"Focus on your people. It is surprisingly simple - treat your people well and pay them what they are worth and your organization will thrive and grow!"
As Founder & Chief Strategist at CyberSC, Dominic Vogel holds a proven track record within cyber security across multitude of industries (financial services, logistics, transportation, healthcare, government, telecommunications, and critical infrastructure). Dominic is a well-respected cyber security thought lead for appearing on media news outlets across North America and Internationally on BBC World News.
Dominic also hosts the Cyber Security Matters Podcast, a highly regarded podcast that explores the intersection between cyber security and business. Dominic focuses much of his energy on providing strategic security leadership to technology start-ups and small/midsize businesses to proactively solve their cyber risk challenges. He strives to provide practical cyber security advice to his clients and actively turning the security consulting world upside down. He is also a self-professed positive troll and believes in the AWESOME power of uplifting others!
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Dominic Vogel: I reside in beautiful Vancouver, Canada and have been in the cyber security industry for close to 15 years. Nearly 8 years ago I started CyberSC, a security advisory firm dedicated to providing actionable and practical cyber risk management guidance to small and midsize businesses across North America.
I am a dad and husband above all else 🙂
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Dominic Vogel: Doubling down on relationship building is absolutely critical in enabling businesses to thrive. During the pandemic we have had to be away from each other, our collective humanity was distanced. Organizations and individuals that focus on creating meaningful relationships that are based on support and giving, will be well positioned for immense success in 2022 and beyond
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Dominic Vogel: Focus on your people. It is surprisingly simple – treat your people well and pay them what they are worth and your organization will thrive and grow!
Treat your people like disposable assets and your organization will be left behind. Best competitive advantage for any organization is their people. Why not empower them to unleash their inner awesomeness???
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Dominic Vogel: The pandemic has made virtual advisory services more “acceptable.” It has allowed us to serve organizations and businesses right across North America. We have been able to provide high level cyber security leadership at a fraction of the cost.
The virtual world has empowered us to be able to unleash our full potential!!
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Dominic Vogel: Not to sweat the small stuff. Especially during the pandemic when we were all pulled in a million different directions. Taking the time to work smarter and not harder (cheesy I know!) was one of the best pieces of advice that I followed. I wish I had started that approach sooner.
Might be cliche but less is more. Focus on the big juicy items and watch yourself move mountains!
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Dominic Vogel: From a security perspective I fully expect more organizations to focus on creating a secure remote workforce. In the early days of the pandemic there was a rush to enable “work from anywhere” and not all organizations took security seriously.
Particularly with the SMB market – this coming year is a critical time for them to invest in creating a sustainable and secure remote workforce that truly empowers the work from anywhere paradigm
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Dominic Vogel: Far too many hahahaha I try to keep it to under 5 hours
Setting boundaries and focusing on taking walking breaks, lunch, spending time with my kids is crucial otherwise I would spend all day in front of the screen!
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Dominic Vogel: I am a big fan of analogies and being an empathetic listener.
The key to being a persuasive speaker is to actively listen to your employees and staff. Practice the art of listening (and not hearing to simply respond) but actively listening is truly a gift to engage with your team!
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Dominic Vogel: For us scalability is the real challenge we are facing. In a competitive field like cyber security there are many opportunities and it can be hard to find talented people.
We are taking the approach of building our talent pipeline. Building relationships with students and those training to enter the field. Taking a people first approach and investing in a talent pipeline is a strategy that we feel will pay off in the long run.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Dominic Vogel As a security professional I am keenly interested in the security ramifications around crypto and NFTs. There is a lot of money being thrown around in those sectors. Organizations that are in it for the long haul and for the right reasons will invest in cyber security. It is a necessity!
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Dominic Vogel: Many businesses think that they have a terrific culture – look we have our values written on the wall! – but very few of them actually live up to those values in practice.
Many owners and bosses are either in denial or are too far removed from the rank and file employees to have a true gauge on the happiness factor of their employees.
I call it the great reawakening. People now recognize that life is too short to work in a toxic culture. Life is too short to be somewhere that you are not appreciated.
Companies that invest heavily in creating safe empowering environments will have a distinct competitive advantage. It is an exciting time to see what companies take this approach to heart
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Dominic Vogel:
I wish I had the superpower to better educate smaller businesses around cyber risk. Far too many organizations are stuck with a 1990s mindset: we have antivirus, we aren’t a big target, we don’t have valuable data
These dangerous dated mindsets are why threats such as ransomware are wreaking havoc in the SMB community. If I could open a few more eyes that would be amazing. Regardless if they choose to do business with us – I simply want to see that situation improve. It’s devastating to see someone lose their small business due to a cyber attack
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Dominic Vogel: Success is all about the lives you improved. I used to equate success with the size of my bank account and the number of clients we added.
I now recognize that true success is putting others first. Serving others first. Give without any expectations of reciprocity. True success is when people thank you for being you. True success is when people appreciate having you in their life.
Focus on that and all the other stuff will fall into place
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Dominic Vogel for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Dominic Vogel or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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