Two recent events illustrate the predicament that torments defenders daily but otherwise eludes executive attention -- until an adverse consequence, that is. Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, controversial and flamboyant, liked to mingle with crowds, keeping a Kiplingesque common touch. But after an unstable member of the crowd exhibited an unsophisticated knack for Berlusconi bashing with a blunt object at close range, blood and broken incisors will now make the PM rethink his priorities for personal protection.
The White House party crasher incident with more minor miscreant social climbers deserves rethinking through the same lens. While defenders step up to take the blame the way they take a bullet, part of the ultimate responsibility for such security failures invariably traces to the top. Usually, a rung on that ladder to the top is a social secretary or image handler whose intense focus on photo ops creates or widens the exposure. But, most of the time, it is the protectee who calls the shots and decides when to ignore defender advice and protection.
Ours is a troubled, volatile world. All leaders need to think seriously about their personal security, not just for themselves but for their fellow citizens who placed them in office for a reason. Part of honoring one's constituency and office is being around to do the job. And that means taking security very seriously when in crowds or exposed venues.
- Nick Catrantzos
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Nick Catrantzos + Tom Goff
- All Secure
- NICK CATRANTZOS is the lead author of the All Secure website and is the emeritus security director for a large public organization. He has also managed security aspects of corporate takeovers, response to international hostage situations, and finding and keeping secrets. He has been board certified in security management, licensed as a private investigator, and certified as an incident commander. He worked as a case officer for a discreet branch of public service. He protected stealth technology at Lockheed and, later, as a consulting security director for both Kroll and Control Risks, he assisted executives with workplace violence cases and with protecting VIPs and critical assets globally in volatile areas. Nick's partner, TOM GOFF, was a captain in the Military Police Corps, U.S. Army Reserve and has a law degree from the University of California at Davis. He is a former reporter for Fortune Magazine, was senior editor at New York Magazine and Esquire, and has provided crisis and communications counsel to senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, including Lockheed, ARCO, Microsoft, Nissan, and Sony Pictures.