‘Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly, ‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy; The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I've a many curious things to show when you are there.'
The ‘Spider and the Fly’ is a famous poem by the Victorian author Mary Howitt. First published in 1828, it tells the story of a spider who ensnares a fly through the use of seduction and flattery. I used to read it to my children at bedtime. It was a firm favourite, and with a theme of trust, I believe its simple message is ever more relevant.
You see, we live in remarkable times, where trust is re-emerging as a currency of the new economy. Going hand-in-hand with influence, trust is enabling companies and individuals to stand out from the crowd, be heard admidst the noise, and become more successful in their bid for new opportunities. Let me explain.
My father is neither a politician nor businessman but when I was growing up he always ensured I understood the value of personal branding. He didn't call it this though. All he told me to do was to value my surname and protect it. To me that meant showing integrity, doing what I said I was going to do, and being really good at it. It’s a lesson I’ve never forgotten.
First impressions count. Today, more so than ever. You see, as of today, you are who Google says you are. When someone Google’s your name, the first page of results is how the world sees you. This is your reputation and it’s online for the whole word to see.
The connection between your reputation and cybersecurity is real and continuous. It's more than just protecting an organisation's online assets. It’s actually about protecting trust, which enables us to innovate, collaborate, build wealth and maintain peace whilst using technology for human progress. And trust, as Niloofar Razi Howe, cybersecurity strategist and entrepreneur, so rightly said in her keynote at RSA Conference this year,
“…is to the economy what water is to life.”
(NOTE. This blog is one of a series and unless you join my IN Security Tribe whereby can get them early, plus other useful content, you’ll just have to wait for the others.)
I’d just finished my keynote and walked off the stage when a young woman approached me with a question. She wanted to know if I’d ever failed. I smiled, and perhaps I even laughed a little as I answered her,
“All the time!”
Any extremely successful person will tell you this,
“Success truly is the result of good judgement. Good judgement is the result of experience. And, experience is often the result of bad judgement.”
The wisdom of learning from failure is undeniable. Yet, despite a commitment to learn from failure, few leaders succeed. For over two decades I’ve watched leaders devote hours to critiquing sessions, postmortems, and analysis in the hope of not repeating the same learning lesson. And, whilst these approaches are useful (I advise they are done and wrote about why in a recent blog) again and again I’ve noticed minimal change, other than an increase in stress.
Here’s why.
When my eldest son was at middle school, he used to plead with me every single year to change schools. It always happened at the end of the summer holidays, and every time he’d sit half way up the stairs in our house, wailing. Once he calmed down, he’d talk about fresh starts and new beginnings. For some reason, he felt like he’d messed up and wanted a chance to reinvent himself. Sadly, the only way he thought he could, was by changing schools and starting anew. I never let him, for I understood that it wasn’t necessary. I knew that fundamentally he was happy at his school and had good friends there. The only way he could get what he wanted, was by applying a new technique, and that meant he had the power within himself to alter things.
Like my son, at some point in your life I bet you’ve probably committed to making a fresh start too. Typically, these occur on the first day of the year/month/week/season, on your birthday, or on some other memorable occasion, like an anniversary or religious event. These special days are what social scientists refer to as temporal landmarks – social and personal, and just like physical landmarks they can help you find your way when you feel lost.
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