by Brian Cooke

This article addresses some of the myths and challenges associated with transitioning from government service to the private sector.  The second part of the article shares with the reader some experiences and strategies for a successful transition.  The final part looks at the journey of becoming a successful security executive and leader in our industry.

I am grateful to hold a position that allows me to travel and visit old friends and colleagues on a regular basis. While catching up over drinks often the same storyline emerges.  I thought it was time to share that story with a broader audience as everyone I’ve spoken with finds it insightful and valuable. 

After twenty-one years of U.S. Government service I retired and successfully transitioned to Corporate America.  I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at the age of seventeen, and except for a few odd jobs in college and a couple years in between agencies, public service was all I knew until I was in my forties. I will caution this, if you’ve spent most of your life in public service, transitioning to the private sector will be fraught with anxiety.  You will question your decision, yourself, and your motives… and you should.  Seek guidance and mentorship from trusted colleagues who have successfully navigated these waters.  I did and I am very grateful for all they taught me.  Through this introspective process, you will make the right decision for you and your family. 

First, we must dispel several well-ingrained myths perpetuated within government service:

Government service myth #1:  There is no job security outside the government.  The myth goes that if you work in the private sector you can be laid off or fired at any time.  The bust:  While this may be technically true, you know who gets laid off or fired in the private sector?  Non-performers.  People who are passionate about their jobs, love what they do, and excel, generally do not get laid off nor fired.  Most friends and colleagues I know from my government career are consummate professionals who are passionate about protecting people, places, and things.  They love their security jobs and excel at them.  They are the sheepdogs in our society protecting the lambs from the wolves through employing years of experience and subject matter expertise.  These people do not get laid off or fired, they succeed. 

We’ve built a lifetime of friends and colleagues we’ve served with all over the world.  I myself have traveled to over forty-five different countries on over sixty-five different missions/assignments during my government career.  I’ve made deep and meaningful personal and professional relationships with many great people with whom I’ve shared so many experiences ranging from good times to tragedy and loss. 

Government service myth #2:  Leaving will sever these relationships and you will lose these valuable personal and professional connections. The bust:  These deep personal and professional connections are built between people not organizations.  Not only will you keep all your meaningful relationships and contacts, you will see many of your friends and colleagues again, and often, at industry conferences and other events.  You will deepen those existing relationships and make new and exciting ones, meeting more mentors and professionals along the way.  I went as far as to “Irish Goodbye” my agency after 15 years of dedicated service (for which I am incredibly grateful).  I decided to forego the traditional long-format, teary-eyed, email thanking all my friends and colleagues for all the great years we spent together all over the world plying our trade.  I sent nothing.  I left my personal email address and contact information with my immediate colleagues in my office and set an Out-of-Office reply with them on my government email.  Guess what?  All those great friends and colleagues I wanted to keep in contact with, they found me, easily.  After all, most of them are highly skilled agents and criminal investigators.  I can say four years after retiring there is not a single person who’s relationship I value that I am not in contact with and I’ve made many more along the way. 

In government service, civil service or military, your path to the top is usually pretty clear and linear.  A private gets promoted to PFC, then Lance Corporal, then Corporal, then Sergeant, and upwards.  A lieutenant makes captain, then major, the Lt. Colonel, and upwards.  Civilian employees march upwards along their respective pay scale in grades and steps. 

Government service myth #3:  There is no clear upward mobility in the private sector and you will be stuck in the same job forever.  The bust:  Upward mobility and career advancement in Corporate America is ripe for opportunity as soon as you learn it is often non-linear.  Could you move upward from a supervisor, to manager, to director, to VP, etc. within the same company?  Yes, but it is unlikely.  What’s far more common is security professionals advancing their career through taking opportunities with other companies.  I’ve witnessed many of my colleagues take this path very successfully.  They transition from government to a mid-level manager position with a company.  After a few years of experience, they accept an opportunity at a more senior/director level with another company.  And the upward trajectory continues as their experience and leadership skills evolve and grow.  I have several good friends and colleagues now leading the industry as true security executives at the Vice President level in major international corporations. 

Having addressed a few common myths perpetuated in government service, let’s get a little into the weeds on the transition process, what to expect, and then ultimately, the path to becoming a successful security executive. 

I was not looking for a job outside of government and had no intentions of retiring from government service.  I was poised to deploy overseas again on what would have likely been the pinnacle assignment of my career and I was rather excited about it.  I had a great career as a Special Agent in the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), U.S. Department of State.  DSS is an incredible organization and I am proud to have spent most of my career as a DSS Special Agent. 

The first thing we must realize is, retiring from or leaving government service is not the “end” of your career.  You need to take a step back and look at your career at the 30,000-foot view.  When you do, you will realize your government service was a valuable, and patriotic phase in your career during which you gained subject matter expertise and experience to prepare you for the next phase of your career.  While you may be the best in the world at what you do, it’s still what you do and not who you are. I could write a whole article on that topic alone, but to summarize, you are more than the position you hold in government.  Honor your service, be grateful for it, and know it is ok to move on and continue to accomplish more great things.   

Every company has its own unique talent acquisition methodology and human resources hiring processes.  It would be impossible to address all scenarios, so the following is general guidance based on personal experience and experiences of friends and colleagues. 

