340: John "Jock" Brocas - Gut Instinct: The Intuitive Edge in Cyber Security

In today’s episode, Steve sits down with John “Jock" Brocas, a former military member who is now an executive mentor and strategic intuitive intelligence advisor to the C-suite. Jock is far from your typical cyber professional, but his experience working with executives gives him a compelling perspective on challenges faced in our industry. Steve and Jock discuss how we can train ourselves to block out the noise and become better at recognizing the real threats to our business, the value of mindfulness and managing stress, and why leaders must see the big picture. Jock also shares his thoughts on deepfakes, from the perspective of a medium.

Key Takeaways:

1. Adopting a warrior mindset means blending logic and intuition.
2. Taking a break, even just for a few seconds, is crucial to managing stressful situations.
3. Meditating can help you become better at discerning what matters and what doesn’t.

Tune in to hear more about:

1. Discerning the signal from the noise ()
2. How leaders can help their teams manage stress, both long-term and in acute situations ()
3. Jock’s thoughts on deepfakes ()

Standout Quotes:

1. “Logic and intuition are not separate. And this is the biggest mistake we make. We don't fail in making decisions, especially in the cyber world because of the amount of data we have. We fail at the discernment of maybe that data.” - Jock Brocas
2. “I think it’s important as well that looking at a more spiritual outlook to things, not religious in any way, a meditative or a contemplative side of things. And how many security professionals or cybersecurity professionals take time for themselves to actually even breathe in between doing something?” - Jock Brocas
3. “Discernment, even as a cyber professional, is important. So discernment of the self, discernment of the mind, that's important.” - Jock Brocas

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From the Information Security Forum, the leading authority on cyber, information security, and risk management.