Things Your Museum Director Asks Your Security Consultant About YOU, And How You Can Make Sure That His Answers Won't Hurt You.

by Steve Keller
copyright 1997 Steven R. Keller and Associates, Inc.

Whenever a Security Consultant is hired by a museum Director, the conversation inevitably turns to questions about the performance of the Security Manager. This often happens in a private meeting with the Director, at dinner, or in a preliminary or follow up phone call. Often, the Consultant is asked to prepare two versions of the report, one for the record and one for the eyes of the Director only. The reason is that the "eyes only" version gives the Consultant a chance to evaluate the Security Manager privately.

A good Security Consultant will be gentle but will call it like he sees it. Instead of saying, "The Security Director lacks adequate communication skills," the Consultant is more likely to say, "I'd begin to concentrate on some training for the Security Manager in improving communication skills" or "The Security Manager needs your help in understanding how you want him to communicate more effectively with his employees and peers". No good Security Consultant will ever try to deliberately harm a Security Manager by an insensitive report and most will structure their recommendations and comments in a manner that will ultimately benefit the Security Manager by resulting in additional training or support.

Nevertheless, you should be aware that you may be the focus of at least a small part of the Consultant's report when a security survey is conducted at your facility. And with a little understanding of the process, you should be able to, if not control, at least guide, the direction of the Consultant's comments by being an active participant in the survey process.
So what are the most frequently asked questions about YOU? These are paraphrases, but they seem to be the focus of most Director's comments:

1. Do you think the Security Manager is effective?

2. Do you think he/she communicates well to the staff?

3. How does the Security Manager compare with other peers in other institutions?

4. I can't seem to get my Security Manager to do the most basic managerial tasks that I feel are important, specifically, prepare a policy manual, prepare an evacuation plan, prepare a training program, and prepare a disaster plan. Is he/she capable of this or is there some other reason why this just doesn't get done?

In addition to the above very common questions, the typical Director then informs me of his or her complaint about something in the Security Manager's performance or style that is bothersome and asks me to be on the look out for this trait or lack of performance and comment. In one museum, I was asked to observe the Security Manager's military bearing. He was stiff as a board and everything he did was strictly Marine Corps where he spent the last 20 some years. His style was a problem to the professional staff more than it was to the security staff.

In another incident the Director asked me to assess the Security Manager's lack of manners. Short and simple, while far more diplomatically stated than calling it bad manners, that is exactly what it was. The Security Manager was a clod of the first degree, He was crude, rude and socially unacceptable. He called his secretary "little gal" and made racial remarks to me at lunch.
And in one of the most troublesome surveys I ever did, I was asked to assess the effectiveness of an experienced and well known Security Manager whose management style differed greatly from that of his Harvard MBA boss, the museum administrator. The Security Manager was, well, let's just say, "a good ol' boy". He referred to his security officers as "good hands" and he never wrote a memo if he could handle it verbally. This drove his boss nuts. But the bottom line was that his style was more effective in managing his particular employees than the style of the Harvard MBA would have been.
A good Security Consultant will always treat the Security Manager fairly. After all, while we have a management perspective, we also have hands on experience in the trenches as Security Managers. (If your consultant doesn't, then you may have cause for concern because your perspective may not be well understood.) How do I field the questions like those above?

1. Do you think the Security Manager is effective?

I call it like I see it. But not being effective is not what I am paid to look for. I am paid to look for reasons why someone is not effective. And many museum Director's fail to understand that supervising blue collar workers is far different from supervising Curators. You have a tough job. You usually lack financial resources. You often have reasons for not being effective. I try to identify them without placing blame for their result. As often as not, the blame would go on the shoulders of the Director.

2. Do you think he/she communicates well to the staff?

Very often I find that communication skills are lacking or that there is some problem. I try to identify it and recommend corrective actions. Sometimes this includes working with the Security Manager or recommending training. It's important to note that communication problems can be problems in one direction, two directions or many directions. A Security Manager who communicates poorly with the Director might communicate well with Guards. Could this mean that the problem lies with someone other than the Security Manager? In the case of the "good ol' boy", communication was all verbal. This was quite fine with the other "good ol' boys" who worked as guards. Things ran smoothly. But it was a problem for the Administrator who only had faith in the memo. And it was a problem with the professional staff who were trained, with their PhD's and other higher education, to communicate in writing. In that particular case, I found deeper problems. Security department supervisors complained that the Security Manager was not effective. But I found intense internal politics fostered by the Administrator's very bad habit of encouraging an open door policy that subverted the Security Manager. Security Supervisors with a motive to subvert the Security Manager didn't even try to communicate with the Security Manager because they had an open invitation to drop in on the Administrator, to go over the head of their boss. No wonder there was no real communication in that direction.

