Tag Archives: EDUCAUSE

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Lessons Learned on an Introvert’s Journey to Leadership

Category:EDUCAUSE,Introverted Leadership,introverts,Leadership,Lessons Learned Tags : 

mountain-climbing-802099_1280Note: This article was previously published on October 17, 2016 in the EDUCAUSE Review The Professional Commons Blog.

Many of us might agree that Western society lauds extroverted leaders and their accomplishments. However, introverts make great contributions and can be effective leaders too. As IT professionals, many of you are introverts, and you certainly work with a lot of introverts. Those of us who are introverts may not believe or recognize that we have strong leadership skills, and we certainly don’t seem like the extroverted leaders that are the norm in Western society.

I’m an introverted leader, despite outward appearances. I’ve presented at conferences numerous times, and overall, I’m able to mix well in business settings. Many people who see me in that very public context are surprised that I’m an introvert. My introversion informs my approach to leadership, and I’ve found that self-understanding has helped me learn how to harness my strengths as an introvert to become an influential leader and to achieve great results.

I thought it might be helpful to share a bit of my journey to leadership, to talk about what’s worked for me, and to provide strategies for both discovering your introvert strengths and maximizing them in your workplaces.

First Things First: What’s an Introvert?

Please regard this section as a generalization constructed from a number of sources. Introversion and extroversion lie along a spectrum. Individuals may be more or less extroverted or introverted. It’s also important to note that social anxiety or fear of public speaking does not necessarily mean that someone is introverted. (Many articles and discussions state that public speaking is the number-one fear for most people.)

For the purposes of this blog post, I’ll characterize extroverts and introverts as follows:

  • Extroverts focus on the outer world of people and things. They tend to be active and have a wide breadth of interests. They understand things through experience. They may be reward seekers and desire fame. They are energized by contact and activities undertaken with others.
  • Introverts have a rich inward-looking life of ideas. They tend to have a depth of interest, preferring specialization to a breadth of knowledge. They may mull over thoughts and concepts, but not express those thoughts verbally or externally. Introverts recharge themselves by withdrawing from the hubbub to places of quiet and solitude.

Reading these descriptions, can you see where you might fit on the spectrum?

Applying Introverted Strengths to Leadership

There are many approaches to leadership, and we often hear about highly extroverted, “take charge” leaders who have very public presences. However, as Susan Cain and others have pointed out, there’s no correlation between success in leadership and extroversion. Examples of introverted leaders include Albert Einstein, Steve Wozniak, and Abraham Lincoln. What made them good leaders? In what ways were they influential?

  • Einstein was known for his depth and clarity of thought (and his genius). He had the ability to look at all angles to a problem and develop innovative (and often unexpected) solutions.
  • Wozniak was responsible for many of Apple’s innovations, even though Steve Jobs was the best-known leader and public spokesperson for Apple. Working outside the limelight, Wozniak was able to engineer technological breakthroughs. Together, Jobs and Wozniak arguably revolutionized the end-user computing experience.
  • Lincoln was not gregarious and certainly not known as a compelling public speaker. Yet he was a deep strategic thinker and provided leadership during what may have been the most trying times for the United States.

All were introverted leaders, and all were very effective.

My Background

I’ve had a career that spans many disciplines, including a stint as a doctoral student in early modern European history, a technical communicator, and an information security practitioner. (I took a rather circuitous route to my current position as program manager in the Information Security Office at the Rochester Institute of Technology.)

As a doctoral student, I tended to be very reticent in classes, not wanting to contribute to discussions in which I was sure everyone else was much more knowledgeable.

In my work as a technical communicator, I documented ISO 9000 processes, created hardware and software documentation, and eventually moved into a consulting position where I had responsibility for end-user communications for an IT organization in a local Fortune 500 company.

As a security awareness professional, I communicate to my campus community about information security issues and threats, develop training courses in digital self-defense, and contribute to the greater information security community through my Introverted Leadership Blog and the EDUCAUSE HEISC Awareness and Training Working Group(HEISC is the Higher Education Information Security Council).

