The members of this community have always asked for insights into how leaders are dealing with the here and now, as well as planning for the future. I thought I would take a moment to highlight how I learn from these broadcasts.

Nathan Mills leads the Security Risk and Crisis Management team for a General Electric business unit. In our conversation, he provided us insights into how he must deal with the convergence of risk perspectives and programs. That takes navigating relationships and data. I combine the two because Nathan has a unique skill in data aggregation from the people, processes, and technologies that his peers are leveraging to create measurable business outcomes. He then uses the data to “tell the story” in a way that creates trust and collaboration. The lesson learned: You do not have to be right. You bring data to the table and let the data point you in a direction, understanding all along the way, that it might lead you to insights that you never imagined. This is an iterative process, one that is often ignored by leaders who must be right the first time. Nathan sets up a learning relationship that allows him and his peers to explore piloting of processes or technology that may not work, but will shed important new information that will, over time, transform his company and his program.

As you all know, I often ask at the end of an interview, what our leaders are reading. Nathan’s list provides us a glimpse into his style of learning.

• Thinking Fast and Slow

• The Goal

• The Unicorn

Members can find more information about these books on our resource page.

All these books are about the mindset of a leader and the process they used to peel back the onion toward a deeper understanding of people and programs.

Mark Reid, Director of Security and Safety at Seattle Pacific University,  took me on a spontaneous and transparent journey in creating a real-time incident response system and process using intelligent IP audio integrated into access control, Video Management, and multi-modal emergency communications.

My learning: I was told by many leaders it was too expensive, too complex, and not ready for prime time. But Mark has proven us wrong. He is practicing empowerment of his people in a process using clear, intelligible communication to lock down an entire campus with a push of a button. He truly believes security should be measured in seconds not minutes.

Martin Gasulla, Deputy Secretary of Public Safety at the City of Vicente Lopez, also challenged many of the assumptions I have heard around “Smart” cities. With a limited budget he has made his city more responsive and valuable to his citizens (the customer). With a network of IP cameras, an open architecture VMS, and a suite of analytics, he is aggregating information in near real time to make important decisions on all hazards risk, operational effectiveness, and incident response.

All three of these leaders do not get bogged down with a mindset of what is possible or what is not possible. They seek to ask the question: “What if we could _________, would that increase the velocity by which we reach our desired outcome, improve the customer experience, and create value to the organization?

They have an innovation mindset.