A new survey from ISC2 shows that the majority (85%) of cybersecurity leaders think that communication is the most important leadership quality.

Strategic qualities was a distant second (41%), which was then followed by open-mindedness (37%). Being technically skilled (33%), and decisive (21%), and having a good business acumen (20%).

Businesses acumen ranked surprisingly low as a leadership quality (32%) with managers and even more so among team members (13%).

This suggests a failure to recognise the relationship of business acumen with communication, especially in interaction with the C-suite.

Poor communication, in fact, was the most common complaint in responses to open-ended questions about leadership mistakes.

Respondents also cited leadership mistakes such as working in silos and failing to explain priorities to team members.

As one respondent put it: “Not communication with the team especially when an incident happens.”

The same respondent noted a ‘lack of business acumen to develop cybersecurity strategy.”

Despite the need for more formal training, the survey indicates cybersecurity professionals have a healthy degree of self-awareness, recognising areas that need improvement.

Technical knowledge, though important, doesn’t cancel out other qualities, such as communication, strategic thinking and inclusiveness – a theme emphasised by ISC2 for many years.

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Although business acumen ranked low as a leadership quality, it isn’t being completely overlooked. Respondents see the need to articulate and translate complex cybersecurity matters to non-technical leaders.

The emphasis respondents placed on open-mindedness underlines the complexity of cybersecurity issues. Creativity, diversity and analytical skills are required to understand problems and come up with solutions.

Even managers recognize the importance of skills such as communication, strategic thinking and open-mindedness. Recognition is the first step toward correction.