Given the high stakes nature of the business, executive protection firms should hire only the best people to become their agents and make sure that the quality of their service remains consistent.
An executive protection agent’s value is determined not only by his military or government credentials alone — but he should also possess certain characteristics that set him apart from the traditional bodyguards.
These traits are essential in order to meet the strict demands of the protective service business. Keeping clients or the principals safe and happy is the main goal here and it’s the job of the executive protection firm to constantly keep up with the evolving needs of their clients and come up with methods to provide them.
Emotional intelligence is also a huge factor in terms of these traits and characteristics. A successful executive protection agent should be able to spend a lot of time with clients without having to be friends with them — an important skill to develop in order to maintain impartiality.
Essential Traits to Look Out For in Assessing the Effectiveness of an Executive Protection Agent
It boils down to having a special combination of physical abilities and the smarts in order to become an agent worthy of a world-class executive protection firm such as the World Protection Group.
Resourcefulness
Agents are mostly placed in ever-evolving situations, making them work with unique situations. Common aspects of the job include changes in tasks, venue, and expectations.
Even the tried-and-tested operating procedures can get tested by non-standard situations. It’s the job of the executive protection agent to step in and make everything run smoothly again.
This is why agents must be creative problem solvers who can make the best out of any situation using whatever resources they have at the moment. They should be able to adapt to any environment quickly and should get on their feet swiftly.
Also, the mark of a great agent is not relying on Plan A and always has Plan B and Plan C in case the original plan goes haywire.
Discretion
An executive protection agent spends most of his time with the principal in all areas of the latter’s life, blending in his work environment, his home life, and his time with family and friends. In short, an agent sees everything and this is why discretion is of paramount importance.
Complete confidentiality is part of the contract with the principal and an agent knows how to observe without saying or doing anything unless needed.
Resilience
Executive protection agents are trained to be tough inside and out, but they are still human. Even the best agents will have their own share of stress and bad things happening to them.
This is where resilience comes in. Agents should be conditioned psychologically to do their job with excellence even while they are in the midst of their own personal turmoil.
Calmness is an essential part of the job and an agent should remain unshakeable no matter what — they should prepare to set their own issues aside since the needs of the principal supersede everything else.
In this regard, an agent should have the ability to counterbalance their negative emotions with positive ones in order to keep their wits together for the job.
Socially Competent
Just because they are in the background doesn’t mean that agents do not have to be socially skilled. On the contrary, it’s an essential skill for them to have since they have to work with different types of people and they must be able to build a good relationship with them.
Getting their message across is an important part of the job which is why agents should have nothing less than good communication skills.
They have to be well-trained in both verbal and non-verbal communication. Agents know when to fade into the background and when to get out of the shadows and converse with the principals and those around them.
Service-Oriented
Executive protection is about meeting the needs of your client, just like other service-oriented industries. It’s important for an agent to understand that his needs are only secondary to the principal’s and he should be ready to make the necessary sacrifices. Agents should go through a rigorous background check, psychological testing, strength testing and extensive training that is customized for each client. There are certain necessary personality traits in each of the agents; they must be positive, team players, prepared and organized, high ethics and integrity, flexible, great at communications, and able to make common-sense decisions.
Physically Capable
As someone who will literally shield the principal from a potential bullet, an executive protection agent should be in top physical shape, nothing less.
Hard skills like fighting ability and how to physically handle threats are also essential because they can be the difference between safety and harm of our clients. Unfortunately, we believe that far too many protection experts focus on the hard skills and don’t deliver a quality client experience, making their presence a little threatening and uncomfortable.
Work Only With the Best Agents for Your Protection
As a celebrity or high-net-worth individual, you will need nothing less than personal protection of the highest caliber.
The World Protection Group has the best executive protection agents in the industry, highly trained and thoroughly assessed to deliver the quality of protection that individuals such as you deserve.
