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The Three M’s to Cyber Growth in Your MSP

The Three M’s to Cyber Growth in Your MSP

There can be no cyber mavericks if your MSP wants to succeed. Here’s what you need to do!

Wes Spencer
August 17, 2023

Power Up by Empath Cyber

In today's rundown:

🧠 The Three M’s to Cyber Growth in Your MSP
💻 You’re Invited! Come See Wes at These Events!
Wes and Chris Cochran at the Huntress Cybersecurity Masterclass

Read time: 6 minutes 👇

This week has been a veritable whirlwind of travel. I’ve loved every second of it. After last week’s ChannelCon, the book release of MSP Handbook SaaSSy Edition, and multiple panels, I’ve been leading a 6 hour workshop on compliance and cyber insurance with 7 Figure MSP and working with Huntress on their incredible Cyber Security Masterclass!

(Oh, speaking of which, do you mind to share this newsletter with others? Just send them over to www.empathcyber.com/powerup and off they go!)

The Three M’s to Cyber Growth in Your MSP

All I can think about this week is the basics. Every MSP needs them. I’ve come face to face with this awesome fact this week: regardless of your size as an MSP, you have folks that need (and want!) to learn cyber.

Let’s recognize that we all come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. For many of us, that doesn’t include any formal education or work experience in our craft.

And we need to find a way to solve for that. Because your MSP will NEVER grow into what you’d like without ensuring everyone can row in the same direction.

So here’s a few thoughts I have for on how to accomplish this challenge, grow your capabilities, build new revenue, and ensure your MSP thrives tomorrow and in the long term future.

Mission: Recognize there are no mavericks
Sure, Tom Cruise makes a great maverick in the movies. And we cheer on that bravado and arrogance. But it doesn’t fit in cyber. Sometimes we end up with “that guy” in our MSP that seemingly can do it all. Especially cyber.
They can build a cyber program. They can close a deal. And they can handle a cyber incident. But you’re left wondering:
“Why can’t I grow my cyber talent beyond my maverick?”
Here’s why: by embracing a cyber maverick, you’ve told the rest of the company to ease back. The maverick’s got it under control. Why grow when you have them? Why learn cyber when they’re already better at it? Unfortunately, a cyber maverick just sets the high bar and ensures that everyone else stays well below that mark.
Means: We’ve all got to row in the same direction
If there can’t be a cyber maverick, then what’s the rest of the MSP left to do? Simply this: get better.
(Oh yeah, and I don’t mean that you need to fire your maverick. Usually that’s a terrible idea. But as a leader, you’ve got to recognize that you can’t have a single cyber maverick. You need everyone to be that maverick. Perhaps this is a post for another day, but you definitely need to set the anti-maverick precedent.)
At this point, you’ve forced your MSP into a wonderful (but hard!) position. You’ve all got to grow together. It’s top priority. And that decision for growth starts with you.
You’ve got to make time for growth. For everyone in your company. But how? I’d consider setting a ticket type in the PSA for learning and growth. And I’d set a minimum. And I’d hold everyone accountable to growth, starting with myself. Now that growth can be tracked, we can be sure that everyone has not just the means, but also the mission to upskill.
Measure: We need to point to the cyber true north
Let’s carry on the rowing imagery. Have you ever been on a paddle board or canoe? You really can’t row in the same direction. You paddle on one side, and you go in another. You’re constantly tacking back and forth.
And on top of that, you’ve got navigate the winds and currents. Learning is like that, too. Especially in cyber. Once you’ve set the mission to learn, given the means to do it, you’ve got to have a way to measure that growth.
The secret to unlocking the measurement requirement is to recognize that everyone at your MSP is on a different path. Some folks really need to grow in their technical chops. Others simply need to learn the basics, get conversational, and know how to talk to a client about cyber.
And still others need to build deep knowledge in governance, risk and compliance. Because they’ve got to handle that for their highly regulated clients (who also happen to be your highest paying clients too!)
But at the end of the day, the measurement problem still isn’t solved until you have the right content, the right community, and the right cadence. (Did you see how I went from 3 M’s to 3 C’s? 🤣)
And here’s the thing, there’s loads of great communities without good content. And loads of great content without a good community. You’ll never have a great cadence of learning until both are settled together.
And not to be too pitchy, but that’s exactly why I built Empath Cyber. It’s for MSPs of all growth levels. And all learning pathways. But specifically for anyone who needs to grow in cybersecurity.
With Empath, you get the content (from lots of amazing thought leaders), you get the community (from quality peers), and the cadence (you can learn and grow with just an hour a week in Empath).
Curious on what Empath is all about? Well, this is a newsletter to all my friends. So I tend to just give stuff away over here. 😃 So let’s do just that. Here’s an awesome session we did on a Newbie’s Guide to Incident Response. Yours to watch and use!
If you’d like to learn more about joining us and solving for the three M’s to cyber growth, reach out to me at www.empathcyber.com/join and let’s start a conversation soon.

You’re Invited! Come See Wes at These Events!

Cybersecurity Masterclass with Huntress and Empath Cyber

Empath Cyber is teaming up with Huntress on a US wide roadshow called the Cybersecurity Masterclass.

Do you want to be more confident in your MSP cybersecurity offering? Struggling to effectively communicate its value to clients? Register for the Cybersecurity Masterclass and learn how to overcome these challenges and build a world-class cybersecurity practice.

Here’s where we’ll be:

August 17, 2023 | Orlando, FL

August 29, 2023 | Dallas, TX

August 31, 2023 | Los Angeles, CA

Your First Look Under the Covers: Onboarding Insights from a CISO

Are you an MSP gearing up to onboard a new client? Join our next educational session to gain invaluable insights directly from a seasoned Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Wes Spencer. Delve into the critical aspects of client onboarding from a security perspective and uncover what lies beneath the surface.

That's all for now!

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