Make the Most of the Gift of Time in 2023

With a flip of the calendar, we recently welcomed 2023. I find the concept of celebrating the passage of time to be an interesting phenomenon in my adult life. This is because, for the other 364 days of the year, we as adults typically find ourselves searching for the elusive “25th hour” in the day — just a bit more time to help shoulder the realities of life.

What a stark contrast to childhood, when time seemed to pass oh so very slowly. Time truly dragged as we anxiously awaited our next birthday or the next holiday. The end of the school year never seemed to come fast enough. And even in the freedom of summer that offered the gift of extended free time, the common lament of “I’m bored. What is there to do?” illustrates that children don’t view time as a gift.

So, why, as adults, do we annually celebrate the passage of time — the very thing that we wish we could slow down or have more of throughout the year? One could say that time passes regardless, so why not celebrate the new year and the promise of a clean slate, a fresh start, a hope for new possibilities? With that view in mind, let’s resolve to make this year one in which our time is spent as meaningfully as possible.

So, where to start?

Operational Impact

Cybersecurity leaders have an opportunity to truly move the needle for their businesses here. Let’s leave behind the perennial struggle of not adequately conveying the business value of security operations to peer leaders and the executive team. We know all too well that if this were to be done, the tables could be turned relative to the days of inadequate investment in security operations, both in terms of financial support and collaboration.

The resistance security leaders face from other business units can be curtailed by ensuring processes are clearly defined and the team understands what’s at stake. This helps everyone understand not only what the SOC is responsible for, but also what happens when there’s a lack of reciprocal support from the other business units: increased security incidents that directly and negatively impact the business financially.

Innovation

The number of open roles in cybersecurity is far higher than the number of humans qualified and available to fill them. In a previous blog, I discussed that continuing to chase a talent pool is a broken concept that must be replaced with a shift from product to platform. In this paradigm, modular platforms offer a simpler user experience with a more comprehensive and interoperable/integrated set of capabilities.

But as we tackle cybersecurity challenges like this one, we must provide our cybersecurity professionals and leaders the necessary space to think, brainstorm and collaborate as they seek smarter ways to solve customers’ problems. At Fortra, one way we’re doing this is with a capable and intelligent team dedicated to threat research and intelligence. This team exists to add critical insights into our software and services to make them more effective. This can only be achieved if these team members are given the space and time to innovate.

How can you deliberately promote innovation in your organization this year?

Community

One of Fortra’s core values is that we are stronger together — not only as a company, but also alongside our customers and partners. As a result, we prioritize these interactions because we know that if we’re going to create a stronger yet simpler future for cybersecurity, it can only be done via community and collaboration.

Striving for a community that is truly meaningful requires a daily commitment to engaging, listening and acting. But how about stretching ourselves even further this year? While enhanced professional networking should be always be a goal, making sure relationships within our businesses drive community is paramount. Employee resource groups are an excellent vehicle to capture the strengths of a diverse workplace by adding an authentic and meaningful dimension to the employee experience.

As time is arguably our most precious commodity, let’s commit to being the best stewards of it as possible by focusing on things that truly matter in 2023 — like operational impact, innovation and community. If we do that, then we really will have something to celebrate.

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This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.