We continue our Best Advice series with Christine Lanning, president of Integrated Security Technologies and 2025 SSI Industry Hall of Fame inductee. Lanning and her husband Andrew joined Dick and Donna Soloway as the first husband-and-wife duos to earn the industry’s ultimate honor during a ceremony at ISC West in April.
Security Sales & Integration: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
It’s hard to narrow it down to the best piece of advice. I’m still learning things all the time that prove important. That said, one of the most significant pieces of advice was when Curtis Nickel, a fellow integrator based out of Canada and part of my PSA peer exchange group (PEG) recommended a book called “Traction,” built on the principles of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).
At the time, Andrew and I were struggling with the roles and responsibilities related to our focus on growing our company, Integrated Security Technologies (IST). Implementing “Traction” proved to be the game-changer we needed.
“Traction” helped Andrew and I refine our understanding of the roles of a visionary and an integrator in accordance with the EOS model. It showed us the critical importance of getting the vision right and setting a clear direction.
We learned the value of establishing a consistent meeting cadence and using a scorecard to track key metrics. EOS also reinforced the importance of having the right people in the right seats, and how to set effective 90-day priorities, or rocks.
The IDS (identify, discuss, solve) toolset gave us a practical way to tackle issues and we restructured and simplified our accountability chart to create clarity and alignment across the entire IST team. “Traction” transformed our business.
SSI: What advice would you give to those looking to achieve success in the security industry?
Lanning: The security industry is full of opportunity, especially for those who are passionate about protecting people and equally driven by their love of technology. It’s a wide-open industry with endless potential.
But make no mistake: with opportunity comes hard work. I’ve met a lot of people who talk about themselves and their potential for success in the security industry, but long term, I’ve run across far too few who are willing to put in the consistent effort it takes to turn their potential into real results.
There is a steep and always-increasing learning curve with security technologies and their applications. In this industry, given that there is a comparatively low bar for entry, success must be earned. It’s not a given.
Personally, I am an example of someone who worked my way from technician to project manager to operations manager to sales manager and, finally after 15 years, to president of IST. I was fortunate along the way to be surrounded by some very smart, hard-working people like our operations manager, who started out as a technician as well as our service manager who started out as an accounting clerk.
I had a lot of IT experience but no security experience when we started. I put in many hours of blood, sweat and tears into the role I occupy today. If I can do it, so can anyone else.
SSI: If you could point to one person in the security industry and tell up-and-comers, “Make sure to listen to what they have to say,” whom would you pick and why?
Lanning: Wow, it is difficult to pick one person. I would say listen to Candice Aragon. She’s the chief experience officer at PSA Security and I love her take on culture and being a woman in the security industry. She is a champion for people and the industry as a whole.
I very much value her opinion and wealth of knowledge about marketing and public relations. She has quite a bit of experience that spans across multiple industries, yet she stays humble and is always asking, “how can we be better?” I love her enthusiasm!
Click here to check out all entries in SSI’s Best Advice series!
