Prior Planning and Preparation, The 7 P's, when working in the private security industry.

Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance, was a term I heard most days when I served in the Army, and it's still at the forefront of my mind today.

In the private security industry, performance is everything. Whether you’re stepping into your first Door Supervisor role, transitioning into Close Protection, or building toward specialist work such as surveillance, maritime security, or hostile environment protection, one truth remains constant: you will only ever perform as well as you have prepared.

This is where “The 7 P’s” comes in:

Prior Planning and Preparation prevent Piss Poor Performance.

It’s a blunt phrase, but it endures for a reason, because it’s true.

Across military operations, emergency services, and professional security work worldwide, the same lesson is repeated again and again: failure is rarely caused by lack of courage; it is almost always caused by lack of preparation.

This principle doesn’t just apply to operations on the ground. It applies just as heavily to your personal development, your career planning, and the direction you choose within the private security industry.

Preparation Is the Difference Between a Job and a Career

Many people enter the private security sector by accident rather than design. A Door Supervisor badge leads to a Close Protection aspiration. A stewarding role leads to static guarding. Before long, individuals find themselves moving from course to course without a clear destination.

There is nothing wrong with starting at the bottom. What is dangerous is moving forward without a plan.

Preparation at a personal level means asking the hard questions early:

• What do I actually want to do in this industry?

• Do I see this as short-term income or as a long-term profession?

• Do I want to work domestically or internationally?

• Am I interested in protective security, medical response, surveillance, consultancy, or management?

• What skills will I need in three years’ time, not just right now?

Without clarity on these points, people often waste thousands of pounds on unnecessary training, follow unrealistic career paths, or become disillusioned when reality doesn’t match social media portrayals of the industry.

Preparation protects you from disappointment, debt, and dead ends.

Prior Planning Negates Poor Performance

Performance failures in the private security industry are rarely sudden. They are almost always predictable in hindsight:

• The operative who panics during a medical emergency often skips medical refreshers.

• The close protection operative who misses a threat cue usually neglects surveillance training.

• The team member who freezes under pressure often has never trained under pressure.

• The contractor who breaches protocol usually hasn’t internalised it through rehearsal.

These are not talent failures. They are planning failures.

Prior planning means:

• Training beyond the minimum legal requirement

• Rehearsing scenarios before you ever face them for real

• Stress inoculation through realistic exercises

• Continuous professional development, not one-off certification

The private security industry is unforgiving of complacency. Real threats do not announce themselves politely, and real consequences follow poor preparation immediately.

You do not rise to the level of your ambitions; you fall to the level of your preparation.

Planning Your Direction of Travel

One of the biggest mistakes in the industry is career drift. People collect qualifications without a career strategy, hoping that credentials alone will “open doors.”

They rarely do.

Instead, you must treat your security career like a professional campaign plan:

1. Define Your End State

   
   

   What does “success” look like for you in 5–10 years? Executive protection? Consultancy? Training? Overseas contracts?

   
   

2. Identify Required Competencies

   
   

   Each pathway requires different skill sets:

   
   

   • Close Protection demands medical, surveillance, driving, and tactical awareness

   • Medical response requires FREC, tactical trauma, and operational conditioning

   • Surveillance requires patience, technical proficiency, and behavioural analysis

   • Management requires leadership, law, HR, and compliance knowledge

   
   

3. Map Your Training Pipeline

   
   

   Once your direction is clear, your training becomes purposeful instead of random:

   
   

   • Entry qualification

   • Specialist development

   • Advanced refreshers

   • Leadership progression

   
   

4. Build Experience in Parallel

   
   

   Training without operational exposure creates “paper operatives.” Seek roles that grow alongside your qualifications.

This is where the 7 P’s come full circle: the earlier you plan your direction, the less corrective action you will need later.

Choosing the Right Training Provider: A Critical Decision

Arguably, one of the most important planning decisions in your career is who you allow to train you.

Not all training providers are created equal. The industry contains outstanding professionals, and unfortunately, some who offer little more than box-ticking certificates.

When choosing a training provider, you should assess them with the same scrutiny you would apply to an operational contractor:

✅ 1. Operational Credibility

Do the instructors have genuine, real-world experience beyond “once having worked in security”? Look for:

• Military, police, emergency services, or high-level operational backgrounds

• Proven deployment histories

• Real protective assignments, not just classroom delivery

✅ 2. Realistic Training Standards

Are students challenged under pressure, or simply shepherded through assessments?

Real training should be:

• Physically and mentally demanding

• Scenario-based

• Stress-tested

• Fail-capable (not everyone should pass)

If everyone passes easily, standards are likely diluted.

✅ 3. Post-Course Support

Good providers do not disappear after certification. They offer:

• Careers guidance

• CV support

• Industry networking

• Continuous development opportunities

A course gives you a qualification. A provider should give you a future.

✅ 4. Transparency

Be wary of providers who:

• Guarantee work

• Promise overseas contracts immediately

• Oversell earnings

• Downplay risks

Professional training organisations educate you on the realities, not fantasies.

Social Media vs Operational Reality

One of the greatest planning hazards today is social media distortion. The industry is presented online as high-gloss, high-status, constant adrenaline. In reality, the job often involves:

• Long hours

• Repetition

• Discipline

• Invisible professionalism

• Emotional control

• Legal accountability

• And often very little recognition

Those who fail to plan psychologically for this reality are the ones who burn out early.

Preparation is not just physical and technical; it is mental conditioning for the true nature of the work.

Your Reputation Is Built in Preparation

Operational failures damage contracts.

But preparation failures damage reputations.

In this industry, reputation travels faster than CVs. People remember:

• Who trained properly

• Who cut corners

• Who panicked

• Who stayed calm

• Who made sound decisions

• Who became a liability

Your reputation is formed long before your most important moment. It is built:

• In training halls

• On cold mornings

• During dry rehearsals

• In medical refreshers

• In legal revision

• In your willingness to be uncomfortable before being operational

You either invest in preparation early, or you pay for consequences later.

The 7 P’s at a Personal Level

When applied to personal development, the 7 P’s become a life rule:

• Plan your destination before you buy your ticket.

• Prepare for pressure before pressure finds you.

• Train for failure before failure occurs.

• Build discipline before you need courage.

• Learn the law before you test it.

• Condition the body before the body is tested.

• Strengthen the mind before the mind is shaken.

In the private security industry, luck is rarely at play. Outcomes are almost entirely a reflection of preparation.

Final Thoughts: Professionalism Begins Long Before Deployment

The difference between an average operative and a professional one is not aggression, fitness, or even courage. It is structure, foresight, and preparation.

The 7 P’s are not just a catchy phrase. They are a professional operating principle.

If you:

• Plan your career deliberately

• Choose your training providers wisely

• Prepare beyond the minimum standard

• And approach development as a lifelong discipline

Then you dramatically reduce the risk of failure, burnout, stagnation, and poor performance.

Prior Planning and Preparation will always prevent Piss Poor Performance, on the ground, in the classroom, and in your career.

The private security industry does not reward shortcuts; It rewards those who prepare long before they are tested.