Gordon Adam on the Importance of Diversity and Allyship in Cyber Security

Women are incredibly good at solving problems. They approach, deal with and communicate a problem or situation, differently from men. Often women have a different leadership style from men.

The real win comes when we deploy our full armory against any given issue or adversary, we need as many ways of looking at a situation as possible.

I find the best teams for this are those with a decent number of women on it. My current team, for example, has an equal number of men and women. I think the more diverse a team can be in background, experience, exposure and approach, the better.

Then, of course, you need to engender a sense of freedom and trust, where opinions and suggestions are welcomed and listened to. That’s a different question, which leads me to allyship.

I find it easy being an ally for women and other minority group colleagues. I don’t know if ‘easy’ is the right way of saying it, but to me, it’s about being kind and open, and that’s it.

I currently mentor several colleagues (men and women) and try to be consistent in my approach. I encourage and advise and provide career coaching. It’s about listening and supporting.

Being a good ally needs that too, but then I think it’s about knowing when to stand behind colleagues to show support, when to stand beside colleagues to help amplify their voice, and then unfortunately, knowing when to stand in front of colleagues, to help protect them. It’s using my personal brand, which includes being a 52-year-old white man, to help others understand the issues we face around this.

I do this for all my colleagues but am aware that some need more protection and amplification than others. I enjoy being a strong ally and hope I live up to my internal view of how I do it.

Although I still see more men than women in cyber, the numbers have changed over the last ten years. Massively for the positive. I hope that women in cyber feel that difference too. Currently I am surrounded by strong female colleagues, at all grades, and we are all stronger for it.

I’ve thought long and hard about the retention question, and I’m struggling I’m afraid. For me it’s a balance. Obviously doing away with sexist and old-fashioned views and actions, that I won’t give time for here.

It’s about hoping that enough women have a positive enough experience to encourage others to pursue. I certainly see lots of women in important senior roles. And it’s up to everyone to ensure that not only are all voices given the opportunity to be heard but are in fact, we ensure they are heard.