Introduction
The global digitalization of the economy is proceeding at an ultra-high pace. Information systems are growing and developing; without their use, business development, the financial sector, trade relations, and other things are unthinkable. Recently, not only computers in different parts of the world have been connected by networks, but also smartphones, cars, and even household appliances. A considerable amount of information is transmitted through the Internet. New values are created in the virtual space, which can have great value in reality. It is these values that hackers are trying to steal from cyberspace.
Everything can be valuable for hackers: unique developments, work, compromising data, virtual currency, assets, and electronic money. They are also engaged in data substitution, spoil them or use them for their own purposes. The wider the information networks cover the world, the more frequent and dangerous cyber-attacks are, and the more cybersecurity specialists become in demand. They work in large banks, IT companies, government agencies, and defense departments, where they are engaged in preventing hacker attacks and ensuring the safe operation of socially essential systems.
Practical Use of Knowledge and Theories
This course is primarily devoted to various types of leadership and how to interact in a team. This is quite important and necessary knowledge when applying for employment in the field of cybersecurity. A project manager needs to be a sensitive and understanding leader who has not only technical knowledge but also leadership skills. Today, building a team is the key to the success of any project. The world is becoming more and more flexible.
It is worth noting that specialists come to work from different countries, and the project teams are becoming more inclusive. To do this, managers need to have a particular set of qualities and knowledge. These points should help the leader successfully find an approach to the colleagues and build the right relationship. Moreover, to move up the career ladder, a project manager should develop various leadership qualities.
The materials studied during the course helped to improve leadership skills. Thus, various approaches are defined, and their positive and negative sides are analyzed. Thus, it becomes possible to determine the leadership style that suits you the most. In this paper, the approaches that can be considered the most important were identified. Thus, the aspects highlighted in these theories allow determining the skills that will help find an approach to interaction in a team and become a competent leader.
It is worth noting that, as in any other field of activity, a manager in cybersecurity needs to have specific skills. During the course, Three-Skill Approach by Robert Katz was reviewed. The first group is technical skills that require the manager to have knowledge and abilities that allow following specifically formulated instructions and the use of specific tools in different activities (Auffret, 2017). Cybersecurity is a rather complex area, so a leader needs to understand all the subtleties to interact with colleagues appropriately.
Human skills (or interpersonal communication) are the next group of skills that a successful manager should possess. This group of abilities includes effectively building communication within the team and motivating and coordinating its members. A manager with these skills is able to inspire confidence and enthusiasm among employees to reveal their potential (Conlin, 2016). This point is undoubtedly related to the ability to build the right relationships in the team.
This is also directly related to leadership ethics, another approach considered during this course. The fact is that the manager in the organization has the power assigned to him or her by his position. This power is based on the subordinates ‘ acceptance that the manager, having complete information, managerial competencies, and experience, will ultimately make the right decision from all points of view, which will aim to achieve the goals of the organization shared by each employee (Conlin, 2016). If managers with power use it to their advantage or to the detriment of the company, this significantly reduces the motivation and morale of subordinates because it causes a sense of negative justice. According to Robert Katz’s classification, the last group of skills is conceptual skills or, as they are also called, cognitive skills, which are the most difficult to master.
These abilities allow managers to perceive the organization in which they work as one whole, indivisible and organic, with all its branches, divisions, and relationships between them (Auffret, 2017). A manager must have the ability to represent abstract situations, must have the ability to plan and think strategically, as well as to assess the long-term prospects of an organization. A leader with such skills is able to analyze any situation and identify the fundamental factors in it and predict the further development of events. These skills must be possessed, especially by a manager at the top of the career ladder. Thus, these theories and knowledge could be applied to an employment opportunity in my field of study.
Conclusion
Summing up, it should be noted that the materials presented in the course can certainly be helpful for me as a project manager. The fact is that leadership quality is a crucial point in building a successful career. This is especially important for a manager because it is necessary to be able to build the right relationships in the team. Thus, the knowledge I have gained about various types of leadership will help me determine the model that will be suitable for me.
References
Auffret, J. (2017). Cybersecurity Leadership: Competencies, governance, and technologies for industrial control systems. Journal of Interconnection Networks, 17(1), 1-20.
Conlin, R. P. (2016). A comparative study of leadership skill requirements across sales, human resource and finance functions. Pepperdine Digital Commons.