To paraphrase Niccolò Machiavelli, it’s better to be feared than to be loved, if one cannot be both. Five centuries later, that philosophy persists in parts of the security world. Historically drawn from law enforcement or the military, many corporate security leaders transferred their intimidating command-and-control approach to the private sector. Being too nice could get you labeled “soft” or “weak.”
Perhaps the one exception to this rule in the United States is the interlude we are in now, the five or so weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, where everyone is expected to be grateful and pleasant at minimum. What if that could be the case year round?