The Security Executive Council invites security leaders to visit https://www.securityexecutivecouncil.com/oplqz  to take a free, abbreviated version of the leadership component of its OPaL assessment. This 60-second security leadership insight assessment, available for a limited time, gives security practitioners a glimpse of how they have progressed in security leadership. As of August 20, 386 practitioners have taken the assessment, and most of them have been identified as "in growth mode."

The OPaL assessment is based on more than six years of research and trending on successful corporate security leaders and programs. This research found three main factors that play a role in enhancing or furthering security programs in any organization:

• Organizational readiness
• Program maturity
• Leadership status

Often practitioners move from a company where they led a successful program to a new one only to find their approach does not seem to work anymore. Chances are, the new situation scores differently on OPaL factors, making it impossible to simply transfer previous success to the current environment. This also can happen when a company changes due to acquisition or shake-up in senior leadership. Understanding these factors helps security practitioners accomplish better security strategies and improved leadership performance.