Lessons Learned From The Forrester Women’s Leadership Program At Security & Risk Summit

The noise in and outside of cybersecurity is constant, with new threats, new tools, and new expectations. Thriving in this environment doesn’t take luck; it requires discipline. And right now, the backdrop is intense: nearly 1 million job cuts this year, workloads rising, and responsibilities shifting, leaving everyone uncertain. Those who remain are not necessarily there with open hearts and minds. Engagement has slipped, from 36% in 2020 to 31% by August 2024, and systemic issues are relentless: For the first time since the 1960s, the gender pay gap has widened, with women earning 80.9 cents on the dollar in 2024.

As has now become tradition at our Security & Risk Summit, a room full of accomplished women and a few brave men gathered as part of our Forrester Women’s Leadership Program to determine how we can thrive, together. Jinan Budge, Forrester VP and principal analyst, moderated a discussion with senior leaders Deidre Diamond, Joni Klippert, Farah Hussain, and Rachael Stockton, a unicorn panel of founders and business leaders who have changed careers to follow their purpose, battled with burnout and the demands of highly competitive work environments, thrived, and built immensely successful businesses and lives, all while lifting, coaching, and hiring others.

We also asked the attendees to share the habits that they will start, stop, and continue in order to take control of their careers with clarity, build a powerful presence to lead through complexity, and cultivate resilience to turn uncertainty into growth and success (see the graphic below). Through the panel and community tables, we discussed the following:

Tackling AI head on. With AI skills commanding a 56% wage premium, now is not the time to shy away from AI. And shy away we do, for the many systemic reasons that render women at a disadvantage such as the misleading rhetoric of “impostor syndrome” and being labeled as “nontechnical.” Thirty-six percent of US women say they are familiar with AI compared to 50% of US men, while only 21% of US women promote the use of generative AI to others compared to 34% of US men.

Pro tips from the panel:

In an AI-first moment, don’t wait for permission: “Don’t wait for your senior leadership team to tell you how to use AI; they don’t have the answer either.”
Form your own opinion and point of view for your domain, run a pilot, and bring back evidence.
Write a one-sentence thesis for how AI should change one workflow in your security domain. Start a 14-day experiment to test it.
Ask colleagues how they’re using it.
Try small, low-risk experiments.
Demonstrate a growth mindset, which is critical in the world of AI.
Block calendar time for learning.
Share practical tips with your team.

Recognizing burnout early and designing against it. For many women, their resources are already depleted: 36% feel fatigued facing the workday, 49% feel worn out after most workdays, and one in four report feeling completely burned out. In cybersecurity specifically, where 50% identify as “tired rock stars,” women carry that burden more, with one study showing that women score higher on the emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout than their male counterparts. As one panelist pointed out: “Burnout is a liar, as it accelerates and distorts how you feel about yourself. It starts to increase and accelerate the feelings that you’re having about yourself. You look for negative evidence about yourself. It’s like a lobster boiling in a pot.”

Pro tips from the panel:

Say one true thing about your emotional state to someone you trust.
List your top priorities and prune them daily.
Remember to pick your head up from your work and reach out to a colleague on a different team for an informal chat.
Start your day with a quick, honest read of your energy levels, and let the day’s plan flex to that reality.
Protect the basics: exercise, sleep, and time with people you love blocked off in your calendar.
Watch for the signs of burnout: shorter fuse, isolation, being unable to switch off because of fear, and not taking time off to recharge.
“Say it out loud. It starts to burst the bubble.”
Remember: “Burnout is monstrous. It’s not just tired; it’s neurological. Organizations must take accountability.”

Choosing words wisely, because they matter. Words steer outcomes. Some phrases create friction or accidentally erase what came before. Intentional communication becomes a lever for rebuilding trust and reducing cognitive load. Authenticity is a skill built with repetition, and clarity compounds.

Pro tips from the panel:

Lead with curiosity (“What am I missing?”), not performance.
Check in with yourself (“I am asking questions to learn or to clarify things”).
Practice in low-risk settings, iterate on feedback, and correct yourself in real time.
Continue to practice correcting yourself in real time.
Avoid conflict-triggering language.
As a leader, let people know what you are thinking.

Replacing people-pleasing and perfectionism with purpose. Under pressure, most of us slip into defaults such as people-pleasing, perfectionism, micromanaging, or defensiveness. Acknowledge that these reactive tendencies in ourselves and others come from a place of anxiety, not a place for purpose and vision. Normalize conversations with yourself and others by acknowledging that in times of high stress, certain behaviors may emerge, then pivot with purpose: If nothing was at stake, what would you say or do? Translate all this introspection into execution. Anchor decisions in vision, not anxiety.

Pro tips from the panel:

Redefine success metrics based on growth areas, looking for outcomes versus output.
Turn reflection into execution.
Identify recurring values or skills from past successes and use them as a compass for your next move.
This introspection forms the foundation for understanding who you are and what you’re capable of — use it as a roadmap to your future.
Utilize curiosity as a currency and try to stay in a place of continual curiosity.
Reframe uncertainty as opportunity. Instead of focusing on existential threat, ask: “What possibilities does this disruption create?”
Anchor decisions in vision, not anxiety: “Anything is possible in the unknown.”
“There is hard work to be done. Don’t shy away from doing the hard work; do the hard work.”