daily, which have less to do with APTs and more to do with what is going on in

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Leading Remote Teams

Leadership / Cristina

In the past few weeks many of us have found themselves having to manage teams that were suddenly operating 100% remotely. Even with the best technology and software available (there are many articles out there covering which tools are best!), this new situation can be challenging for new and seasoned leaders alike. Working and communicating

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