How do Principals see us?By Greg Threatt Have you ever looked at your Principal and thought, I wonder what they think of us?This subject has been on my mind for some time, but I’ve been hesitant to ask due in part to confidentiality, discretion, and frankly, the lack of opportunity. But having built the relationships and earned the trust of the interviewees, I was able to capitalize on these unique circumstances and explore this subject to a deeper degree.It’s important to note that this information wasn’t obtained in a vacuum. It was done in the context of security, which entails a certain level of privacy and discretion, no matter the end goal. Any shared thoughts were with the understanding that they may appear in this article.So, the question remains, what do we look like to a Principal? Do they see the value that we add, or are we just a necessary part of doing business at their level? Are we a help or a hindrance? Do they realize the ROI, or are we just someone that follows them around because of someone else’s risk assessment? And the answer is, as it often is: It depends.It depends on the Principal’s view of their own status, their current knowledge of any threats against them and their families, their experiences having a security detail around them, and many other factors. Now, I believe their view of their status is worth clarifying. Everyone’s viewpoint is through the lens of their history, current circumstances, and ambitions. The way you see yourself is not always the way others see you. In the same way that what someone says can be misunderstood or “taken the wrong way,” viewpoints are subjective. This article will discuss some of the widely varying factors that help shape the Principal’s overall opinions regarding Security Practitioners.“ I’ve been a CEO for 40 years and never had security before, and now they [the company] say I have to have it. I think it’s a sign of the world we live in.  One of the most significant factors in a Principal’s view of security is their experience with having a security detail at all. Those that have employed Security Practitioners in the past were much more inclined to trust newly hired Practitioners with every day and low-risk tasks early on, mainly to gauge their actions, responses, and ability to follow simple instructions. Those Practitioners that did well tended to remain gainfully employed. Unfortunately, those overzealous in their drive to be a “rock star” or opposingly too passive found themselves seeking other employment. As always, The Golden Rule always applies: Those that have the Gold… make the rules!After speaking with a UHNWI, and a few CEOs, I was able to gain some remarkable insights.To better understand what Personal Security looks like from the Principal’s perspective, we need to know a little more about their state of mind, whether they’ve employed Security Practitioners in the past or if it’s new to them. Their viewpoints can be vastly different.When asked, “What comes to mind when you think of Personal Security?” one Saudi Prince said, “High Qualifications and Confidentiality.” While on the other hand, a Fortune 500 CEO said, “I’ve been a CEO for 40 years and never had security before, and now they [the company] say I have to have it. I think it’s a sign of the world we live in.”Unfortunately, when someone hasn’t had a security detail assigned to them, much less for most of their life, it can be daunting to have a constant reminder of one’s own safety following them around. Remember, your world is viewed through the lens of your own experiences.So, what effect does having Personal Security impart on their lives? When done correctly, even though that is also sometimes subjective, having Personal Security should add value to the Principal’s professional and personal life through services like; knowledge of protocols, facilitating schedules and travel, route planning, protective intelligence, security and safety, and so much more, all while being done with discretion in a concierge-style service. All of the available services and their utilization add to the experience, their outlook on it, and more importantly, it can add to the bottom line. Profits can largely be affected by the loss of time during the day performing tertiary tasks. These tasks could be sitting in a traffic jam, getting coffee, or picking up dry cleaning. Whereas this time could be better-spent strategizing, communicating with board members, or in some cases spending time with their families.If, for example, the Principal is new to having a Security Detail, they may see them simply as another Personal Assistant or, worse yet, a burden. Those viewpoints seem to lack a thorough understanding of the full potential of employing a Security Practitioner and their potential to be a capability multiplier. However, a Principal that has previous experience or better still has allowed the Practitioner to spell out the advantages of their services is much more likely to view this added personnel in an overall favorable light in which they can reap the rewards of the Practitioners years of expertise.Now that we’ve learned a little more about how it can affect their outlook regarding Personal Security let’s delve into where they are most likely to find those highly trained professionals.Of the three main categories: Military, Law Enforcement, and Security, which group are they most likely to hire from and why. I’ve always found that the best place to start anything is the beginning. And in this case, that’s the hiring process. With all things being equal, I inquired, if you had a choice to hire a Security Practitioner with ten years of Law Enforcement, Military, or Personal Security experience; which are you most likely to engage?The Saudi Prince responded: “I would prefer ten years of Personal Security experience, and here is why: People with that kind of experience deal with clients on a very high level. They’ve built up expertise in certain mentalities. They deal with Royalty, CEOs, and very wealthy people on their level. And they have experience keeping them safe, not just from being attacked but also from the media, blackmail, and other unique threats. People from the Military or Law Enforcement won’t have that personal touch.”One young CEO had a different outlook, however. He preferred Practitioners with Law Enforcement backgrounds, as they were able to use their connections in the city to facilitate convenience, and “they know the best routes and traffic patterns which makes for fewer delays when navigating large cities like New York.”No matter the preference or the specific category their Practitioners were pulled from, there was an undeniable theme throughout. To explore that further, we need to determine what particular traits are valued most by those who hire Personal Security details. Is there a commonality across the board that is highly sought after? Overall, the answer is yes. And it was consistently three traits: First and foremost was Confidentiality, followed by specialized training, and then being an exceptional problem solver.In general, doing business requires at least a modicum of confidentiality. And since all of the Principals I spoke with lead their answers with that specific trait, it stands to reason that any incongruence with that would be seen as the worst offenders. With that being said, one of the aspects of having ten