I didn’t seek leadership positions and preferred to remain in the background. The last place I wanted to be was the center of attention with colleagues looking to me for direction. Happily, my willingness to accept volunteer tasks has enabled me to share ideas and develop my leadership abilities.

My Transformation into a Leader

Although there are many formative steps I could look back on, the steps below have probably helped me the most.

Gaining a Better Understanding of Introversion

I read Cain’s book Quiet shortly after it came out. I found her research and discussion around various facets of introversion in American culture to be compelling. Leveraging her work and other sources, I co-presented on the subject of introverted leadership at a few conferences. The topic was popular, and we had standing-room-only crowds. At that point, I realized that this subject was of great interest to my professional colleagues, both in technical communication and in information security. I was intrigued and did further research into what it meant to be an introvert who was also a leader.

Understanding My Personality/Temperament Type

There are various tools for determining your personality/temperament type and many resources discussing the leadership styles most appropriate to those types. Around the time I stepped into a leadership role, I became acquainted with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the work of David Keirsey on temperament. I’m not going to give an in-depth description of MBTI or temperament here. In short, the MBTI and similar tests provide a series of questions; your responses group you into specific personality or temperament types: Introvert/Extravert; iNtuitive/Sensing; Thinking/Feeling; Judging/Perceiving. The types, which are identified through the four pairs, are not distributed evenly throughout the population. The results fall along a continuum, so not every INTJ will be the same. (Obviously, we’re more complex than a four-letter descriptor can convey.)

I’m an INTJ (Introverted-iNtuitive-Thinking-Judging). Keirsey describes the INTJ as a Mastermind. (Others assign the term Scientist to this combination of traits.) Finding out I was an INTJ was important to me because the description affirmed my ability to lead (albeit reluctantly), discussed my strengths and weaknesses, and provided strategies for success as a leader. I had to see something on paper stating that I could be a leader before I could accept that ability. I needed the affirmation. There are times I feel like the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, needing a diploma (or confirmation in print) to prove to myself that I have a brain.

Understanding How I Communicate and Work Best

By and large, introverts are not comfortable being asked to give an immediate response to suggestions, nor do they enjoy engaging in small talk. I’m not at my best when asked to provide an on-the-spot answer to how I might handle a specific problem or an idea for the best way to move forward. However, when given time, I can respond with a well-thought-out and nuanced response. I’ve also found that I communicate best in writing, although my oral communication skills have become stronger over time and I’m now a seasoned presenter.

I prefer to work individually, and my work is not necessarily done at a steady pace. I enjoy “collisions” with other thinkers, but I prefer not to work in teams. Teams often follow leaders who express their ideas confidently and quickly, neither of which are guarantors that the ideas are actually good. Individual conversations, on the other hand, can often lead to breakthroughs and innovations.

Building on Small Successes

I’ve had many opportunities to grow in leadership, but they’ve occurred primarily outside of my professional work environment and often in nonprofit organizations, which are always looking for competent and dedicated volunteers. For me, that leadership path has been through two organizations: the Society for Technical Communication (STC), an international organization devoted to furthering technical communication and educating its members; and the EDUCAUSE HEISC. As I volunteered in STC, I was asked to serve in a variety of positions with increasing responsibilities. I was eventually elected president of the Rochester Chapter and later served on the board of directors at the international level. For HEISC, I served as co-chair of the Awareness and Training Working Group. In that role, I’ve had the opportunity to facilitate a group of talented information security professionals.

I didn’t seek leadership positions in these organizations, but for almost every opportunity presented to me, I’ve said “yes.” I’ve also asked myself: “How can I make a difference in the organization?” (Say “yes” when given an opportunity to serve. You won’t grow in leadership if you don’t take advantage of opportunities to practice leadership.)

Making It Personal: Examining My Strengths and Growth Opportunities

From my discussion above, it’s clear that self-discovery has been an important component in how I’ve learned to harness my introvert strengths and become a leader. From my readings about personality/temperament and my experience as a leader, I’ve discovered that my strengths include my ability to identify gaps, my desire to make a difference, my commitment to practicing a servant leadership model, and my drive to pursue excellence. I’m also competitive. (That competitiveness can be both a strength and a weakness. I can push myself and others toward goals. However, I also have an innate desire to win at whatever I’m engaged in.)

