A provocative post - makes one think! How can I or someone else I know become a thought leader? It's not just about having the knowledge - it's also about ways to communicate the knowledge to others in a way that is helpful and inspiring. I just saw my son (he's away at college but came for a brief visit) - if he could apply some of his knowledge in a way that Denise describes, that would add even more to his usefulness to a firm.
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Catarina, you provide an interesting list of how to go about finding and reaching your target audience. Lots of businesses do not yet see the value in spending time on a blog, but if you can reach your target audience by doing so, it is worth the time you invest.
“you do not lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership” - what a great quote. Hitting people over the head does not work in general. But it seems to be a chosen path for a lot of people - if you don't like group X, why hit them over the head, of course (not). And emotional intelligence certainly does make a difference, especially for a leader.
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" But don't you think it would make some difference if guys from a bad background were found when they are young and turned into white hats? " - of course, it would! It would be wonderful! But doesn't sound realistic or attainable. "companies and authorities worldwide have to take online security seriously" - much more realistic goal, in my opinion. Still very hard.
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Catarina, making the bad guys into the good guys sounds like a good idea, but unfortunately, I don't think it is very realistic. Also, if you know anything about web security and hacking, you know that you don't have to be all that bright to be a bad guy hacker. In fact, that is how web security is taught - they teach young people to break into systems. Now to stop a hacker, especially with servers that have too many security holes, that takes more brains.
I keep wanting to learn more and more about web security ... always more to learn.
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Great post, Catarina. I'm sorry I'm just reading this now. When I worked at MIT, the Pentagon had a cyberattack, and they hired one of MIT's smartest grad students (yes, a grad student - probably a professor by now). Also, you mention Israel and cybersecurity - one of the top experts at MIT at that time is now also a professor in Israel - she's Israeli. And she's a she! She did not get there by promoting a woman just because she's a woman ... she is really, really, really smart. And she had smart graduate students and postdocs around her - she nurtured them as well. So, a few points: Israel and the U.S. are working on cybersecurity together via universities. We need to encourage even more smart students. I would love if more STEM programs were geared toward teenage girls. But the boys need the encouragement as well! But I think girls learn differently than boys, so we could have more than one kind of program.
Too often the people in charge, in the U.S. government and elsewhere, are not the smartest in the room. So they might not be making the best choices about who to put in charge of security and safety (I'm thinking of the Amtrak incident as well).
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I'm an early morning person. My children are definitely night owls. My husband can do both. It's just our personal rhythms. Our successes seem more related to whether we use that wide awake time well. I hope more businesses will value flexibility - I do see this for some.
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Glad to hear all the positive news about growth in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. May it continue! Thank you for the informative post, Catarina.
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Haven't heard of the issue in terms of aging population, but it does seem like a huge factor. What you say in your comment, Catarina, I have heard quite a bit. Namely, much will be done automatically or by computation, and thus we won't need quite as many low skilled workers as in the past. I suspect there will still be jobs for the most highly skilled in the STEM fields (science, tech, engineering, math), but the world needs to include everyone else as well.
Thanks for bringing up an important topic.
Interesting topic that I don't know a lot about (negotiations). Certainly makes sense what Margaret Neale is saying, especially about being prepared and looking at the package, as she calls it. I would be interested in learning more with specific examples.
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