What makes a security guard proficient? What skills and traits are necessary for truly succeeding in this role? It’s easy to assume competency when viewing a fully uniformed and armed guard standing at a post, but this commanding image does not ensure a full range of required capabilities. There is certainly more involved than the minimum government standards required for licensure.

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
A subtle yet critical aptitude often separates the amateur layman from the skilled professional in security operations: situational awareness. This concept is emphasized heavily in military and tactical training, and it refers to a continual analysis of what is happening in a given environment. The analysis is accomplished through an intentional and perpetual reading of an agent’s various sensory capacities; direct and peripheral vision, the detection of sounds, scent, and various other elements such as temperature, humidity, visibility, exposure, and positional advantage, and even psychological factors like dialogue, mood, and emotional tension. This awareness can be refined through experience, but should first be developed through classroom case studies and review of previous events.

As you consider how many different factors there may be to assess and calculate, the difficulty of mastering this skill becomes apparent, as does the impact it can have in furthering an agent’s ability to evaluate a situation and to act effectively in securing their objectives safely and successfully. A truly excellent security agent will always maintain vigilance in their awareness of situational factors and the gravity of potential consequences.