Soft Skills

Managing the Team

Enthusiasm is the key factor. I am an enabler and booster creating an engaging work environment, assuring equity, and well-defined roles to achieve the target in a manner that all colleagues are proud and aware of their contribution. We are not a family, but we became friends during the job experience if we live it intensely and put passion into it. Sure, we are travel companions who share the same destination and make the same trip: not necessarily on the same vehicle and speed. Alone you go faster, but together you go further. My approach is to establish trusted relationships based on the member's attitude reconnaissance, setting the right posture to allow everyone to express their potential. Leading a cybersecurity engineers' team is a challenge: sometimes takes that everyone thinks that he is the last Jedi, others think they are not adequate, some prefer to work alone and still, others are not always able to share the results. Everyone has their own "job posture": is my responsibility to build bridges to overcome these gaps.

Communication and involving people attitude

Especially in a technical domain, like cyber and information security, communication is a challenge and a battle that would be won. Multiple audiences like employees, managing directors, finance and legal department, public institution and law enforcement, suppliers, and customers need different approaches to communicate: "what", "how", and "when". Often even communication within the same workgroup can be not very effective although all use the same technical language and share the same goal. More than the "what" it is the "how" that can make the difference: voice tone, language, table arrangement, meeting room facilities, etc. I prefer "stand-up meetings" also on video calls for remote workers without phones and notifications off on wearable devices. I have some constrain with tables and chairs: puff, arena arrangement style are my favorite stuff. During every single meeting, it is mandatory the focus on the tasks, and everyone involved in the meeting has a task to do otherwise is a fail. I am a brainstorming fan where the ideas are linked, like a Lego set, with others and the colors are unveiled through the interaction with the attendees.

Handling conflicts, crises, stress, and mistakes

A leader is measured in his effectiveness not only by the results but by how he manages the crises of his team, mistakes, and stressful situations. The ability to find solutions in difficult conditions is the real battlefield of a leader: the other circumstances are the daily exercise of preparation for crisis management. The goal of the cybersecurity team's leader is to manage the IT security incident that must be governed and not passively suffered. Stress can also be a valid ally to keep concentration high but in the long run, it exhausts the team. For this reason, the leader must always be able to recognize the breaking point timely and create opportunities that can relieve stress and recharge the energy of the team even with collateral and rewarding activities. According to my approach, the error is the consequence of a series of causes not of a single episode. For this reason, it can always be avoided in its most serious manifestation. So it is never the fault of a single team member but of the whole team that was not able, first of all, the leader, to detect and mitigate it. I have created my own museum of the mistakes: they are the most beautiful scars I have, more than any tattoo one can get. Handling conflicts in the team is a good opportunity for a leader to demonstrate the value of his leadership assuring equity, authority, and steadiness keeping in mind coherence.

Flying new ideas

"The answer is blowin' in the wind", (Bob Dylan). This is an inspirational message to harness the energy of the "Wind of change" (Scorpion's song) and let your ideas fly. My paradigm for innovation consists in evaluating the context in which I operate, collecting previous experiences to identify the areas of intervention according to the needs of the team and the business.
Creativity is my main ally in proposing an innovation in a workflow, a product, or a service. The aim is to simplify, and amaze with a simple and usable idea that is pleasant for the user. In our daily work experience, when we use an application or a service to do something, here is the right place to innovate.

Inclusion, sustainability, and responsibility

The ability to involve people is one of the most important factors in achieving a result. The result is always from the team, not only from the leader who in my opinion is the primus inter pares. Putting a person into an existing team is more difficult than building a team from scratch. The onboarding process of the new resource requires attention: typically I prefer to make the selection involving the team in the various phases, but the final decision is only the leader. Even if decisions are made together with the team, the responsibility always lies with the leader; in my opinion, failure is only for the leader, while success is for the whole team. Getting to know your team with dedicated sessions even outside the workplace is useful for understanding everyone's posture, expectations, comfort zone, and avoiding frustrations and misunderstandings. Usually, when I join a team after my name I declare my principles on the positive value of inclusion, cultural and gender difference, solidarity: only after my CV. Likewise, when I recruit a new member of the team, I am sincere if there are no prejudices not only toward people but also in the product sector of the business.