Leadership Laboratory

Leadership Lab: STI Degree Candidates' Leadership Essays

SANS Technology Institute's mission is to develop the leaders of the future for the information security industry. One of our admission requirements is that an applicant complete an essay describing leadership qualities they have demonstrated in the past.

Leadership Essay SANS Technology Institute

May 13th, 2008
By Tim Proffitt
Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. I try to carry out this process by applying leadership attributes such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge and skills. As an employee of a fast growing corporation, I have been placed into many opportunities where it was necessary that I step into this leadership role, A prominent example of this would involve the creation of the first technology security department for my current employer.

As the corporation grew in size, it was becoming clear that the day to day guidelines and informal methods of security that had been in place since the company’s creation were no longer acceptable business practices. New state and federal laws were outlining concepts that were either not present or not determined as priorities in our environment, I was able to persuade the management team that a formal security department was not only warranted but a necessary step in managing risk for the organization, Tasked with leading a new team of security, I focused on drafting the framework for a security program in an environment where there had been no formal controls, In many cases, the security concepts that I was presenting were being viewed as completely foreign or adversarial, After a period of internal control work and educating much of the organization, I have overcome the many obstacles that were laid in front of my efforts. I have created a solid foundation for a security department that was now being utilized by the entire organization. With each year I am able to add value to the organization through the team’s advancements.

As manager of the security team my responsibility is to maintain an acceptable level of risk as it pertains to the technology security of the entire organization. Included with my responsibilities is to head up the company’s multimillion dollar Sarbanes Oxley audit and HIPAA compliance efforts, Each of these requires an amount of coordination, decision making and communication. Meeting these compliance requirements has been assigned a high priority by the business and takes a considerable amount of leadership and management to be successful in a large fortune 500 company.

Additionally, I have committed to becoming a community leader. During the last six years I have devoted a significant amount of time and energy to the betterment of teenagers and young adults. Remembering the strong influences that mentors have had on my life, I wanted to contribute in a meaningful way. Acting as an associate youth pastor for a local community church has allowed me to shape hundreds of young adults. Teaching character, values and leading by example have been my primary goals. Through music, sports, community events and teaching, a youth group was built that has met the ever growing needs of many young people. I plan to continue to shape the community around me by influencing the future generations that I get to interact with every day.