Elevating Cybersecurity Leadership—One Executive at a Time Â
Ryan Leadership's Security Council exists because the next generation of security leaders deserves better than what's available today. We're building the resources, education, certifications, and peer network that the cybersecurity profession has been missing.
We believe every executive has an influential leader inside of them.
Most cybersecurity certifications teach you how to secure systems. None of them teach you how to lead them.
I discovered this gap the hard way. After earning 63 certifications and completing multiple higher education programs, I thought I was prepared for anything. But the first time I presented to a CEO, I led with protocols and vulnerabilities. I lost the room in 90 seconds.
That failure taught me the most important lesson of my career: Technical competence gets you into the building. Executive communication gets you into the conversation.
Over the next decade, I spent thousands of hours learning what certification programs don't teach—how to translate risk into business strategy, how to influence without authority, how to earn board trust and C-suite credibility.
I studied how Fortune 100 CISOs actually communicate. I learned what separates security managers from security executives. I built the frameworks and strategies that eventually helped me—and countless others—make that shift.
Ryan Leadership's Security Council is the result of that journey. It's everything I wish I'd had when I was transitioning from technical expert to trusted advisor.
Meet Nick Ryan, Founder
I'm a cybersecurity executive, leadership strategist, and recovering certification addict.
Over my career, I've earned 63 professional certifications—CISSP, CISM, CIPM, ISSMP, CRISC, and dozens more. I've completed multiple higher education certificate programs. I've worked alongside Fortune 10 CMOs, CISOs, and board advisors. I've built security programs, led enterprise teams, and earned the trust of executives who initially had no idea what I was talking about.
But the most important thing I've learned is this: The skills that make you a great security professional are not the same skills that make you a great security leader.
Technical certifications validate what you know. Executive leadership requires what you can communicate.
Ryan Leadership's Security Council is my way of giving back to the profession that's given me so much. It's practitioner knowledge, not academic theory. Frameworks built by working leaders, not consultants. Real education for security professionals who are ready to lead at the highest levels.
This is the council I wish I'd had. I'm honored to build it for you.
— Nick Ryan
Founder, Ryan Leadership
CISO | Security Leadership Strategist
What We Stand For
Ryan Leadership's Security Council is built on three core principles that guide everything we create.
Business-First Leadership
We believe security leaders should enable business growth, not block it. Our education teaches you to lead with business outcomes and secure them intelligently—earning trust, not compliance.
Practitioner-Built Excellence
Every framework, certification, and resource is designed by working CISOs and security executives—not consultants who've never held the role. We teach what actually works, not what sounds good in a textbook.
Fortune 100 Standards
We don't build entry-level training. Every certification, template, and playbook is designed to the same standards used by elite CISOs at the world's most sophisticated organizations.
THE VISION
Building the Future of Security Leadership
Ryan Leadership started with cybersecurity—but it won't end there.
Our vision is to become the definitive leadership education platform for every business discipline. Sales leaders. Marketing executives. Operations professionals. Every field that requires strategic thinking, executive communication, and business-first leadership.
The Security Council is our first chapter. It's where we're proving that leadership education can be practitioner-built, business-focused, and elite-level—without the gatekeeping or outdated models of traditional certification bodies.
If you're a security leader, you're part of something bigger. You're helping us build the blueprint for how professionals become executives across every industry.
Welcome to the Council. Let's elevate the profession together.
Ready to Join the Council?
Access the certifications, frameworks, and peer network that Fortune 100 CISOs use to lead at the highest levels.
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