Every business leader encounters a critical moment, typically following a near-miss.

A phishing email almost fooled your finance team. A vendor’s system went down and disrupted client service. Or maybe you got that dreaded late-night message from IT: “We’ve detected something unusual.”

It’s in that moment you realize cybersecurity isn’t an IT issue. It’s a leadership issue. And it’s a cultural one, too.

The truth is, technology can only go so far. You can have world-class tools, firewalls, and monitoring systems and still get taken down by one wrong click. The missing piece is people. And people look to leaders for cues on what matters.

Why Culture Outweighs Configuration

According to the 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, the human element remains involved in over 60 percent of breaches. The data hasn’t moved much in years, because while technology evolves, human behaviour lags behind.

That’s why the most cyberresilient organizations don’t just invest in defences. They invest in culture.

They make cybersecurity part of the daily conversation. They praise employees for reporting suspicious activity instead of punishing mistakes. They teach that awareness is a skill, not a checkbox.

Culture is contagious, especially the one at the top. If you, as a leader, treat security as an afterthought or a technical detail, everyone else will too. But if you treat it as part of how your business earns trust, that belief spreads.

Leadership by Example

Culture doesn’t shift because of posters or reminders. It shifts because leaders model the behaviour they expect.

When you complete training alongside your team, when you bring security up in client meetings, or when you ask your CIO not “Are we compliant? ” but “Are we confident? ” That’s what changes perception. That’s what embeds cybersecurity into business identity.

Because when the next threat appears, and it will, your people will react the way you’ve led them to.

Security Isn’t About Fear; It’s About Empowerment

Strong cybersecurity isn’t about paranoia. It’s about confidence. It’s about giving your team the freedom to innovate without fear because they know the risks, understand their role, and trust the systems backing them.

So, next time you talk strategy with your team, ask a simple question: “What are we doing to make security everyone’s job, including mine? ”

You might be surprised how much that one question can shift the conversation and, ultimately, the outcome.