We continue our Women in Security Q&A series with Ainsley Close, president of Guardian Security. She shares her security industry career path, how she’s overcome obstacles in her journey and mentors on whom she’s relied.
Security Sales & Integration: How did you get into the security industry?
Ainsley Close: My dad asked me to join the family business after I spent about a decade in public service.
SSI: Have you encountered any difficulties or obstacles in your security industry career?
Close: Yes, of course. I think the biggest one for me is my lack of experience as a technician in the field.
SSI: Who would you point to as the most influential and helpful mentors in your career? What did they do to help you?
Close: What a fun question. The first is Julie McCoy, who was chief of staff when I worked for the mayor of Seattle. She believed in me and that change was completely possible. She shifted my belief about where power sits and how to understand why decisions are made. She also helped me understand how to think about large structural problems at a scale I didn’t think was possible.
The second is—and it’s slightly unfair to choose a group— but it is my living group from an executive education program I did at Harvard. It was a mix of interesting men from all around the world. They taught me some very difficult lessons: a different realization of how the world works, an understanding of the thinking behind very successful businesspeople and a deeper understanding of motivation.
I’m not totally sure why this is what it’s making me think of this lesson, but sometimes I get stuck pushing against a brick wall and I try pushing harder and harder. And the answer sometimes isn’t to push harder.
SSI: What is your proudest career accomplishment?
Close: At a recent graduation for our leadership development academy, the graduates presented me with a gift. It was a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: “A sign of a good leader is not how many followers you have, but how many leaders you create.”
At the end of the day, all I want is to help make the world a better place hopefully by creating and enabling great leaders. I want to leave it richer—with value added instead of extracted. But to do that, you must have a successful company, and I’m extremely proud that over the last 10 years, working alongside our team, we have tripled the size of the company while staying true to our core values.
SSI: What do you love most about working in the security industry?
Close: The best part of the security industry is the depth and breadth of independent operators all over the country—truly delivering the best of American capitalism.
SSI: How can the security industry become even better?
Close: In her book Glass Half Broken, Colleen Ammerman describes the pervasive organizational obstacles and actions that create gender imbalances. Continuing to support women leaders in the security industry is a great way to strengthen the industry as a whole. In her work, she presents a clear business case for breaking down the barriers that hold women back and teaching those lessons across the industry would improve the industry.
Click here to read our entire Women in Security Q&A series!