Every great job I’ve gotten came when I already had a great job.  Not that I wasn’t open to opportunities or even casually looking, but I was at least comfortable in my position, engaged, and enjoying my present job.  There was no pressure to leave or to find and get a job.  This is a helpful position to be in, so consider this timing if you are planning to make the transition from public to private sector.  The reason I believe this position to be so advantageous is it inherently instills authenticity.  Authenticity is very appreciated by those making important hiring decisions in private sector.  There are a hundred other candidates out there with your same, or similar resume.  Often, it’s not about finding a candidate that can do the job.  It’s about finding a candidate that is the right fit for the company, team, or organization that is doing the hiring.  Being authentic allows the company and hiring manager to know and see who you really are, and this is always a good thing.  You want to land in an organization that has a culture that aligns with your work ethic and beliefs.  If you do not align with the corporate culture of a company, you will not last there long.  When interviewing, be authentic. 

Companies invest in things of value. This includes human potential.  You are being evaluated as to what value you bring to the company.  The company needs to believe there will be a short- and long-term return on their investment in you.  Many of your government jobs and roles over the years provide tons of applicable and valuable subject matter expertise and leadership experience.  I highly recommend seeking the guidance of colleagues within the industry you are looking to transition, or a resume drafting professional to help you shape and showcase your talents in a way corporate talent acquisition mangers can more easily relate.  You want to be competitive and not undervalue yourself. 

There is a good story about Pablo Picasso that illustrates this:

Picasso was at a Paris market cafe’ making a sketch on a napkin.  From a distance a woman was watching and admiring the sketch.  Upon finishing his coffee, Picasso crumpled up the napkin and threw it in the trash.  The woman approached him and said “excuse me sir, that drawing was beautiful, could I please have it?”  Picasso looked at the woman and said “of course, that will cost one million Francs.”  The woman, appalled, replied, “you cannot charge me one million Francs for a picture it took you five minutes to draw!” Picasso replied, “no madame, it took me forty-years to draw that picture in five minutes.”

Often, we take for granted our lifetimes of experience in our security industry.  Our subject matter expertise comes easy to us because we’ve been doing it for so long.  Do not undervalue your knowledge and experience.  Just like Tiger Woods makes swinging a golf club look easy, we can make building, managing, and directing security programs look easy.  It’s not easy.  We are just really good at it because of our valuable lifetime of experience. 

Unwittingly, I took a page out of Picasso’s book on one of my interviews in the private sector.  Towards the end of a day of interviews with increasingly high-ranking people in the company, I was asked, “If you were to build an international security program at this company, what would that look like?”  I replied, “not knowing what I don’t know about the company, it would look something like this…” and then, for about five minutes I proceeded to draw out on a notepad in front of the interview team an organizational chart complete with position descriptions and roles and responsibilities of each team member.  I pulled a Picasso and took 20 years of experience and created something in five minutes.  I could not have done that without the 20 years of experience.  Your value is the 20 years, not the five minutes.  Additionally, it shows vision.  Which brings me to my next piece of guidance. 

Our government careers and jobs can lend themselves to following orders and managing things at an operational level.  Many people spend a whole public service career without serving in a higher-level leadership position responsible for creating a vision for an office or department.  And that’s ok, because we all have a vision, we need only learn how to embrace and show it.  Companies in Corporate America have great leaders that communicate a vision of what their company is, what it does, and why it matters.  Companies want employees who have vision as well.  They are not interested in investing time and money on “yes men”, people who will just say “well I’ll just do it anyway you want me to boss.”  A successful candidate will have a vision of what they can achieve in the role for which they are applying.  Their passion for their job and to tackle it will be self-evident.  Hiring managers will see this candidate as someone who is likely to add value to their team and the company.  Have vision and communicate it well. 

I believe most of us can agree having subject matter expertise, great experience, and a vision are qualities that will set you up for success in your transition from the public to private sector and in Corporate America.  But… not so fast.  You are missing a critical element for success.  You are leaving government and going into business.  We all know the old adage, “if the government were a business it’d be out of business.” If all we know is government, we probably don’t know business well enough.  The most successful leaders I know in our security industry have made a journey.  The journey began with them becoming a security professional, then they became a security professional who understood their core industry and business practices.  The leaders currently at the top of their game and achieving greatness are no longer security professionals.  They are businessmen and women with a deep knowledge and background in security and risk management. I am grateful to know many of them; they are my friends and mentors.   

You do not need to return to school and obtain an MBA to succeed in the private sector.  Though it is a worthy endeavor that would add value and could make you more competitive.  Business project management, planning, and leadership courses and certifications are educational and useful.  Successful security executives take time to learn their core industry.  They invest time and energy in understanding their company’s product(s), the marketplace, the overall supply chain, who does what, how, and why it matters.  They listen and learn intently.  They engage cross-organizationally and learn from finance, legal, supply chain, human resources, and their company leaders.  They learn their business; they get their de facto MBA.  With that knowledge, they ply their trade, assess and mitigate the never-ending array of risks to a business, it’s employees, and the community it serves. 

In conclusion, the transition from government service to the private sector and Corporate America is one that should be thoroughly contemplated and planned.  Engage and rely on friends and mentors who have demonstrated success.  When the timing is right opportunities will present themselves, explore them.  They may lead to the next phase in your career and along a path of becoming a great leader in our industry. 

 About the Author

I have a passion for protecting people, assets, and information. From humble beginnings serving our country in the USMC, to an incredibly rewarding career as a Special Agent in the Diplomatic Security Service, my passion for keeping people safe continues. Now as an experienced security executive I draw on over 20 years’ experience in physical security, executive protection, and security program management. I am grateful to have the opportunity to exercise my leadership and communications skills to add value to the organization and enable continued business success.

Currently I am the Corporate Security Manager - International Security Operations for Marathon Petroleum.