Do you need professional executive protection services? What qualities do you need to look out for in an executive protection personnel? What are the attributes of a executive protection professional? Do you aspire to become a bodyguard? Well, I suggest you read on.

Now what is an executive protection officer? An executive protection professional is a bodyguard trained to protect executive or high profile individuals – such as business or corporate executives, political office holders, and the royalty.

An executive protection professional accompanies executive individuals, keeps watch over them, and protects them from life-threatening emergencies. He does all these while keeping a low profile and remaining as unobtrusive as possible.

If you are an executive who needs to hire a bodyguard, then an executive protection professional is what you need. In this article, you will learn 10 attributes that an executive protection professional must have. Learn these attributes, and know the duties of a guard so that you will not end up hiring the wrong person.

10 Attributes and Qualities of an Executive Protection Professional

1.   Military training and experience

Since you are hiring a bodyguard mainly for protection, it is very necessary that your bodyguard has some military, police, or other security guard-related experience. Someone who has this experience will quickly adapt to working with you and will easily perform his duties, which are majorly four – “observe, detect, deter, and report.

2.    Good communication skills

A good executive protection professional must have very good communication skills – verbal, gestural, and otherwise. He must be able to communicate effectively, accurately, confidently, and eloquently. Also, an executive protection professional must have great listening skills. Without these, chances are, he would misconstrue assignments, and commit many blunders.

3.   Good writing skills

An executive protection professional must have very good writing skills. This is because he will regularly deal with reports, memos, emails, and other written materials throughout his career. He should be able to write in simple, easy-to-understand, and grammatically flawless English.

4.   Good customer service experience

Because your bodyguard will most of the time pick your calls and attend to your guests, he is saddled with the task of making an excellent first impression about you.

So hire someone with courtesy. Only professionals with very good human relation skills will help you establish a good reputation. Of course, you don’t want to hire a bodyguard that no one likes to communicate with due to his lack of courtesy.

5.   Good judgment and decision-making skills

An ideal executive protection professional must know how to deal with bad behavior, crisis and attack against your person or assets. To be able to act fast and handle these situations professionally, the executive protection professional must have a very good sense of judgment. Hiring a bodyguard with a weak sense of judgment could be dangerous; such a person may get confused and be too slow to act during crises.

6.    Good driving skills

An executive protection professional must be legally authorized to drive a vehicle. That is, he must hold a valid drivers’ license. He must also have defensive driving skills. In other words, he must know how to drive professionally to save lives (for instance, during crises), money, property, and time. The National Safety Council’s Defensive Driving Course is aimed at teaching individuals strategic and defensive driving skills. So, you may want to hire someone who has undergone this course.

7.    Computer literacy

It is very important that an executive protection professional understands basic computer skills – at least. He should be able to surf the internet and search for any needed information. He should be able to create and manage relevant files on a computer. And he should be able to use various software packages.

8.    Fitness and sound health

Although having huge muscles that could intimidate people is not necessary, an executive protection professional should a very sound health. That is, he should rarely have health problems. Also, an executive protection professional must be physically fit. Though he may not be very muscular, he shouldn’t look flabby and should have a smart appearance.

9.    Ability to handle firearms

Sometimes, some situations may warrant the use of firearms to protect your life. An executive protection professional must understand this and must be skilled with the use of various firearms and other self-defense devices. Most of the time, professionals who have undergone adequate military training are very good at handling guns and other protective weapons.

10.   Martial arts skills

Sometimes, you may not need guns and other weapons to save your life. In such cases, some martial arts skills will rescue you perfectly. So, it is very important that your bodyguard has these skills.

Also, your state or country laws may prohibit bodyguards and other civilians from carrying guns and similar firearms. So it is advisable you check with your state laws before arming your guard. In this case, your bodyguard must have great martial arts and self-defense skills, as they may be needed in times of attack and violence.

As a final note, if you check for and hire a bodyguard with all these qualities, you won’t make the wrong choice.