Self-discovery also means you uncover your weaknesses, or growth opportunities. For me, those growth opportunities include overcoming my desire to avoid conflict, pushing past my reticence to contribute in discussions, not overanalyzing opportunities or situations before moving forward, and harnessing my competitiveness.

Where Do You Go from Here?

I recommend the following activities to help you uncover and actualize your introvert strengths and become an influencer.

  • Get to know yourself. Take one of the personality or temperament assessments offered at Keirsey.com, HumanMetrics, or 16 Personalities. Read Quiet and some of the other introversion resources listed below.
  • Control your environment. If you’re in an open-plan office, find ways to define your personal space to increase your ability to stay focused. (See Morgan, 5 Ways, for some great ideas.)
  • Communicate your value. Keep a record of your accomplishments and make sure your management understands how you communicate and work best and how you can add the most value. Take advantage of the unhurried nature of social media to leverage the playing field by using the opportunity to clearly articulate your thoughts.
  • Leverage your introversion. You have tremendous abilities to provide superior solutions because, given sufficient time, you can often see all facets of a problem and devise a comprehensive solution.
  • Don’t avoid networking events. You don’t have to meet and engage in small talk with everyone. Find one or two people with whom to have an in-depth conversation, and follow up later. Depth is more important than breadth.
  • Recharge (in solitude) as needed!

Conclusion

By no means do I consider myself to have “arrived,” but I am surprised by how far I’ve been willing to journey in the last ten years as I’ve leveraged my introversion to lead in a way that’s natural for me. I hope the thoughts above can help stimulate your thinking about how you can leverage your introversion — and also leverage the strengths of the introverts you manage (and make them happier members of the workforce).

You’ve read a bit of my story. If you’re an introvert, what has been your experience in the workplace? If you’re an extrovert, how have you worked successfully with introverts both as their colleague and as their manager? What strategies have worked for you? Please join the conversation. I’d love to hear your stories!

Resources

Cain, Susan. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. New York: Crown Publishers, 2012.

Kahnweiler, Jennifer B. The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009.

Keirsey, David. Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence. Delmar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis Book Company, 1998.

Laney, Marti Olsen. The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World. New York: Workman Publishing Company, 2002.

Morgan, Elan. “5 Ways to Love Your Open-Plan Office.” Quiet Revolution.

Myers, Isabel Briggs, and Peter B. Myers. Gifts Differing. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1980.

Petrilli, Lisa. The Introvert’s Guide to Success in Business and Leadership. Chicago: C-Level Strategies, 2011.


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Building a Culture of Digital Self-Defense

Category:EDUCAUSE,Higher Education,Information Security,Infosec Communicator,Lessons Learned,Social Networking Tags : 

Note: This article was previously published on September 20, 2016 in the EDUCAUSE Review Security Matters Blog

One of the biggest challenges in information security is raising the awareness of our communities so that they recognize threats and understand how to defend themselves. The difficulty of that challenge is exacerbated with up to 30 percent turnover of students, faculty, and staff yearly. It’s a multiyear process, but the key is to stick with it and not be afraid to try new ways of raising awareness and enrolling your communities so that they become part of your security team. I’ve provided a list of key components to building that security culture below. I’ve also provided some examples of our work at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

dsdmagnetnoqrcodeThink Strategically

You can’t change or create a culture overnight, and gains may seem almost imperceptible at times. Recognize that you need to think of security awareness as a key component of your information security strategy. (Yes, you need a security awareness strategic plan.) A strategy enables you to identify long-term goals. Security is often reactive. For example, we might respond to phishing attempts by warning our communities as the attempts occur, rather than employing a phishing simulation program1 so that they’ll recognize phishes on their own. To create (and harden) a security-aware culture, you must be proactive. It’s not always possible to get ahead of specific threats, but we can train our communities to recognize many of them.