years of experience dealing with Principals on their level is the skill to determine when to share information, with whom, and for what reason. There is an implication of trust just because we are present, and we are regularly the recipient of highly sensitive information. When used correctly and with the utmost discretion, dissemination of selective information can significantly increase the Practitioners effectiveness while simultaneously reducing the inconvenience of an already tight itinerary. I will explore this further in subsequent articles. Thoughts shared by Principals on specialized training ranged from Martial Arts to EMT certifications. While these Principals rarely had specific knowledge of what it takes to become a Professional Security Practitioner, they were confident that specialized training was required to operate at their level. The years of unique experience dealing with clients on their level hones the Practitioner’s skills, making for more efficient applications. Effectiveness and efficiency are essential to reducing liability and mitigating risk to the Principal. They were adamant that the Practitioner they hired would reflect themselves and their companies. This meant that the expectation of professionalism is a standard that was unspoken but very much a standard by which the Practitioner was judged.And third, being an exceptional problem solver was frequently expressed as a highly soughtafter trait. Whether they were new to having Personal Security or have had it their entire lives, these Principals expressed the advantages of having a Practitioner that was an exceptional problem solver. This trait was sussed out early when the everyday tasks were assigned, and the results were analyzed. Even when they are daily tasks, solving seemingly innocuous problems has paid off down the road on innumerable occasions. Exceptional problem solving is a talent and, therefore, difficult, if not impossible, to teach. Working problems from outside the box can be one of the most significant opportunities to maneuver the Principal into a favorable position without disturbing the natural order of things from the Principal’s perspective, which is rarely seen and even more rarely rewarded.In general, the Principal doesn’t get to see the things that almost all of us have wished they would see at some point in our careers, which is just how much work goes into making it all look like magic. The Swimming Swan is my favorite analogy for this. Beautiful and serene on the surface for everyone to see, but underwater, paddling like mad. The times missed with families, the mental and physical stress of travel, lack of sleep, and poor diet due to hectic schedules are all part of the game. But if it were all that bad, we would stop doing the job. I want to borrow a quote from the film “Fury”; “Best job I ever had!”“ In general, the Principal doesn’t get to see the things that almost all of us have wished they would, which is just how much work goes into making it all look like magic.  As Security Practitioners, we do as much as possible, and in some cases, the seemingly impossible, to ensure everything goes right for our clients and with the absolute least amount of impact on their schedules. As stated before, some Practitioners can become a bit overzealous in their pursuit to impress their employer. When that occurs, the Practitioner is lucky if the Principal doesn’t hear about it from someone else and is even luckier if the Principal doesn’t see it themselves. In some cases, the Practitioner isn’t intentionally overstepping their boundaries, they are simply trying to do what they think the Principal wants, based on their viewpoint. …Remember that? From earlier? Overstepping boundaries can be anything from getting front row tickets to a concert when the Principal asked for general admission tickets for his family, to arranging hotel reservations before the Personal Assistant had a chance to because they thought it wasn’t being done promptly. Whatever the misstep, it is rarely missed by the Principal and is, in fact, one of the failings they see most often.When asked which attributes they had seen to be the most damaging, the overwhelming responses were: Overstepping boundaries, which we have just explored, and a revolving door of agents.Suppose what the Principal wants is unclear or changes without the Practitioner noticing, and missteps are made. In that case, it can cause the Principal to lose trust in the Security Practitioner, which has sometimes led to the necessity of replacing the offending party, which, if you haven’t guessed by now, is almost always the Practitioner. The revolving door of agents isn’t something that the Principal wants because they now have to start building trust in someone new. The efficiency of their itineraries can be affected, in turn affecting the bottom line. They then have to expose their privacy to another person.In other words, they want to see the same person so they can feel comfortable with having them around, and they want to feel confident in that person’s skills and that the Practitioner understands their role in the organization; however, they don’t want the Practitioner so comfortable that they start trying to be one of the group. This can be one of the easiest traps for a Security Practitioner to fall into. Many Principals are very gracious and inviting, partly in an effort to make themselves feel more comfortable with having the Practitioner in such proximity, all hours of the day and night. But partly because they want the Practitioner to get to know the group in an effort to blend in with their environment better. The problem isn’t that the Practitioner is being included in the group; it’s when the Practitioner forgets that they are an employee and starts overstepping their boundaries.But what do Principals see as the most significant problems they experience with having security? The number 1 answer, hands down, was: Hesitation on the part of the Principal to feel comfortable in front of their Security Practitioner. But what, you may ask, does that mean? Well...you guessed it…It depends!It could also mean that the Principal hasn’t had the opportunity to get to know them. It could mean that the Principal has observed things that have given them cause for concern regarding the practitioner’s skills or behavior, or it could mean that they aren’t comfortable having security at all. Keep in mind that they are sensitive to turnover. The discomfort sometimes stems from a lack of awareness and utilization of the benefits of having security. And as we all know very well, trust is earned. In fact, trust is difficult to achieve, harder to maintain, and virtually impossible to regain.The good news is that once the Principal has a more thorough understanding of the benefits of employing the right Practitioner, the Principal can then capitalize on the capability multiplier of those services. The focus can then move from building trust to realizing the return on investment.So how the Principals see us depends on what we show them through our professionalism, training, tireless work ethic, and love for the job itself.Greg Threatt is a 28-year veteran of the Security industry with expertise in International Security Operations, protecting highranking members of the Saudi Royal Family, Fortune 500 CEOs, and other Ultra-High Net-Worth Individuals.