Recently, James Willison, with whom I cohost a Security & Music web show, raised the issue of whatsecurity leaders can learn from music, which got me thinking less about music itself and more about how music works.

There is a connection between security and music. Yes, one deals in threat assessments, budgets, governance, and incident response, the other in rhythm, melody, and expression. But parallels exist. Good leadership in security and risk has tempo, structure, improvisation, and sometimes even dissonance.

Security relies heavily on frameworks. Music reminds us that leadership is also performance.

Below is a four-part, eight-song playlist that captures recurring roles security leaders play.

The Watchman: Hearing the Alarm Before Everyone Else

• The Clash — “London Calling”
• Elvis Costello — “Watching the Detectives”

The Watchman is the sentinel every security professional recognizes. You scan, interpret signals, and figure out which ones matter before anyone else notices.

“London Calling” is essentially an early-warning broadcast wrapped in punk bravado. It is urgent, messy, and full of incomplete information, just like incoming crises. Security leaders rarely get a clean dataset and a planning window. More often, we get noise and frenetic reaction, often misplaced. That’s captured in the lyrics “The ice age is comin’, the sun’s zoomin’ in/Meltdown expected, the wheat’s growin’ thin.”

Costello’s “Watching the Detectives” captures the quieter side of vigilance. The song is observational, almost clinical. Is there anything more detached than the woman who is “filing her nails while they’re dragging the lake”? It is about paying attention without inserting yourself into the scene too quickly. That analytical distance is familiar to anyone who has monitored an evolving situation and resisted the urge to act before understanding it.

The Moral Auditor: Remembering Who Security Is For

• Johnny Cash — “Man in Black”
• Bob Dylan — “The Times They Are A-Changin’”

The Moral Auditor role exists to prevent the drift into the purely procedural. It asks whether what we are protecting, as well as how we are protecting it, aligns with the people we serve.

But Johnny Cash, the anti-hero, as a “moral auditor”? Unequivocally. “Man in Black” is not about rebellion, but accountability. Cash identifies with those left out of the systems meant to protect them: “But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,

You'll never see me wear a suit of white.” That’s a crucial lesson for security leaders, who must regularly test whether their programs are enabling the business and safeguarding its people rather than simply imposing friction.

Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” adds another dimension: environments evolve and institutions are often slow to follow. Security leaders sit at the intersection of that tension. Workplace violence expectations, cyber risk tolerance, privacy norms, and duty-of-care standards have all shifted dramatically over the past decade. Programs that worked once may no longer meet the moment. The Moral Auditor asks uncomfortable questions to ensure that authority remains legitimate.

The best security leaders, like good musicians, know when to keep the beat, when to listen, when to step forward, and when to pause.

The Strategist: Building Structure That Allows Adaptation

• John Coltrane — “Blue Train”
• Dave Brubeck — “Take Five”

If the Watchman senses and the Moral Auditor questions, the Strategist designs.

Jazz offers a fitting analogy for how mature security functions operate. In “Blue Train,” Coltrane and his ensemble move within a defined progression while allowing individual players to adapt dynamically. That balance should resonate with anyone running an enterprise security risk management program. While governance establishes the framework, practitioners adjust in real-world conditions.

Brubeck’s “Take Five” takes the lesson further. Its famous 5/4 time signature initially feels unusual, yet it quickly becomes natural. The musicians succeed because they commit to a structure that differs from the norm but is internally consistent.

Security leaders often ask organizations to adopt a similarly unfamiliar rhythm. Risk reviews might interrupt product development or manufacturing. We insist on redundancies that seem discordant and inefficient until they are needed. We run exercises that simulate unlikely events, which may alter the beat of business. These departures from routine often become part of how the organization works, just like we can’t imagine “Take Five” without its time signature.

The Catalyst: Moving People When It Matters Most

• Eminem — “Lose Yourself”
• Public Enemy — “Fight the Power”

The Catalyst role emerges when analysis gives way to execution.

“Lose Yourself” captures the compressed decision space of incident response better than many textbooks. Stakes are high, information is incomplete, and there’s no opportunity to rewind. Leaders must rely on preparation, trust their teams, and commit. As the song puts it, you get “one shot.”

Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” is often interpreted as confrontational, but in a leadership context it speaks to challenging systems that no longer serve their purpose or the people they were designed to protect. As the song warns, “What we need is awareness, we can’t get careless.” Security professionals sometimes must push organizations to confront uncomfortable realities, such as underinvestment, cultural blind spots, or outdated assumptions about risk.

Music works because it balances discipline and expression. Too much structure, and it’s mannered. Too much improvisation, and it’s noise.

Security leadership faces the same challenge. We design controls, but we also interpret human behavior. We rely on standards, yet we must adapt to environments that change faster than those standards can be rewritten.

The best security leaders, like good musicians, know when to keep the beat, when to listen, when to step forward, and when to pause.

These songs reflect my own taste, but consider this an invitation to revisit your own leadership style the next time you put on a favorite track.