As Rodgers puts it, “What got you here won’t get you there. You know how to configure a firewall, but now you have to communicate to executives. You have to know the business and be able to talk about your technology, your security, the solution through the language of the business. Being able to have those conversations is what differentiates great leaders.”

Because they are so foundational to the role, great communication skills have a ripple effect in leadership effectiveness. Transparency, for example, tends to build more trust, which leads to better collaboration and cooperation. “There’s less questioning of motive,” Noaman says. “We’re talking to each other and you get why we need to do this. I think the only way you can have collaboration is through transparency and simplicity of message. Because I might think we’re aligned, but unless you’re in the boat rowing with me, we aren’t.”

These intuitive, human-centered skills are pivotal, particularly in the kinds of high-stress, high-stakes situations CISOs regularly deal with. As Deaner says, “I can talk about the CVSS score. But at the end of the day, nobody wants to have a bad day. And I think that’s a much better way of positioning it than getting too technical, or using fear, uncertainty, and doubt, or not making it simple and meeting people where they are.”