For those in California, you have likely come across some Instagram accounts for security and protection agents who are working with rich and famous clients. Now, there is nothing wrong with having an Instagram account, pretty much every person has one at this point. However, certain executive protection agents use their job as a way to grow their online following and they have ambitions to be Instagram famous with thousands of followers.
This is certainly not where you want your executive protection agent’s priorities to be. This type of executive protection agent is in the business for all the wrong reasons and could actually put their client’s safety in peril in the process of posting on social media.
Instead, you should look for an executive protection agency that hires agents who put their professional responsibilities and work above everything else and certainly do not care about their follower count on Instagram. Finding a protection team with the right mindset and ethos is central to keeping yourself, your family, and your home safe.
Executive Protection Agents with the Wrong Priorities
There is a certain breed of executive protection agents that cross professional boundaries in numerous ways. We like to call these types of agents ‘buddyguards’ because they lose their professional status as bodyguards and protection agents and become a confusing mix of friend and security detail.
This can be a very dangerous combination for the client without them even realizing it. Why is it so dangerous? Well, there are a number of ways that having an unprofessional executive protection agent will put you in danger.
For those agents that are putting their social media following ahead of their responsibilities, you might find that they post photos with their current location, which may be a flashy hotel or bar or a vacation destination where they have been brought to keep their client safe and secure. Instead, what they are doing, even unintentionally, is broadcasting their client’s precise location. This can lead to enhanced risks including being followed by dangerous individuals or stalkers, but also will show people online that the client’s main residence is left empty and potentially less secure than usual.
This often leads to more break ins and home invasions, leaving a client feeling shaken and insecure in their own home. This is the opposite of how you want a client to feel. The best executive protection agents care far more about keeping the client safe and feeling confident and secure than anything about their follower numbers.
For those who have crossed professional boundaries and become more like friends to their clients only add to these risks and unintentional, but inexcusable, mistakes that leave their client open to different threats.
Often times, clients that build personal or even romantic relationships with protection agents begin to ask different things of their agents. For instance, the protection agent or bodyguard might begin to take on small tasks or chores, like food shopping or walking the family dog. Perhaps on the surface this all seems very harmless. However, it distracts the protection agent from what they should be doing, which is closely monitoring and protecting the client and ensuring that they are safe at all times. Doing these chores ultimately separates the agent from the client, leaving the client exposed to dangers and risks.
A good executive protection agent puts up and maintains their professional boundaries. This allows them to always prioritize their real responsibilities and protection duties. Sometimes this may mean needing to tell the client ‘no’ when it comes to doing extra tasks in the house or taking separate cars. The client needs to understand that even though they have hired the protection agent, there are certain things they cannot ask for or demand from a truly excellent agent who has their best interests in mind.
Unprofessional Appearance
Alongside the dangerous and unprofessional activities mentioned above, there are other choices made by bad executive protection agents who want to become famous or well known on social media.
Those who are chasing fame, often prefer to be a flashy type of executive protection agent or bodyguard. Someone who likes to wear showy clothes and continually have their gun on display is not the type of person you want taking care of your safety and that of your family and home. They will be more concerned with looking cool, tough, and intimidating than actually making sure you are kept safe and away from danger.
So many high profile executives and celebrities think that the best protection agents and guards look big and muscly. They will ask their protection company to give them a personal agent who is their biggest and toughest looking individual. However, this is actually a huge mistake to make. Not only will the protection agent’s appearance draw far more attention to the client and what they are doing, but many times the biggest guards do not always have training.
Instead, clients should be asking for a very different type of executive protection agent. While it is absolutely fine to have a well built and big protection agent, this is not the first priority. You want to ensure that they present in a less flashy way without the need to show they have a gun on them. In fact, a protection agent should want to avoid using a gun at all costs.
Proper training will allow the protection agent to be thoroughly aware of their–and the client’s–surroundings at all times, which means an escape route or a safe room is always known and can be planned around. Hundreds of hours of training will provide the executive protection agent with expertise and knowledge of how to mitigate risks. The agent will also have a deep understanding of choreography so they can handle different types of dangers and also know how to get the client as far away from the threat quickly and subtly.
Choosing the right type of executive protection company really can mean the difference between life and death situations. A company that emphasizes professionalism and training is always so much better than one that allows their agents to look flashy and post carelessly on social media.
