Daallo Airlines Bombing:

www.asi-mag.com
THE GLOBAL JOURNAL OF AIRPORT & AIRLINE SECURITY
Daallo Airlines
Bombing:
Somalia-based
al-Shabaab
targets aviation
MAIN MEDIA SPONSOR TO:
FEBRUARY 2016 VOLUME 22 ISSUE 1
ALSO:
SMART SECURITY
ADDRESSING THE INSIDER THREAT
THE SECURITY MANAUFACTURERS COALITION
SeMS
TERRORISM
AND TOURISM
SCREENING
LAPTOPS
28
20
AVSEC
OPINION
Security
Leadership
By Matthew Finn
W
here did all the time go? This year marks a
significant milestone in my career and I really
didn’t see it coming. 2016 finds me looking back
on a 25-year career in security. I can hardly believe how
much time has passed since my manager at the International
Telecommunication Union, the UN agency where this
incredible journey began, asked me to “look after the security
stuff”. She was someone I neither had the desire nor the
courage to refuse, so I did as I was asked. Armed only with an
abundance of inexperience, naivety and a notebook, I set out
to find out what all this ‘security stuff’ was about and how I
might be able to ‘look after’ it. I had absolutely no idea what
was expected of me.
“…the security sector is in
desperate need of leaders who
can learn lessons from the past,
prepare for the future, understand
how they perform today and
who are willing to become better
leaders for themselves and their
organisations tomorrow…”
In the two and a half decades since, I still routinely
find myself at a loss on how to solve a particular
security problem. Armed perhaps with slightly more
experience and slightly less naivety today (but never
without the notebook!), I make no apology for not
knowing, immediately, how to answer a question or solve
a particular problem. I’ve come to rely heavily on the
advice and support of a great many people around the
world from whom I’ve learned so much and to whom I am
both indebted and forever grateful.
Many of them have become great friends. Many of them are
avid readers of Aviation Security International and I trust all
of them will know I’m writing about them today, confident in
the knowledge I would have struggled to achieve even half as
much without their help.
Looking forward to the next 25 years, I wonder what
challenges the next generation will face. And I worry about
how they might deal with those challenges. What support
will they have? Who will they go to for advice? What
experience will they have? Will their work in security still
be low-paid and under-valued? How will they lead their
organisations and how will they work across boundaries,
across government and industry, across geographies and
cultures to effect change and lead us forward to a better,
more secure future? I ask these questions because I
honestly don’t know. And not knowing those answers does
concern me.
26
To subscribe www.asi-mag.com/subscribe
So where are we today?
Organisations responsible for security are under immense
pressure and face a growing number of increasingly
complex threats. New causes are driving new actors to
exploit vulnerabilities and conduct attacks using entirely
new methods of operation. We are witnessing the crisis
of a generation on the borders of Europe as hundreds of
thousands flee war-ravaged countries and failed States,
who risk everything in pursuit of a better life, with many
losing them along the way.
These issues are compounded by the sheer number of
organisations responsible for security with new tools and
techniques demanding procedures be rethought, impacting
already strained operations.
So how can these organisations anticipate threats and still
shape the industry’s future direction?
The answer, I firmly believe, lies in leadership.
The Security Landscape
The security sector is in desperate need of leaders who can
learn lessons from the past, prepare for the future, understand
how they perform today and who are willing to become better
leaders for themselves and their organisations tomorrow.
The range of threats faced by government, the private
sector and the general public is increasing in both number
and complexity. Transportation systems, particularly civil
aviation, remain high value targets. Modus operandi have
changed fundamentally, as has the profile of those seeking
to carry out attacks. Against this backdrop, detection,
identification and data-mining technologies continue to
evolve, playing a vital role in shaping new security measures
and countermeasures.
Ultimately, whatever cause or ideology drives terrorism
and whatever laws and technologies are put in place to
mitigate these threats, security always comes down to people
– the hundreds of thousands of people who perform missioncritical tasks at the front line every single day and the people
who lead and inspire them to perform to the absolute best of
their abilities.
Poverty of Leadership
In the 25 years of working in the sector, it is hard yet
necessary to admit that the security industry suffers from
a ‘poverty of leadership’. All too often, security staff are
under-valued and regarded as low-skilled workers; their
managers unaware of the leadership qualities they need;
and those leading the organisation not having the time
to evaluate how they lead or how to inspire the best from
their people.
Combined, these factors form a compelling case to
elevate the importance of leadership in security: to create
an environment for today’s leaders to see the system as a
whole, examine the global landscape, develop innovative
and holistic solutions, anticipate future trends and
provide strong direction that improves outcomes, activates
leadership in their teams, attracts and retains talent and
takes people with them.
February 2016 Aviationsecurityinternational
Potential Barriers
The appetite for this type of examination may be muted for a
number of reasons. Some leaders may believe they can achieve
these outcomes through further training or participating in
industry conferences, or may feel uncomfortable with this
type of ‘deeper’ intervention. Indeed, that may be the very
reason it doesn’t currently exist.
My own experience has led me to conclude that the
majority of conferences, valuable in their own way, only offer
networking opportunities and a chance to listen to case studies
from a cohort of speakers, myself included, who are regular
features on the speaking circuit. For its part, training, whilst
important for more junior and middle leaders in providing
foundation knowledge and models for interpreting data,
routinely fails to deliver either the insight or the behavioural
change to develop people as leaders.
What could we achieve together?
I believe, with the right approach and the right people, we can
fundamentally change how our industry performs.
Together, we can collectively define and agree on the
purpose of security and develop a compelling collective
vision for the future – one that collaborates across imposed
boundaries of each individual State, policy responsibility,
organisation, department, private or public sector.
Together, we can share and learn lessons from the past,
examine the current context and prepare for the future.
Together, we can develop innovative strategies to tackle
the challenges leaders face. And, together, we can define the
leadership needed to tackle these challenges and give leaders
insight into their individual approaches and create a powerful
network among security leaders around the world.
February 2016 Aviationsecurityinternational
“…the security industry suffers
from a ‘poverty of leadership’…”
Start the Conversation
If now is not the right time to do this, then when is? We can
of course continue to sit on the sidelines and opine how we
might have done things differently or better. And we can
continue to see problems in our industry yet fail to act upon
them. Or we could start a conversation. And from that
conversation, we can take action and effect vital, positive
change in security and put leadership at the top of our
agenda, become better leaders ourselves and create even
better leaders in those who follow in our footsteps.
This is the conversation I want to have with today’s
security leaders and hear, first hand, what their challenges
are and how, together, we might work to address them.
That’s why I’m investing in a forum to develop leadership in
security for those who feel the same way so we can explore
what we can achieve together. And I’m equally keen to hear
from those who hold a different view or who are developing
different ideas.
It’s about security. It’s about our industry. It’s about
leadership. And it’s about time we all stepped up. The people
who will be ‘looking after the security stuff’ for the next 25
years really need our help.
Matthew Finn is the Managing Director of AUGMENTIQ, an
independent consultancy practice specialising in aviation,
border and transportation security.
www.asi-mag.com
27