Have a Plan

Thinking strategically requires a plan. A plan enables you to define how you’ll reach the goals defined in your strategic plan. What communication vehicles are already available? What needs to be developed? Where do your audiences (you have at least three: faculty, staff, and students) get their information? Are there community or departmental leaders they follow? What topics should you cover and when? (EDUCAUSE provides a calendar of topics and member-created content that you can leverage.)

Brand Your Security Awareness Efforts

RIT’s security awareness efforts are branded under Digital Self-Defense. A brand helps make your security awareness efforts visible and memorable. Almost every communication or event around security awareness at RIT bears our “DSD guy” (seen above). After more than a decade, most constituents recognize him. (Your university or college might have requirements around branding that may or may not make security awareness branding possible. However, you can still use a common layout and design in your communications.)

Leverage Existing Opportunities

What existing opportunities are available for improving security awareness? Are there orientation events for students, faculty, or staff? Are there benefits or wellness fairs in which you can participate? Have you contacted departments to schedule security awareness discussions? Have you created an ongoing security awareness class, either in person or online? Have you put posters on your buses? Given away swag with security awareness messaging at orientations? Look around and see what existing opportunities you can leverage.

erob1699image2

Be All Over Social Media

Where do your constituents get their information? Your university or college may have official news outlets or communication mechanisms. Does everyone follow them? Do students even read e-mail anymore? Who’s using Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Pinterest? Snapchat? The rapidly evolving social media landscape offers opportunities, as well as challenges. Go where your audiences are. They’re unlikely to come to you. (As I write this blog post, we’re in the midst of our annual social media “like” campaign and expect to surpass 10,000 followers in our social media outlets.)

Identify and Leverage New Opportunities

Has your campus become a hotbed for Pokémon™ GO!? Have you thought of how you might leverage Poke Stops where students congregate? Maybe set up a security awareness table. Hang posters at Poke Stops inside buildings. What about Snapchat? Snapchat filters are really popular. Did you know that Snapchat allows you to create custom geofilters? Why not create some security awareness-oriented filters and offer them at high-traffic times and locations?

Hire Students with the Right Skill Sets and Mindsets

One of the strengths of our security awareness program at RIT is that we hire technology-savvy students with strong communication skills. After a while, you’ll probably find that well of inspiration you draw from has started to run dry. Student employees are a great source of innovative ideas and more importantly, they’re students. They understand how students communicate and how best to get their attention. Give them the freedom to be creative.

Enroll Your Community

It’s not really a secret, but we know as security professionals and IT organizations that we cannot secure our campuses without partnering with our user base. Have you thought about how you might enroll your users in your efforts? In fall 2015, we began our Digital Self-Defense Team program. The purpose of the program was twofold: we wanted to develop a sense of shared responsibility around information security, and we also wanted to begin measuring our successes with a survey. With small incentives for taking the survey, we had over 600 survey participants from a faculty/staff population of about 3,000. Almost half of the survey participants signed on to the Digital Self-Defense Team. That’s a growing population of security advocates on campus.

Volunteer and Network

I’ve been a member of the Higher Education Information Security Council (HEISC) Awareness and Training Working Group for almost 10 years. The innovative ideas and helpfulness of the group to new members are without parallel. Participation in the working group ensures a steady flow of new ideas and solutions to problems faced by all of us. Each of us has ideas to share, and the working group has developed a number of security awareness resources available today.2 I invite you to join us.

Notes

  1. Learn more about phishing simulation programs and read these 10 key points about implementing a campaign.
  2. The HEISC Information Security Guide: Effective Practices and Solutions for Higher Education includes several resources developed by the Awareness and Training Working Group: a quick start guide, detailed instruction manual, cybersecurity awareness resource library, and National Cyber Security Awareness Month resource kit.

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Updated: 2012 Speaking Schedule, January through June

Category:EDUCAUSE,Higher Education,Information Security,Infosec Communicator,Internet Safety,Presentations,Social Networking,STC,STC Rochester,Summit Tags : 

I’ll be speaking at the following events this winter and spring. Watch for my presentation materials on SlideShare.

January 9: HEISC (Higher Education Information Security Council), Town Hall. Recording available.

