When most of us think about advance work for executive protection, checklists are still the first things that come to mind.

The 2018 baseball season is underway, and fans are filling stadiums across the country. Sports stadiums remain a high-profile soft target for terrorists and security must be proactive, comprehensive and vigilant to adequately protect fans, players, staff and venues.

The first cellphone was developed in 1973 by Motorola Researcher, Martin Cooper. Heavy and clunky, that first device was a far cry from the sleek, versatile mobile phones of today. Since Cooper’s invention, companies have competed to produce more portable technology and offer better connectivity. And they have largely succeeded.

Whether regional or national, business leaders face the impact of globalization. In today’s world, it is not a question of if a crisis will affect an enterprise, but when. Events, such as a terror attack, data breach, pandemic or travel ban, that happen on the other side of the world can affect business resilience and valuation just as much as those down the street or on premise. 

The “make-or-buy” decision is a classic quandary for manufacturing companies. Is the corporation better off making a product or component, or would it be smarter to buy the product from an external supplier?

One of the most important tools for effective disaster management is communication. With lives at risk, the need to quickly, effectively and accurately communicate is crucial.

Some of the most common questions we get from new corporate executive protection clients concern staffing levels is as follows: What are our options? What have companies with similar needs done before us? How many people do we need to set up a program, and what kinds of people do they need to be?

Job burnout, or work-related stress, is an ever-present risk for busy EP agents. While almost none of the alpha types in our industry are willing to admit it, many of us have worked the crazy hours that lead up to burnout – and more than a few of us have discovered the negative consequences of work-related stress too late.

Now that the holiday excitement has finally settled, it’s time to decide how to truly improve yourself in the new year. You may still have that flyer from your local fitness club and are strongly considering spending time in a cycling class or on the pull-up bar. To some, physical fitness and appearance are the main priorities. For rising security leaders, I would like to put a different flyer in your hand—one that touts developing yourself professionally.

Intelligence analysts now play an increasingly important role in safeguarding a wide variety of corporate interests, too, ranging from the protection of people to understanding risks that might impact anything from supply chains to critical assets such as production facilities, brands and reputations.