How to turn a well-meaning network into a measurable engine  

Security Champions programmes are growing. That is the good news.

The harder truth is that many programmes plateau after the initial enthusiasm. Champions attend calls, share comms, complete training, and still the same risky behaviours keep surfacing: late incident reporting, insecure workarounds, rushed approvals, and silence at the point where someone should have spoken up.

This article sets out a modern, practical model for helping champion networks to be more effective agents of behavioural change.

Why most Security Champions programmes underperform

Underperformance is rarely due to lack of effort. It is usually due to structural design issues:

  • Champions are selected for enthusiasm rather than influence and proximity to risk.
  • The role is unclear, so Champions default to awareness activity rather than behaviour change.
  • Champions are expected to “own security” without time, authority, or practical tools.
  • Success is measured by inputs (attendance, training, comms shared) rather than outcomes (reduced repeat risk).
  • Psychological safety is assumed rather than engineered, so people still stay quiet when it matters.

A Champions programme built on goodwill alone will always struggle to scale. A programme built as infrastructure becomes repeatable, credible, and resilient.

A better definition of a Security Champion

A Security Champion is not a mini security analyst.

A modern Security Champion is a trusted peer who improves day-to-day decisions by shaping the conditions that drive behaviour.

In practical terms, Champions create impact when they help teams:

  • report risks earlier

  • reduce insecure workarounds

  • make safe choices easier than unsafe ones

  • spot issues sooner in delivery, not later in incident response

  • talk openly about risk without fear of blame

Knowledge matters, but knowledge must convert into action in real environments.

The five shifts that unlock real Champions impact

1) From awareness messengers to behaviour designers

Information rarely changes behaviour on its own. Context does.

The strongest Champions focus on reducing friction and improving defaults, for example, by simplifying a process, improving a template, embedding a prompt at a decision point, or removing the blocker that causes people to bypass controls.

The mindset shift is simple: stop asking “How do I persuade people?” and start asking “How do I make the secure path the easiest path?”

2) From “be more secure” to a defined behaviour portfolio

“Be more secure” is not a behaviour. It is an aspiration.

High-performing programmes pick a small set of high-frequency behaviours that materially reduce risk. Examples include reporting suspicious messages quickly, verifying payment change requests, raising delivery risks early, using approved sharing methods, and protecting accounts with strong authentication. When Champions target a defined portfolio, you can train, equip, and measure properly.

3) From volunteer recruitment to strategic network placement

Influence flows through social networks, not organisational charts. Many programmes recruit the people who opt in, not the people who shape team norms. If you want culture change, you need Champions embedded where risk decisions are made and peer influence is strongest. That includes frontline operational teams, not only technology functions.

4) From heroic effort to repeatable micro-interventions

Champions burn out when impact depends on constant energy. Scalable programmes rely on small, repeatable interventions that fit inside normal work rhythms, such as brief risk prompts in stand-ups, “secure by default” checklists in templates, and standard language for escalation and challenge. Small interventions, repeated consistently, change habits and norms.

5) From activity metrics to capability and outcomes

Counting Champions and meetings is easy. It is also misleading.

A programme becomes credible when it can demonstrate reduced repeat risk and improved learning. Outcome indicators often include earlier reporting, fewer repeats of the same incident patterns, increased adoption of safer defaults, and stronger perceptions of psychological safety to speak up. This is where Champions shift from “nice to have” to operational advantage.

The missing cornerstone: cyber psychological safety

A Champions network can only be as effective as the environment in which it operates.

If colleagues believe reporting will lead to shame, blame, or career risk, they will minimise, delay, or stay silent. Champions then become a comms channel rather than a culture lever.

This is why a Cyber Psychological Safety Policy is so powerful when properly enforced. It creates an organisational mandate that good faith reporting is valued and protected, and that incidents and near misses are treated as learning opportunities, not personal failures.

Importantly, psychological safety is not the absence of accountability. It does not protect malicious activity or deliberate wrongdoing. It distinguishes human error from negligence, recklessness, and intent. That fairness is what builds trust.

In a psychologically safe environment, Champions can do the job they were always meant to do: surface reality early, support colleagues, and turn “moments that matter” into durable improvements.

The S.P.A.R.K. Loop: a Champion operating model that sticks

To make Security Champions scalable and effective, think in loops, not events. The S.P.A.R.K. Loop turns Champions into local problem-solvers who improve security in the flow of work.

S – Spot
Notice friction, risky workarounds, near misses, and early warning signals in day-to-day activity. Pay attention to how work really gets done, especially under pressure.

P – Pinpoint
Identify what is driving the behaviour. Is the secure route unclear? Too slow? Too complex? Socially awkward to challenge? Blocked by tooling or process? This step is about finding the real cause, not the visible symptom.

A – Act
Introduce a small intervention that changes the environment. Reduce friction, improve defaults, embed prompts into templates, or create an easy escalation path. Keep it practical and implementable locally.

R – Reinforce
Make the safer behaviour normal. Recognise early reporting, thank colleagues who speak up, and repeat the cues that make secure behaviour feel expected and supported. This is where norms start to shift.

K – Knowledge-share
Capture what worked and share it so others can reuse it. Feed learning into the Champions community and into organisational processes such as onboarding, delivery templates, and security standards, so improvements scale beyond one team.

How to strengthen your Champions programme in 2026

If you want a pragmatic reset, start with three moves.

Define your behaviour portfolio
Pick a small number of behaviours that reduce real risk, and make them the programme’s focus.

Place Champions where influence and risk sit
Select for peer trust, network influence, and proximity to high-risk decisions.

Equip Champions with micro-interventions and the mandate to remove friction
Training matters, but tools, templates, decision prompts, and leadership backing matter more.

If you do those three things, you move from a Champions community to a Champions capability.

Closing thought

Security Champions are one of the most powerful capabilities available to organisations because they operate where central security cannot: inside team norms, everyday decisions, and the reality of delivery pressure.

The next evolution is to empower Champions as behavioural change agents, measured by outcomes, protected by psychological safety, and aligned to a mission that prioritises resilience through knowledge and practical action.

If you want to make your Champions programme a genuine force multiplier, start small, design for behaviour, and scale what works. The frontline will show you where the real risks live. Your Champions can help you fix them.