Armed with a background in both military and law enforcement experience, Bernard Robinson weaved his way through a variety of roles, including homicide, SWAT, sex crimes and special ops, before a colleague told him he’d be a great leader in the hospitality sector.

“For many people who work in enterprise security, there’s no straight line to get there. That was my situation, too,” says Jerry Loghry, AVP Corporate Security & Safety for EMC Insurance Companies.

As the Director of Corporate Security, Facilities and Safety at AMERICAN SYSTEMS, Matthew Hollandsworth has been in the trenches from the beginning.

Not only does a law enforcement pedigree run in W.P. Chedester’s family, he’s the third generation of his family to work in the police department at West Virginia University (WVU) located in Morgantown, a small city in north-central West Virginia.

Beginning her career as a municipal police department dispatcher, Eileen Behr worked her way through various divisions and assignments over the course of 32 years – including accident and traffic, tactical negotiator, juvenile, investigations and emergency management coordinator – to eventually become the first female police chief in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. After the sudden death of the Montgomery County sheriff in 2011, Behr was appointed sheriff.

When it comes to a top-notch security program, good relationships with external entities are paramount to success. It’s a concept Josh Ball, Director of Public Safety at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) in Louisville, Kentucky, has prioritized.

The Security 500 tracks 20 vertical markets and collects unique data where appropriate (such as number of unique facilities in healthcare) and applies this data to key metrics.

Last month I had the honor to speak at the Security 500 conference in front of a large room of senior security leaders.  My own personal take-away from the event is that no matter how long you’ve been in this industry there is always something new to learn.