“Nothing ever happens in privacy, the team will manage itself”

This statement, which did not survive the test of time, was shared by one of the privacy pros who  participated in this month’s International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Women Leading Privacy networking session. I co-lead the session.

Some pet peeves/needs in leadership that we discussed include:

  • Flexibility and attentiveness in connection with the post-COVID return to workplace, and elsewhere. Leadership should gauge the thoughts, feelings and preferences of the workforce and make educated decisions based on them.
  • Empathy is critical in communications. We discussed “soft skills” (and why soft skills is a bad term” and Brené Brown’s “Dare to Lead” and “Unlocking Us” podcasts.
  • Courage, and specifically the need for courageous leaders that own decision making and are also able to ask questions, be curious and not dictate courses of action.
  • Empowering employees to think for themselves. It is the best way to lead a company to innovate and succeed in the future.
  • Figuring out how to bridge cultural differences and how to approach privacy compliance given the vast variety in the laws.