The Human Side of Cybersecurity with Michael South, CISO at Dick’s Sporting Goods

Episode notes

In this episode of The Human Side of Cybersecurity, Dan Desko, Founder & CEO of Echelon Risk + Cyber, sits down with Michael South, CISO at Dick’s Sporting Goods, for a candid discussion about leadership, pressure, and how the role changes over time. Drawing on nearly three decades of experience across the Navy, IT, operations, government, and retail, Michael shares how his perspective on risk has been shaped less by technology and more by operational reality, human impact, and business context. The conversation moves beyond tools to examine what sustained urgency does to people and judgment. Michael reflects on learning the hard way, particularly during early cloud adoption, why restraint, empathy, and prioritization matter as much as technical expertise. He also addresses burnout as an operational risk, explaining why leaders must be intentional about protecting teams from unnecessary pressure. The discussion offers a grounded look at what it actually takes to lead security programs at scale.