In one modest-sized volume, this book offers three valuable sets of knowledge. First, it provides best practice guidance on virtually every large-scale task a modern manager may be involved in—from recruiting and hiring to onboarding and leading teams, and from employee engagement and retention to performance management and working with difficult employees.

Second, it explains the essential concepts and practice of a range of effective leadership styles—including (but not limited to) servant leadership, crisis leadership, change agent leadership, and diversity and inclusion leadership. Third, it offers brief case studies from select CISOs and CSOs on how these management and leadership principles and practices play out in real-life workplace situations.

The best practice essentials provided throughout this volume will empower aspiring leaders and also enable experienced managers to take their leadership to the next level. Many if not most CISOs and other leaders have had very little, if any, formal training in management and leadership. The select few that have such training usually obtained it through academic courses that take a theoretical, broad brush approach. In contrast, this book provides much actionable guidance in the nitty-gritty tasks that managers must do every day.

Lack of management practical knowledge puts CISOs and CSOs at a disadvantage vis-a-vis other executives in the C-suite. They risk being pigeonholed as “security cops” rather than respected business leaders. Many articles on these subjects published in the press are too incomplete and filled with bad information. And combing through the few high-quality sources that are out there, such as Harvard Business Publishing, can take hundreds of dollars in magazine subscription and book purchase fees and weeks or months of reading time. This book puts all the essential information into your hands through a series of concise chapters authored by an award-winning writer.