Our Best Advice Q&A continues with Jason Relyea, part of the mission critical design team and data center and strategic national accounts group for Allegion. He reveals the best advice he’s ever gotten, gives some pointers to security industry pros on the rise and names the person to whom he always listens.
Security Sales & Integration: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Jason Relyea: The best piece of advice I’ve ever received is the simple but profound reminder to never stop learning. We work in an industry that is constantly evolving and the day you decide you know enough is the exact day you start to become irrelevant.
I’ve realized that resting on your past experience is dangerous. To stay sharp and bring real value to your team and your clients, you must stay curious, adapt to new trends and constantly challenge your own assumptions.
SSI: What advice would you give to those looking to achieve success in the security industry?
Relyea: Building on my earlier point, my first piece of advice is to never stop learning. Beyond that, you have to view security holistically, from all sides and increasingly from above, thanks to emerging drone technology. To truly succeed, you need to adopt an adversarial mindset.
Instead of just building a defense, ask yourself, “what lengths would someone go to in order to bypass it?” When you can objectively stress-test your own work and find the vulnerabilities in your design before a threat does, you elevate yourself from a good designer to a great security professional.
SSI: If you could highlight one person in the security industry as a must-listen voice, who would it be and why?
Relyea: I always listened to and looked up to my father when he was at work. He is a retired police officer with 30-plus years in the uniform, a Navy veteran and was always a big advocate of community policing. He taught me that you have to listen to yourself and ask yourself, “am I doing the right thing? Did I objectively look at this from all sides?”
For me, as a consultant, it’s not about brand loyalty; it’s about compiling the best solutions to best suit the design or problem you are asked to handle. Too many times, people know what they know and stick to what they are comfortable with, even though it may not be the best solution for that particular task.
Click here to check out all entries in SSI’s Best Advice series!
