When I train cops about operational empathy, I make the claim that empathy will save their lives more often than the gun on their hip. This is initially met with blank stares, because empathy is not a tangible tool or a defensive weapon. However, when we take the time to understand empathy and apply it to our work, it has a habit of turning into a superpower.

The same is true as corporate security leaders, whether we are talking about customer service at the uniformed security officer level, or if we are talking about influencing the decisions of the C suite.

Let’s define empathy. I like to keep it simple: “The ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes.” This means taking the time to look at an issue, an encounter, an experience, from someone else’s perspective. When we start to understand another person’s perspective and then adjust our approach to them, this is where the power of empathy can shine. So, what does this all mean in the context of security leadership?  We have an opportunity to extend our native skills and competencies. A superpower, in this context, is a human trait taken to a much higher level.

For the purposes of brevity, I will focus on perhaps the most important core activity that contributes to empathy and the creation of a superpower in leadership: Asking Questions.

Ask the Right Questions at the Right Time:

If empathy is the practice of placing ourselves in someone else’s shoes, the most practical way to start is by asking questions! To help explain this, I will start out with one of my empathy failures (I have plenty of those!)

When I managed security for the Washington DC Metro system, I managed a team of special police officers, stationed at rail yards, bus depots, and office buildings. I was also charged with beefing up physical security. In one location, I spearheaded the effort to enhance the perimeter fencing around a rail yard, to deter people from being able to cut or climb the fence. This meant a much tighter and stronger metal mesh on the chain link fencing. Installation day arrived and it was a beautiful fence. It went all the way around the perimeter, and right up to the guard house near the front entrance to the property, where all vehicles and pedestrians entered. I was proud of my accomplishment.

I went to the guard house and asked the officer what he thought of the fence, assuming he would be grateful towards me and shower the fence with compliments. Instead, he looked uncomfortable and said begrudgingly, “The fence looks great, but now I can’t see cars as they enter the property.” Oops. The fence I had installed, had such tight mesh, and was installed at such an angle that the officer literally had no visibility of the front entrance of the rail yard. I stepped inside and stood in the exact position of the officer, and sure enough, I couldn’t see the driveway. All I could see was that beautiful tightly knit fence mesh. In this case, when I was planning the project, I made two major failures. Number one, I did not take the time to evaluate the impact of my decision from the perspective of the end user, in this case, the officer in the guard house. Number two, I failed to ask the right questions at the right time, of the right person. Had I practiced these basic building blocks of empathy; I could have mitigated the issues during the planning stage. I never tried to place myself in the shoes of the right person. A few basic questions of this officer would have prevented my mini disaster. In a broader security leadership context, we can easily see the relevance beyond operational physical security.

Imagine when it is time to implement a new travel security policy, or access control policy. Perhaps you are announcing a handful of countries that you’ve deemed “no-go” zones that are too “high risk” for travel. It is easy to benchmark with other security professionals and lean on your own security expertise for such decisions. However, if we don’t take the time to ask the right questions and listen to our stakeholders about the impacts of our plans, we run the risk of never finding the true solution to the problem at hand. Or worse yet, like my fence mistake, our solution produces a new problem.  In the travel security example, what if one of your new “high risk” countries is the next emerging location for new market entry for your core business? Suddenly you are preventing your company’s executives from traveling to that exact country where they plan to do major business. How do you think that will be received?

When it comes time to make decisions that will have an impact on our stakeholders, it is crucial to activate our empathy muscle. Step inside the shoes of your stakeholders by asking them for feedback and seeking to understand how your actions will impact them. When you truly place yourself in their shoes, you will then be able to make a decision based on a holistic understanding of the problem you are trying to solve.

Burke Brownfeld is Director of Global Safety and Security for Visa Incorporated and is part of the 2020 faculty in The Great Conversation in Security in Palm Beach, Florida