Whose Reputation Is It Anyway?

A few months ago, I was having a random chat with someone from HR. It was during one of those in-between-meeting hallway moments. She said something that stuck with me:

“Most people don’t think of the company like it’s their own. If you had to spend your own money to run this place, you’d probably make very different decisions.”

She was talking about budget controls and how IT people request tools, perks, or spend without thinking about the bigger picture. And I get that. Her point makes sense—especially in companies tightening their belts. It's easy to say, “We need this,” when it's someone else footing the bill.

But I paused for a moment and said, “I get your point. But I look at it differently. For me, the company’s reputation is my reputation.”

And I really meant it.

Let me give you a real example.

There’s someone I know—not a close friend, but someone I’ve crossed paths with a few times in the industry. He was the head of cybersecurity of a well-known company that got hit with a serious breach a couple of years ago. It was bad—major data leak, media headlines, customer trust evaporated overnight.

And even though the root cause wasn’t directly tied to him—it was a mix of legacy issues and underinvestment—he was the one carrying the title. He was the name people remembered.

After he left the company, he told me it was hard to even get interviews. Every recruiter, every panel, would see the name of his previous employer and immediately associate him with the breach. The questions weren’t about what he learned or how he handled it—they were laced with doubt. Suspicion. Judgment.

That’s when it hit me: in cybersecurity, you don’t get the luxury of hiding behind your job title. You’re tied to the company’s trust. You are part of the brand—whether you like it or not.

So when I make decisions today—whether it’s approving a new tool, setting priorities, or saying no to a project—I do it with that mindset. I may not be the CEO, I may not own the company, but I carry the reputation on my shoulders like it’s my own name on the line.

Because the reality is this: once a breach hits the headlines, it doesn’t say “Team A from Department B was responsible.” It says “Company X suffers cyberattack.” And when your LinkedIn headline says you're the CISO of Company X... people connect the dots quickly.

So yeah, maybe we should all think a little more like business owners. Not just in terms of spending money—but in how we protect trust. How we manage risk. How we show up in tough moments.

That’s all for this week.

Cheers,
Siva