MEL MIGRINO
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS IN THE SECURITY AND RISK SUITE AND WHY IT MATTERS by Mel Migrino, VP and Group CISO, MERALCO Group Chairperson and President of Women in Security Alliance Philippines
Looking back on my first leadership role in security and risk, I was young and lacked experience in managing a complex workplace. I simply focused on what I do best and ensured that my team was equipped to identify and treat security risks. I thought that would be sufficient to enable me to thrive as a leader. At the end of the day I thought I was running an independent team where callouts are made regardless of whether or not teams follow. In this challenging time where we juggle the demands of IT and risk management, there are teams that view risk through a different lens, perhaps deprioritising security initiatives by adopting a ‘wait and see’ mindset, leading to potential significant risk exposure. Change is unavoidable. The network we are
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WOMEN IN SECURITY MAGAZINE
accustomed to protecting is no longer fixed, it has extended outside the perimeter defences bringing more valuable services and better experience to end users. Many organisations will need to adopt agile and continuous delivery business models to bring value in this era of innovation and transformation. This bring significant new challenges as well as opportunities for security and risk leaders. Security and risk teams need to adapt to the rapidly evolving digital organisation, which means they need to develop a partnership approach to the development of policies and standards. They need to show technology teams they are part of a collaborative group that is ready to listen and provide workable solutions to ensure the protection of assets. The security and risk leader needs to be working in a hyper-collaborative mode with other business leaders
