A quick internet search using the words, “Executive Protection Training” reveals a number of courses that are available for about $250-$500 dollars a day. Add this to the air fare, meals and lodging and you have easily spent thousands of dollars to attend this type of training. The websites that offer this training look slick, with professional rotating pictures of limousines, private jets, yachts, limos and guys with guns. It is testosterone heaven. But wait…..there’s more!
As you click through the tabs you see all the services that are offered: Executive Protection, Witness Protection, Dignitary Protection, Investigations of all types, and a multitude of courses that are offered; from Handgun Training to High Risk Environments. And, if you register for a course now, you get a 10% discount on your next outrageously priced course! With all of these great pictures and all these services that are offered, they must be legitimate and professional, right? Buyer, beware! Many of these websites are more like the Wizard of Oz than the Fantastic Four; because what lies behind the curtain is often a big disappointment. But you wouldn’t know that from looking at the website.
What motivates a man or woman to give an unknown organization thousands of dollars to attend training for a position they will probably never have?
Machismo
The Spanish and Portuguese roots of this word have to do with masculinity being superior to femininity. Machismo, as commonly interpreted today in the United States is defined as a “strong or exaggerated sense of masculinity stressing attributes such as physical courage, virility and aggressiveness; an exaggerated sense of strength or toughness”. This definition would describe the stereotypical perception many people have of the Executive Protection Agent or Bodyguard. In fact, many of these types of personalities are drawn to the profession. There are other reasons as well.
Author Bron B. Ingoldsby presented a paper at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Family Relations in 1985 entitled; A Theory for the Development of Machismo. The abstract reads as follows: “With changes in sex role expectations in marriage, family researchers have begun to examine the concept of machismo. Two characteristics dominant in the study of machismo are aggressiveness and hyper-sexuality. A biological model of machismo asserts that males everywhere tend to be more aggressive than females, a sex difference which appears to have a genetic base. A modern theory of sociobiology offers another explanation for macho behavior. According to this theory, much of animal, and perhaps human, behavior is influenced by the drive for one’s genes to reproduce themselves. A generally accepted psychological theory views machismo as an expression of an inferiority complex. Most research on machismo is restricted to the lower classes. Research from Mexico, Puerto Rico, England, and the United States suggests that lower class males suffer from job insecurity and compensate for their feelings of inferiority by exaggerating their masculinity and by subordinating women. Other studies point to distant father-son relationships as one factor leading to feelings of inferiority and to the development of machismo. Women may support machismo by being submissive, dependent, and passive. The combination of feeling inferior and acting superior is machismo, a trait that is repeated generation after generation. If men can be socialized toward male parental investment, the incidence of machismo may decline and the incidences of men feeling self-esteem and women feeling equal to men may rise”.
From this pool of people, we would expect to see men and women enlisting in professions like Executive Protection because they are driven by an inferiority complex and overcompensate by entering a dangerous profession, which in turn helps them feel superior. I can affirmatively assert this is true. The bulk of my business is training, and I have probably trained several thousand students at this point in my career. One of the courses I teach is Executive Safety & Vulnerability. Albeit a small percentage, I have met my fair share of overcompensating students trying to deal with some psychological inadequacy. Does the word, “wannabe” sound familiar?
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