January 30:  Bullet Proofing Your Career Online (with Hannah Morgan, @careersherpa), ABCPNG (Always Be Connecting Power Networking Group), First Unitarian Church, Rochester, New York

Description: What are the 10 key steps to building and securing your online reputation? A security professional and a career sherpa provide their perspectives on how to create an online presence that enhances and promotes your career safely and effectively.

April 23rd: Bullet Proofing Your Career Online (with Hannah Morgan, @careersherpa), STC Rochester Spectrum Conference, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York

April 24th: Leadership Day, STC Rochester Spectrum Conference, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York

Facilitating the event and the panel discussion

May 17: Engage! Creating a Meaningful Security Awareness Program (with Cherry Delaney, Purdue University), EDUCAUSE Security Professionals Conference 2012, Indianapolis, IN

 Abstract: This session will help attendees identify available resources and tools and determine the steps needed to create an engaging security awareness program. We’ll share how to integrate social media, video and other resources in an effort to reach a variety of audiences. We’ll also discuss how to leverage security incidents to create opportunities for engagement with your community. We’ll conclude the session by helping you plan a series of targeted activities for a high profile event such as the National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

May 20: Communications Liftoff! Rocketing your Community to the Stars, Leadership Day progression, STC Summit, Rosemont, IL

May 21: Bullet Proofing Your Career Online (with Hannah Morgan), STC Summit, Rosemont, IL

May 23: Shockproofing Your Use of Social Media 2012, STC Summit, Rosemont, IL

Description: Lightning Talk. What are the top ten ways to shockproof your use of social media? What’s new for 2012?
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Secure Mobile-an Oxymoron? (Redux)

Category:EDUCAUSE,Higher Education,Information Security,Infosec Communicator,mobile device,Privacy,Risk,Uncategorized Tags : 

Responses to the #1 topic on IdeaScale, “Consumers dictate device usage, not IT,” indicate that MANY of you believe consumers will drive smartphone adoption in Higher Education, while the sentiment around the topic, “Get rid of the walls around your enterprise data,” indicates that quite a few of you believe that core university data should be accessible to smartphone users.

However, yesterday’s polls have shown that not even all of the attendees of yesterday’s webinar use PINS or swipe patterns on their smartphones. The inherent difficulties in entering a complex password on a smartphone increase the likelihood that users will rely on simple passwords, if any, to access their devices. At the same time, users are expecting access to more and more university resources through their smartphones, increasing the risk of a data breach.

Where does security fit into this picture?

In Thursday’s webinar, “Smartphone Privacy & Security, What Should We Teach Our Users?“, the speaker, Norman Sadeh, indicated that mobile users are three times more likely to fall for phishing attempts. That statistic implies that spear phishing against university communities, which already demonstrates more success than we’re comfortable with, will be even more effective against smartphone users. As we find ourselves more and more hurried, making quick decisions just to handle the ever-increasing stream of information flowing at us, we’re more prone to fall for these attacks.

I would guess that many of us who own smartphones are using them to access our university e-mail, if not other university resources. Most of us don’t have any control over whether someone may e-mail us private or confidential information. If our smartphones become the weakest link in protecting data, they will be targeted.

How many of us have misplaced our smartphones or left them sitting on our desk in an unsecured office? Have you left your smartphone in a taxi or on a shuttle bus?

Increased access to university data is a desirable convenience. Will we be able to get the right combination of security controls, user training, and policies in place to allow smartphone access without it leading to a security breach resulting in a notification event or embarrassment to the university? What kinds of security controls are you using to prevent this? What security apps do you recommend to your users?

Lots of troublesome questions. Where are the answers?

Ben Woelk
Co-chair, Awareness and Training Working Group
EDUCAUSE/Internet2 Higher Education Information Security Council

Policy and Awareness Analyst
Rochester Institute of Technology

ben.woelk@rit.edu
https://security.rit.edu/dsd.html
Become a fan of RIT Information Security at https://rit.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6017464645
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bwoelk
Follow my Infosec Communicator blog at https://benwoelk.wordpress.com

This blog entry is part of the EDUCAUSE Mobile Computing Sprint and is cross-posted at https://www.educause.edu/blog/bwoelk/SecureMobileanOxymoron/227983


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