Category: Leadership

  • Moving to Distributed Work

    So, you’re working from home … For a while. You’ve probably worked remotely before, and you’re thinking, “I’ve got this!” Odds are, you’re mistaken. You don’t have this. That’s OK; this is an opportunity to learn new skills. You can think of working from home much like someone moving into an entirely new environment. Your…

  • One company’s successful approach to gender balance

    In an industry where 10-15% of staff are women, the InfoSec team at Akamai—a cybersecurity, content-delivery network and cloud-service provider—is now 40% women. Driving that change—from 28% two years ago—took only a few, simple practices that might work in many other organizations. We drove those changes in partnership between the talent-acquisition team and the hiring managers;…

  • Unsolicited Advice on Self Improvement

    Some thoughts on advice about guiding others’ self-improvement.  Often, advice comes in the form of “If you do X, Y will happen.” It’s worth unpacking that. What “If you do X, Y will happen” often really means is, “For some group, which I think is large and I believe you are in, doing X will increase…

  • Vendor Rebuf

    The cybersecurity industry consists of numerous companies seeking appointments, and if I were to entertain each request, I would have no time left for my responsibilities at Akamai, which involve making informed risk decisions. To streamline the process, I have created this form response to minimize the effort and cost of reaching a “no” response.…

  • Ninja Management

    Kacy Catanzaro’s qualification for the American Ninja Warrior Finals demonstrates valuable skills and practices for tackling complex tasks. Her approach of celebrating achievements, expressing gratitude, prioritizing recovery, and preparing for the next challenge offers a rubric applicable to various situations, enabling us to overcome obstacles effectively.

  • Awareness Training

    Implementing a robust security awareness program is not difficult if your company prioritizes security. However, if security is not a concern, you have a significant problem. Many programs focus on meeting auditor requirements with annual training sessions and policy acknowledgments. While these are necessary, a comprehensive program integrates security into various activities and encourages employees…

  • Policy and Practice – a Talmudic distinction

    Policy and Practice – a Talmudic distinction

    The Talmudic concept of policy versus practice highlights the importance of aligning written rules with actual implementation. Setting a stricter practice than the policy prevents violations and ensures compliance. However, certain legalistic policies serve as liability safeguards, deviating from this principle.