The Geo-culture of Executive Protection

Let's talk about geography and culture!

I've had the pleasure of working both coasts in this fine country, and in most states in between. And I can't count how many times I've thought to myself, "wow, this is so different than ___ (enter previous location or gig)." Meaning, the different cultures in principals, EP operators and therefore work cultures varies dramatically depending on where you happened to be located (and who you happen to be employed with).

Some of these differences are indeed generational, as the norms and expectations of this field have evolved at a breakneck pace. This can be attributed to an increasingly global business environment, where our principals and their work likely spans multiple nations, time zones and cultures.

It can also be attributed to the rise of a new type of wealth, one where the CEO is more likely to be in a hoodie and sneakers, as he is a suit and a tie. And for those of you who are working for these younger CEO's and Silicon Valley-style companies, you know that the EP culture has had to adapt to the expectations of a younger and more mobile generation than we have previously supported.

Now a days, semi 'covert' or low profile operations are a necessity for many details rather than the 'overt' or high profile model. Not because we are in a high risk situations ripe w/ hostiles, but rather because the principal prefers his security team remains unseen, nearby, but not intrusive.

'Lowpro or Covert' is now a business model born out of necessity to support the expectations of a very different and increasingly common type of client.

As many of you know, for many companies, there are no suits with earpieces, black suburbans and EP drivers. In fact, on some of these jobs, the EP guys may quite literally never even meet or engage with their principal!

 I think this is an important topic because depending on where you have worked, what I just described could sound totally foreign to you. We've got a lot of different personalities, styles and methodologies in this industry, and my point here is that you need to understand and appreciate the value of both the old and 'new' EP, and yes, geography plays a big part of that dynamic.

Where you live and work, forms your perception of the industry.

If you've been with the same company for a long time, or haven't changed roles in recent years, you might be surprised at how different the expectations and norms can be. Depending on where (Geographically) you work and who you support, the over-all perceptions and operations can be significantly different. These differences in perception feed into our ongoing conversations around regulation, standardization, leadership, etc, as we are all coming to those conversations from very different understandings of what this industry is and how it works.

For some, rigor, standardization and regulation works. For others, the need to be nimble and change on a dime is paramount. You can see where we might end up having some differences of opinion, right?

Let me give you a couple of examples. 

Think about living and working in a city in mid-west.  You move there, and take that dream EP job for Mr. Billionaire, join the existing (and very established) team, and get to work.  It's a 4- man, full- time support team, with outsourced contract support for trips outside the local area,  with one of the  local team guys traveling with the main Principal at all times. 

You show up for work at the Corporate office wearing your suit, and tie and are introduced to the Personal Services Staff and the 3 other EP Team members.   One of the team members is your Manager, is approximately 60 years of age, and is retired government.  The other team members are both retired Law Enforcement Officers and both spent their career in the local PD.  Your Billionaire Principal's EA (Executive Assistant) has been there forever, and will retire soon. You address everyone as 'sir' or 'ma'am'.   Your Principal is 73 years of age and started the company 30 years ago. His children are all adults, and some of them work within the company. The EA and Manager schedules an appointment for you to be introduced to the Principal/Owner on the first day of work.

It's a good gig, and assuming you are a solid contributor, you could last there for many years. The company and culture feel stable, known. Expectations are clear and widely understood. The calendar is known, trips are planned months ahead, everything is by the book on the EP side of the work, and there is both routine and formality to the role.

Now. Let's consider another work environment.

Picture joining an EP team in the San Fransisco area.  You show up to work on the first day at the corporate office in your suit and tie.   After waiting about an hour for someone to take you to your new department, you notice that the place is like a bee-hive of frenetic activity. Finally, a young guy approaches you wearing tennis shoes, jeans and a t-shirt and takes you up to the main office. He shows you a few cubicles, and says "these are where WE work".  You then realize he said "WE", so you ask him if he is part of the EP team?  He replies, "Yes, I am the acting team lead and I've been here a "Long Time" in fact, as of January it will be 1 year". 

He then takes you to meet the main Principal's 28 year- old Executive Assistant, who quickly advises that things are a bit 'hectic' and ask if you could come back another day for introductions.  The "acting team lead" escorts you back to the EP cubicles, and has you complete your new hire paperwork. He  advises you to go home after you complete your paperwork, and come back tomorrow, and hopefully meet some of the other EP members. 

Before he leaves, he advises you NOT to wear a suit tomorrow, as in his long time working here, he's never worn a suit.

Within the next few weeks you finally meet the other members of the EP team, and realize the manager whom you spoke to months ago during your hiring  process is no longer with the company.  The "acting lead" is currently running things (or at least he's trying).  He assigns you to the main principal's kids x2 detail, and advises you where to pick them up and drop them off each day. 

That's it for now.

After a few months pass,  you still have not actually seen or met the 32 year-old main Billionaire Owner/Principal, and you find out 2 of the other newer EP team members have not met the main Principal either... but currently work his detail.  

You ask the "Acting Lead" when you will meet the Principal, and he advises that the Principal drives himself to work or sometimes takes the public train to the office.  He quickly points out that EP should not be seen by the main Principal, or even make contact with him.  The EA will text you throughout the day and let you know when and where meeting are or where to go.  If the Principal wants you around.  Things feel uncertain. The new CEO was recently fired by the board. Word of 're-orgs' runs wild in the hallways. The company is growing like mad and you can't quite tell who's piloting the ship.

Now. If you've never worked for a company like this, you are probably scratching your head and saying, "wow, that sounds crazy!" But, I can assure you that it is not only this way on many jobs, but as younger, more mobile individuals who've never before needed security, find themselves in need of our security services, this start-up culture is increasingly common. The expectations of this type of client (whether an individual or a company) are not necessarily going to jive with what we would consider to be our industry best-practices. These clients are not looking for the old EP model, and it actually clashes with their lifestyle and culture!

This is the reality of the new workplace, and the reality that all of us as operators, job-seekers or support services vendors need to appreciate and understand. Where you live and work, and who you work for will inform the style of EP that you provide, it will impact your team culture, and you have to be ready to adapt as needed to suit the needs of your employer, while still ensuring a high caliber product (namely their safety!).

This is not meant as a critique of old and new, nor of mid-west, west or east.  What I do want to stress, is that if we want to continue to be well rounded and relevant operational professionals, we will need to be flexible and well balanced.  The days of working only one style of security detail for years, and then marketing yourself as an "Industry Expert" has come and gone.  Managing the different styles and cultures of protection details is a skill-set that is paramount if you want to be a leader in this field.    

As this industry evolves, so must we.

We want to make sure we take the best of what we know, the best of our traditions and models, and then adapt them to support the very different expectations of a new crop of clients. My experiences in both types of cultures has been invaluable, as no matter where I have worked, I inevitably have to interact or support individuals or collaborate with teams working for a client of the opposite culture my current employer.

I'd love to hear about your experiences in different work cultures! What have you noticed going on out there? What sort of lessons have you learned in terms of adapting to unfamiliar work cultures?