3. How does the Security Manager compare with other peers in other institutions?

I've never yet seen a Security Manager who was a wash out in every category. You don't land a job as a Security Manager for a museum without some redeeming value. You might have been a fantastic cop but terrible security manual writer. So, if I were to assess your ability to protect the place, I'd rate it very high. But if you simply can't write a policy, then you fall below par as compared with peers in this category. My recommendation is, of course, to get you the tools and training you need to do what is expected of you.

4. I can't seem to get my Security Manager to do the most basic managerial tasks that I feel are important, specifically, prepare a policy manual, prepare an evacuation plan, prepare a training program, and prepare a disaster plan. Is he/she capable of this or is there some other reason why this just doesn't get done?

The answer is almost always "Yes, he/she is capable of doing these tasks." They more than likely did not get done for several reasons:
1. The job is too darn difficult and the Security Manager has not been motivated to do them. Too bad. No sympathy from me. I do things several times each day that I don't want to do or that tax my brain and my energy. So does your boss. That's why you have the big office. Just do it.

2. You don't know where to begin. You never saw a good written museum security policy so you don't know what the work product should be. My job is to get you started. To give you some tips. To tell you where you can get some samples. I'm more likely to rate someone higher who just doesn't know where to start than I am someone who plagiarizes another museum's policy manual word for word without making any changes whatsoever. Copying a policy manual format is OK but at least customize it to your institution!

3. You don't have the resources. You lack a computer or good software. You lack a secretary or office staff. My job is to get you those resources and to explain to your boss why this has effected your ability to do what he or she expects of you.

4. You lack the basic skills to undertake such a task. You a illiterate or you can't type. I learned to type by typing. I hacked away at reports until I got it right. I practiced, practiced, practiced. My job is to help you learn the skills needed to do your job and to get your boss to pay for them!

5. You don't have the time. In nearly every case, I find that "lack of time" is part "excuse" and part "reason". The "reason" you didn't write that training manual is that you are too darn busy doing training (due to high turnover) and daily brush fires. The "excuse" is that just because you are too busy you don't have time. I was Director of Security for the Art Institute of Chicago and I was as busy as anyone. Training was so labor intensive that it was virtually impossible to keep up with. Constant turnover made it a daily task. But I made time to prepare a training manual because I knew that once the job was done, it would free me up to do other things. I didn't get paid overtime to stay late and do the job, or to take the work home. But I did stay late and I did take work home every night. And before I knew it, I had solved a problem that ultimately saved me a great deal of time by preparing a training program that saved me time on a day to day basis. As a consultant, my job is to help clients set up program and systems that make work easier. Don't work harder, work "smarter".

A good consultant will not tell your boss something that the consultant won't tell you. You should take a proactive stance in finding out what your consultant intends to say about you. Nevertheless, I have never once had a Security Manager ask me the questions his or her Director is likely to ask! I've never had a Security Manager ask me how he stacks up to his peers or to recommend that he be given training in skills that directly relate to his shortcomings! Never. And I've done over 200 surveys.

I have a sign on my wall that says, "Come to me with your problems and you have an ally. Come to me with a disaster and you have another critic". Any good consultant will share with you his findings and give you an opportunity to explain your reasons and excuses for falling short. Most consultants, even the jerks, will help you make a pitch for the tools, funding, and support you need to do your job. But you have to, well, communicate. Simply ask the consultant how you stack up and what you need improvement on. Ask the consultant what he intends to report to your boss with regard to your performance and skills. You have a right to know. Then ask him for help in getting you what you need. Just asking will reflect well on you.
And pay close attention to what's written between the lines. Most Security Consultants have been where you are. We are sympathetic. We understand. When we write a report most of us will avoid directly putting you in the proverbial bag. When we say, "The Security Manager could benefit from participation in the Smithsonian's National Conference on Cultural Property Protection" it's not so you can come to Washington and attend a week long party. Your task, when your boss sends you off to network, it to find someone with a manual you can use as a learning tool in writing your manual. And when we say that your policy manual is lacking and include a sample policy for you to use as a guide, you should understand that what I am really saying is that you don't have a manual, you should have one, it is your job responsibility to write one, and you better get your rear in gear and get it done. Don't misinterpret the "diplomatic" language in the consultant's report as implying that the consultant didn't notice the full extent your shortcomings. Recognize it for what it is: A fellow professional offering a wake up all and assistance that you need to do what you are being paid to do.
So how DO you get your boss to send you off to the Smithsonian conference year after year? The year I first attended, I returned to the office, prepared a one page summary of what I learned and sent it to my boss. Then, when I prepared a policy manual, I made it clear that I could not have done so without the networking I had begun at the Smithsonian Conference. The next year, when I sought funds to attend again, I reminded them that the policy manual was a direct result of their expenditure last year.
What do I look for when I evaluate a Security Manager? At one facility, I was invited in by the museum Director, not the Security Manager. At 4:00 pm on the first day of my visit, when I still had a meeting scheduled with the museum Director, the Security Manager excused himself and said that he had to go home, that "I don't work past 4:00 for anybody." I was not impressed.

