In the latest episode of First Person I spoke with Aaron Momin, a seasoned cybersecurity and cyber risk professional with over 30 years of experience in managing cyber and technology risk.
In a fascinating conversation Aaron told me how he studied computing at college after becoming obsessed with the technology through dismantling his first PC. But he believes the secret of his success is empathy. The ability to mentor and be mentored, and to communicate technical issues to non-technical people.
You can view our interview here, listen to it here, or watch in the box below:
Empathy is a super power
Something sometimes missing with high-performance people is an understanding that not everyone wishes to operate in the same way. I have often encountered high achievers who presume that we all operate at our best every day.
That is emphatically not the attitude of Aaron Momin, who lists empathy as his career super power.
“I’m a high performer. I love to work on multiple different threads at the same time. And I really appreciate working with different types of people, with different personalities,” Aaron told me.
“I am very empathetic and I treat others with a lot of respect. And I’ve noticed that in my career when you treat people with respect you get that back in return. Everybody has different perspectives and I’ve learned that we have to appreciate where they’re coming from.”
Aaron started out in IT around 30 years ago, working on network security troubleshooting for the company that became PWC. This, he says, was pretty exciting coming after he studied computer information systems at college. But where does that desire come from?
“My first computer was a Compaq. It was an x386 computer and I really enjoyed taking it apart and putting it back together. It just really intrigued me and once I got my hands dirty, I wanted more.”
The source of his empathetic nature may date from even further back.
“I was born and raised in India and we immigrated to the United States in the mid 80s,” Aaron told me. I asked him what that experience was like, and how he thrived through it.
“I think it’s by being adaptive. I love immersing myself in different cultures. I’m very travelled. No matter where I am, I adjust and I adapt.”
But Aaron also feels that he adapted to a new continent because he is curious and interested in other people. He was able to build a supportive network quickly.
“Building a network is phenomenal. You start at a basic intimate level with your friends and family members, and extend to people you meet in your profession. Building that network of good people is paramount.” (See also: Why diversity and inclusion is good for business.)
The technical expert leader
Having a supportive network is one thing. But Aaron remains committed to being hands on and technical. “Through my career progression, I’m less technical now because I manage teams. But having the experience of touching different things, deploying different things is really interesting to me,” he told me.
There are multiple paths open to everybody. There is the becoming the technical expert, and then there’s the leadership path. Aaron has managed to thread the needle and take on significant senior leadership roles. I asked him how he manages to combine doing with leading.
“It comes with experience,” Aaron told me. “It comes with working with different people and managing different people, and being able to mentor. You have to enjoy translating technical concepts.”
“I found I had a skill for guiding people through their journeys.”
Aaron also took onboard good advice early in the piece, something that helped him translate technical issues to business outcomes and line of business leadership.
“You have to pay attention to details. Everything matters in how you explain something. Document things correctly. Presentation is everything. You can have a good story but if you don’t present it in a good way, you may not get across the message the way you want it to.”
And – a recurring theme with Aaron: “You have to engage with people in good way.” (See also: 4 leadership paradoxes that define AI adoption.)
Skills and communication
I asked Aaron for his best advice for young people starting out in the cybersecurity industry. He went big on skills:
“Know your basics from a technology perspective. If you want to get into cybersecurity, you have to understand how the internet actually works. Know your basics in terms of what is a PC, what are the different components of it, how does networking work. Not everybody tends to be technical and you may not need to be technical within cyber, but start off with that kind of knowledge and you can grow beyond that.”
But typically for Aaron his major angle is on collaboration and working with people.
“Don’t forget software and business skills. Oftentimes folks getting into the field are so excited about learning things about security, they tend to forget about the business side and the soft skills. Being able to speak the language of the business. We’re all humans and we need to have that ability to communicate and get on the same page. It’s critical to be able to collaborate.”
“Just being able to communicate and get your message across is critical.”
He’s not wrong. Speaking of which, before you go: Watch First Person and meet the most interesting people in IT.
