Shattering The CEO Mould: Human Skills And Grit Matter More Than MBAs

I wasn’t supposed to end up in a corporate boardroom or leading an ASX-listed cybersecurity company. According to the stereotype, my career should have looked very different. When I landed my first job in tech, I didn’t fit the typical mould. But a leader spotted something in me and gave me a chance that changed my life.

We hear so much about cybersecurity and tech skills shortages, talent pipelines and the future of work. But there’s something missing in those conversations: the untapped potential of people who don’t tick traditional boxes, whether it’s age, gender, background, experience or formal skills and education.

If we only hire people who have walked the same path – private school and university education, blue-chip brands, polished CVs – we’re not just limiting individuals; we’re limiting innovation and the talent businesses of the future require. I’ve found the best performers are often the ones who had to fight to be taken seriously. They might not have MBAs but they’ve developed communication skills, empathy, grit, emotional resilience and drive. These are qualities that can’t be taught in a classroom.

While technical skills are important, experience has shown me that people who demonstrate empathy, a capacity and commitment to learning, the ability to collaborate with a diverse range of people, demonstrate problem solving skills, show creativity, can take a hard look at reality, ownership and responsibility for their reality, and can adapt to changing situations are immensely valuable. Those human skills are much harder to teach than technical skills and, in the long term, will be increasingly important as Ai and other technologies become more prevalent.

You don’t need to look far to find examples of leaders who began their careers well outside the boardroom. Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes built Atlassian while at university without venture capital. Janine Allis, founder of Boost Juice, was a nanny and a media assistant before building a global business.

What they all had in common wasn’t their resumes. It was ownership, resourcefulness, hunger and vision. In cybersecurity there’s a desperate need for people who can think laterally, operate under pressure and bring emotional intelligence to high-stakes work. Cybercriminals come from diverse backgrounds and to think like them and outsmart them we need people from all walks of life.

That’s why, at Excite Cyber, we invest in training and upskilling disadvantaged youth, support Indigenous communities to learn cyber skills and help women make mid-life career pivots into cyber. By hiring to expand the culture, rather than fit our existing culture, we build teams that reflect the world we’re trying to serve.

This is why I bring a “provider mindset” to my leadership. I’ve always been driven to protect and support those around me, first my family, now my team, our clients and the wider community. That sense of responsibility shapes how I lead and how we show up.

Our team puts this into practice by donating their digital forensics and cybersecurity expertise to support national and community causes, working pro bono alongside law enforcement and legal teams to investigate and combat some of society’s most heinous crimes, including terrorism, child sexual exploitation and animal cruelty.

Building a high-performing team is not purely about technical skills. It can be tempting to hire the person with the greatest technical acumen but finding people that enhance an organisation means avoiding the “delicate genius” – a person who sees their technical skills as being so superior that they discount the views of peers and prefer to work alone.

That applies to every role from graduates to senior leaders. We need to look for people who have demonstrated the human skills that are requisite for enhancing our organisational performance. We need to bring people in, from different backgrounds and with diverse experiences, to enhance the performance of the broader team.

Solving the skills crisis in cyber or any sector demands that we make room for non-linear journeys. That means being willing to invest in training and backing candidates who are rich in potential and helping them master technical skills. It also means more leaders sharing stories, not to glorify our struggle, but to normalise the idea that success doesn’t have to look one way.

Leaders must be prepared to take some risks and give more people a chance. When we do, we don’t just change lives, we build stronger, more resilient businesses and strengthen Australia’s defences. Ones that aren’t just built for just growth, but for good.

Bryan Saba is CEO at Excite Cyber.

Last Updated on July 26, 2025 by Bryan Saba