IANS Executive Competencies

CyberSecurity-Specific Executive Development for CISOs and Security Leaders

The need to embed infosec insight and leadership into the C-Suite has never been higher. CISOs and their key reports bring technical expertise but could benefit from honing their executive presence and business acumen. The IANS Executive Competencies program gives CISOs and aspiring security leaders the tools they need to operate within the C-Suite and to foster leadership development across their teams.

Purpose-built for Infosec Leaders

This program is purpose-built for infosec leaders to earn their seat at the table, develop bench strength and to deeply understand their development needs and path to growth.

Created to address the elevated requirements for CISO success.

Anchored on a proprietary research based competency framework developed with Fortune 100 CISOs.

Designed around 10 core competencies and four leadership behaviors CISOs and InfoSec leaders need to excel.

Developed and field tested with CISOs.

The program is grounded in the IANS competency assessment.

IANS competency assessment is a robust self assessment tool that clarifies individual strengths, development areas and leadership behaviors. The individual assessment can be enhanced with a 360 review, and either alone or together, are used to create a personalized report. IANS Faculty help participants interpret their reports and take control of their personal development plans to lay the path toward increasing leadership effectiveness.

"CISOs have a golden opportunity to lead and lead in ways that are new to technical leaders; to shape and accelerate the business."

— Shamla Naidoo, Head of Cloud Strategy & Innovation, Netskope | Board Director, QBE | Stonebridge Acquisition Capital, Board member | Reference Point

"Most CEOs know that security is important, but they don’t know why. They need a CISO who can connect the dots for them with the business."

— Fortune 100 Financial Services CISO

IANS Executive Competencies Research Report

Download our research report to find insights from 24 CISOs and 2 CISO-specific executive search professionals, including:

Key competencies, both existing and upcoming, that are required for infosec leaders to excel.
The five distinct infosec leader personas and the dominant competencies and leadership behaviors associated with each.
Foundational elements of IANS’ infosec-specific competencies framework and assessment tool to evaluate individual leader's skill sets.

Download Report

Learning Pathways

Participants advance their skills through learning pathways aligned to their individual development plan. Each pathway corresponds to a competency area and consists of curated IANS content and practical application. Competency workshops and live webinar sessions provide opportunities for Faculty insights and peer discussions, creating a feedback loop for deep skill building and shifting mindsets.

Executive Coaching

For those infosec leaders who would benefit from a more exclusive and customized experience, executive coaching with a line-up of exceptional Practitioner Coaches is a choice investment. Each participant will be assigned an executive coach from among a select group of IANS faculty trained in the IANS Competency Framework. Participants get:

A personal debrief of their assessment report.
Individual goal setting and development planning.
Live coaching sessions throughout the year.
Executive-level development assignments and feedback.

IANS Executive competencies are ideal for CISOs and aspiring security leaders who are looking for an infosec-specific approach to strengthening their executive leadership skills and contributing even more to the growth and protection of their organizations.

Executive Competencies is a one-year subscription.

Each seat includes:

Individual IANS Leadership Competency Assessment with optional 360° component
Faculty-led assessment debrief & planning session
Unlimited IANS Portal access
Opportunity to earn competency badges and program certification
Business & Leadership Development Pathways
- Executive Content Library
- Skill development assignments
- Community engagement
- Faculty-led leadership webinars (live & on-demand)
- Competency development workshops (live & on-demand)

Executive Coaching adds the following:

Personalized debrief & goal setting session with IANS Faculty Coach
Exclusive executive insight videos
Board roundtable sessions
One/one coaching sessions with IANS Faculty Coach

IANS Faculty Coaches

Executive Competencies Learner Experience Chart

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The IANS Difference

We focus exclusively on security. Security is all we do, and it always has been. What matters to the CISO and team matters to us. We specialize in providing in-depth knowledge and practical insights you can use both with your team and when interacting with the C-suite.

Our Faculty are in the trenches. IANS Faculty members are expert information security practitioners. No theories, no ivory towers. Their insights are based on real-world experiences

We’re wired into the security community. With close to 100 end-user security events annually, we are unmatched in the level of peer-to-peer interaction we offer our clients. We provide a safe environment to network, share experiences and discuss challenges.