I look for enthusiasm and energy. I look for a security manager who is well read. Subscriptions to leading security magazines and journals are important. I like to see the Security Manager pursue a CPP certification.

I like to see a hands-on Security Manager. What I do not like to see is a Security Manager who delegates managerial duties such as writing memos and policies to a security supervisor, guard or clerical worker. It's usually a cop out. Do your own work. I look for good time management. I look for constant progress. What exactly do you do and what progress have you been making in doing it? Don't tell me you have an evacuation plan in progress if it has been in progress more than a week. That's one day's work for an effective Security Manager. What did you do last week? Too often I hear that, "We have a policy manual but it is a work in progress and I haven't finished it". So is the training program and the disaster plan. And they have been in progress for years, too!

I like to see a security manger who can tell me about his burglar alarm system. He knows about the alarm control panel, how the alarm signal is carried to the central station, what the procedure is that the central station follows when an alarm is received. And he knows about the alarm contract. I want to see that the burglar alarm system is walk tested DAILY by someone and WEEKLY by the Security Manager personally or a designated management level employee in larger museums.

I want to see that no alarm device has been out of service more than 24 hours and if it has been, I want to see that the Security Manager has made the failure and the seriousness of the problem known to his superiors. I don't like to see problems linger without being resolved.

I will look at the roster and I want to see posts filled. If you have high turnover, I want to see something being done to reduce that turnover. You should know about the union contract or the contract guard service contract. You should prepare your own budget.

I want to know that you are hiring honest people and that the background check that you do is effective and thorough.

I want to see a security "program". If you don't have a written policy manual, at least have a policy. I should be able to ask you about your opening and closing procedures and how you make sure no one is staying behind after closing, and get the same answer from you and from your supervisors and guards, even if there is no written policy for me to see.

I want to see a training program that indicates in detail what is covered in each course or training topic. An outline will do. When was this taught and who attended it? Who taught it? What are the trainers qualifications? I want to see a documented training program with records you can show to the court if you are sued for failure to train. If you can't show it from your records, it didn't happen.

If you have a "manual in progress", be able to show it to me. It must be in outline form or on the word processor. Let me read the draft. When was it begun? When will you finish? What is delaying it? How can I help get the project back on track?

I want to see personal development. Be able to tell me what you do on a daily basis to make yourself more valuable to your boss. Me? I read cut sheets for every new product. I call companies and ask for product literature in detail then I study it so I can keep up. I read professional journals. I call colleagues and ask, "What's new?" And I try to learn a new skill daily.

I want to see that you protect your museum from the "floor", not from your office chair. I want to hear from your employees that you manage by walking around. Every security employee should be visited every day on post.

I don't need to hear your employees tell me how great a person you are. You should not be a nice guy. If you are, something is wrong. The best my employees could say of me in Chicago was, "He's fair."

I want to see a better security program this year than you had last year.

You will find that your Security Consultant will be your greatest ally. Give him some ammunition to represent you when your boss asks those important questions.
The point of this presentation is that we do things to ourselves. Our boss--or our common sense--make it clear to us what we have to do. We have to prepare a policy manual. We have to hire better guards. We have to do a budget. We have to train our guards. We have to manage our limited resources and our people effectively, and we have to lead. Part of leading is motivational--getting others to do the work. But part of leading in an organization with limited resources is doing the work that others are unable to do because of their limitations.
I believe that everyone in an organzation has an obligation to lead. I find it particularly troubling when someone hired to be a leader shrinks from that responsibility. Eventually a monster is created. Work piles up. Our superiors become impatient at our inability to tackle certain challenges that they have given a high priority like the preparation of a policy manual or development of training. That monster comes to haunt us.
There is a story about a man who dreamed he was being chased by a large, ugly and terrifying monster. Everywhere he ran, the monster would always be right behind him, making ghastly noises and breathing down his neck. In an attempt to get away, he ran into a canyon that proved to have no way out. He was trapped. With his back against the canyon wall, he watched as the monster came closer. When the monseter was within inches of him, he cried out, "What are you going to do with me?" The monster looked at the man and said, "I don't know. That's up to you. It's your dream!"
The common thread throughout all organizational success stories is the action of its leaders--to create a clear vision of what must be done, to communicate it successfully to others, and to be willing to roll up their sleeves and pitch in to get it done. When you look around you, in this profession, at the Tom Bressons, Tom Johnsons, Jim Davises, Lyle Grindles, Darrell Willson, Ton Cremers and other "old timers" who are recognized leaders in our profession, you can't help to notice that they beat the stuffings out of their monster.