Anatoly Bodner
CISO/Head of Cyber Security
Treehouse Foods
I am a hands-on information security executive with insatiable curiosity, deep love for technology and process, and a passion for people and our community. Over the past 20 years, I’ve had the privilege of serving in progressive technical and leadership roles across industry and advisory, and presently run Cybersecurity for TreeHouse Foods – a multi-billion dollar multinational packaged food manufacturing company in the US.
Outside of work, I am a proud father of four, aspiring athlete and a random hobbyist. You can find me cycling, running, skiing, trying to perfect the nitrogen cycle, and fixing all things broken (and some not). I am also quite involved with strengthening the Chicagoland Cybersecurity community, and aside from my involvement with Gartner C-Level Communities, I lead OWASP Chicago Chapter and the Chicagoland Cybersecurity Exchange meetup.
Learn more about the Chicago CISO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
My love and passion for all things technology started when I was a little kid. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate in having the right motivation, rigor, discipline, mentorship, opportunities, and luck to build a relatively successful career and mentor others. I’ve kept moving up through progressive roles at some of the world’s foremost organizations, forging the experience and expertise that enabled me to function effectively at every level.
Intersection of innovation, technology and leadership is my calling. I plan to continue my journey of personal and professional growth indefinitely, and continue building our community and forging the next generation of talented specialists that will change the world for the better.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
There are many, but among them are being a good human, being humble, being invested into relationships, doing what you say, listening more than talking, genuinely caring about others, and helping others rise.
What is the greatest challenge CISOs face today, and how are you addressing it?
Challenges are plenty, but I’d highlight three key ones:
First is keeping our people happy, engaged, and invested into. They are the superpowers that look up to us, help us stay ahead, help us make a lot with a little, and deliver the outcomes that we are collectively measured by. I give my teams every opportunity available to me to learn, grow and advance, and at times have to get creative when the resources to do so are lean.
Second is velocity of decisions and actions. Understand that in our industry, there will always be rapid change, there will always be innovations, distractions, re-prioritization and chaos. Quick decision making and taking action are an integral part of what it takes to succeed. I use an adaptation of the speed-reversibility matrix to make hundreds of decisions daily, an approach that helps me and my teams move with speed and courage, operate with agility, and stay ahead.
Third is communications. You are much more likely to earn and retain credibility and support with your stakeholders and peers if they understand your messaging and can relate to your position and actions. Simplifying communications, using relatable analogies, and articulating how your actions can help them achieve their goals can go a long way in removing barriers and gaining alignment.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?
- People. Your people are your superpowers. Get to know, invest into, and put trust into your teams. With their trust comes commitment and loyalty, and with that, you have the best performing teams that fuel the most important of capabilities.
- Strategy and execution. If you’re coming from a technical background or role, you may be tempted to move fast and go in with guns blazing. You may very well know how things get done in the trenches, but the reality of leadership, and standing up and running sustainable programs can be quite different. You have to strategize. You have to prioritize. You have to seek and drive alignment. You have to be methodical and patient. Sometimes you will be able to move quickly, but don’t get discouraged when you have to slow down for the greater good.
- Resources. It is unlikely that you will have all of the money, people, tools and time you need, and will have to make do with what you have. Strive for great, but don’t give up if good or acceptable are your only options. Start with what you can start with and grow from there. Crawl, then walk, then run.
How do you measure success as a leader?
As a people leader, success to me is through your team members. Roles, responsibilities, experience, expertise – it can take any form, but keeping team members invested into and growing is a measure. Even in situations where a team member takes on another role, seeing how my investment into them helped them grow and progress in their career shows that I’ve succeeded.
As a function leader, success to me is seeing improvement in capability, efficacy, or efficiency of what we do. Build and maintain exhaustive metrics, even if many of them are for your eyes only. If you do not see that you are moving forward, realize that you’re falling behind.
As a human being, success to me is the impact that I make within my sphere of influence. I volunteer a great deal of my time mentoring others and helping strengthen the local Chicagoland Cybersecurity community. I find great joy seeing my mentees get their first offer letters and progress their careers. Seeing more and more community members coming together, learning, networking, building relationships and exchanging ideas at events and meetups I organize is incredibly inspiring, and motivates me to do more.
What is the value of being a member of Gartner C-level Communities?
I think this is a wonderful community of leaders that get together to discuss and brainstorm on solutions to some of our greatest challenges, while having a great time doing so. This coming together builds and reinforces a stronger community and foundation for the industry to build upon, helping us all get, and stay ahead.
Gartner C-level Communities Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
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