Cybersecurity leadership breaks down when hiring systems reward credentials and metrics that fail to translate risk, revenue, and trust for boards and executives.
Marius Poskus, CEO of MP Cybersecurity Services, explains how security leaders lose influence when they rely on technical language instead of business context.
CISOs gain authority by translating security into business outcomes, developing strong communicators, and leading strategic initiatives like secure AI adoption.
Cybersecurity leadership has outgrown its technical comfort zone. Deep expertise may open the door, but it no longer secures influence once a leader is inside the room. Boards want clarity on revenue, risk, and trust, yet too often they get credential-heavy resumes and metrics that don’t translate. The result is a growing disconnect between what organizations reward in hiring versus what leaders actually need to guide decisions, unlock budgets, and demonstrate the business value of security.
Marius Poskus is the CEO of MP Cybersecurity Services, where he helps organizations build security programs that stand up to board-level scrutiny. His perspective is shaped by earlier work designing security frameworks for companies like Glow Financial Services, giving him a front-row view into how leadership expectations have shifted. In his view, the industry’s traditional playbook for security leadership, hiring, and reporting is failing at the same time boards are taking a more active role in cybersecurity oversight.
"If you report vulnerability numbers and incident counts, people get lost and frustrated. When you explain how the security program supports revenue, builds client trust, and strengthens resilience, that’s when executives listen, and budgets follow," Poskus says. Too many leaders fall back on technical jargon, a habit he calls a "failure of translation" that becomes especially problematic when trying to work effectively with a board.
Certified or capable?: But the breakdown starts upstream, before a leader ever reaches the boardroom. Hiring systems and HR filters often overweight certifications like CISSP or CISM, creating a mismatch between what looks strong on paper and what holds up in real conversations. Poskus points to this as a failure of translation baked into the hiring process itself. "Boards do not understand technical terms, and that responsibility sits with security leaders," he says. "Security leadership means translating risk into business outcomes, not hiding behind credentials. Certifications reward memorization and theory, but they do not prove someone can lead, communicate, or operate in practice.”
Attitude and aptitude: After mastering technical niches from SOC architecture to penetration testing, Poskus intentionally taught himself the language of business by reading books on finance and influence. His goal was to move beyond foundational guidelines like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and have strategic, board-level conversations. That journey is why his hiring philosophy ignores credentials and instead prioritizes two traits they cannot measure: attitude and aptitude. "A great leadership strategy is to make it your first goal to provide help and advice to others. This builds future momentum, creating a supporters club that will be there to help you in return when you need it," he emphasizes.
Student becomes the master: "The best CISOs are not afraid of people challenging them for their seat. If someone on my team is ready to be a CISO, the ultimate sign of my success as a leader is to happily move on and let them take the position," Poskus says. "If you hire people, there is a reason you hire them. Get out of their way and open the doors for them to flourish and do the work that you hired them to do."
But building influence inside a company, Poskus argues, is only part of modern security leadership. Long-term resilience comes from establishing credibility that travels with the individual, not the employer. A visible personal brand creates leverage in volatile markets and protects leaders from being defined by a single title or organization.
CISO in your own stead: "When you build a personal brand, you become a CISO in your own stead. You become an expert who isn’t tied to a single corporate logo. When you're a known entity, you stop applying for roles because roles start coming to you," Poskus explains.
The future of security leadership will be defined not by the depth of technical expertise, but by the ability to guide organizations through complex change, whether that’s AI adoption, regulatory shifts, or emerging threats. Leaders who can translate risk into strategy, empower their teams, and shape business outcomes will not only protect their companies but also redefine what it means to be indispensable in the CISO role.
His closing message connects this philosophy to the industry's next great disruption: AI. Rather than another threat to be managed, he sees AI as a key opportunity for security leaders to prove their business value. By guiding the secure adoption of AI, he suggests, CISOs can solidify their position as trusted business advisers. "AI is not a foe; it could be your greatest asset," Poskus concludes. "CISOs who don't get a seat at the table should be leading AI implementation and adoption. That approach is how you become that trusted adviser to the business."
