John Rodriguez is an extraordinary security professional whom I have enjoyed working with for over 35 years.

John’s effectiveness stems from both his broad experience across many cultures, and his intelligence, authenticity and genuine empathy for others. He possesses one of the most innovative minds for assessing how to build a security culture for business success and improve employer-employee relationships in challenging situations.

These qualities place John on my A-list of professional resources for even the most demanding projects. Believing that an ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of cure, John also focuses on helping businesses better position their mental health programs so that social stigma barriers are broken, thereby enabling employees to more fully benefit from their employer’s available mental health resources - a concept that is long overdue in business.

John and I have been friends for many years. We started our friendship as volunteers at ASIS. We worked together on many projects for the betterment of the security community. John never said “no” as long as it involved the security community.

John is well versed in the business of security and has worked for some of the best companies in the world. And he is not done with that. Keep an eye out for his next escapade and I am sure it will involve teaching and mentoring. He is particularly fond of helping our colleagues in LATAM. Great to be friends with John.

“John is innovating and disrupting how security departments are perceived by embracing and promoting the importance of human connection to create the right security culture”.  

”When it comes to Workplace Violence, we as physical security leaders often focus on reactive measures and compliance. John Rodriguez gave a fantastic presentation that focused on leveraging soft skills to build and maintain a far more effective and inclusive Workplace Violence program. Highly recommended to all those leaders who pride themselves on using all the available tools in their toolbox to better safeguard their company’s people, assets, and reputation.”

“John Rodriguez provided thought-provoking insights into building a security culture in today’s workplace. CSOs were reminded that today’s employees deserve - and increasingly demand - empathy, compassion, and a caring tone from the top.”

“Thank you for presenting today at the CSO Center, great conversation and it was extremely helpful to hear your insights. The validation that we are taking our security program down the right track was key. You hit on so many points that are critical to success!”

It’s not every day that we get to witness a presentation that not only enlightens but truly inspires. John, your recent talk was nothing short of a masterclass—melding deep insights with practical wisdom in a way that spoke to all of us. Your dedication to not just addressing the complexities of corporate security but making them understandable and actionable is commendable. Thank you for leading by example and motivating us to aim higher in our profession.

• “This is the first time in 30 years working here that I felt someone spoke to me and not at me….”
• “I cried when you cried…thanks for being so vulnerable…wow.”
• “The authenticity of John’s presentation made me feel the importance of everything – his humility really spoke to me allowing me to listen better than to somebody without any.’
• “I have a better understanding that my mental health is important to care for.”
• “I am interested in learning more about mental health.”
• “I understand the importance of having a respectful workplace, where others respect me and I respect others.”
• “Up to now, I feel I am respected by co-workers.”
• “Up to now, I feel I am respected by my direct supervisor.”

It’s rare that you come across someone who is so committed to the importance of building a strong culture. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing John for four years, during which we partnered together on breaking down barriers to have a positive impact on employee mental health through the Community Conversations program which began with Sonexus Health. Eventually, the model was adopted by the Cardinal Health corporate benefits team and is now being rolled out globally. As the leader of a business unit, I also appreciated John’s expertise and support of our Security concerns. He took time to understand the changing needs of the business and was able to flex with us.

Tara Herington. Vice President, Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions Group (2021).

John’s experience in and commitment to security was evident every day. His passion for mental health awareness and employee assistance was inspiring. I soughtout and valued his input on many projects. He helped me improve my empathy and develop ways to encourage others to break through the stigma around mental health awareness. Thank you, John, you will be missed.

Ken Burd, CPP. Global Security Manager at Cardinal Health.

John Rodriguez has been a NAMI Support Group Facilitator for over 3 years. We are so privileged that John chose NAMI Central TX to volunteer his time. John consistently shares his own life experience to provide support for loved ones of people living with a mental health condition. His presence as a professional, parent, spouse, and male provides a strong and empathetic example to others. He brings creative and positive ideas that have led to changes in our programmingand assisted in bringing Bi-lingual services to the community. There are no words to describe the gratitude we have for John’s commitment to support his community and NAMI Central Texas’ mission.

• The authenticity of the presentation made me feel the importance of everything.
• Very open and relatable.
• His humility really spoke to me allowing me to listen better than to somebody without any.
• The presentation stayed on point, it was engaged and allowed audience participation.
• Everything - Everything he talked about.
• I enjoyed the enthusiasm and liveliness of the speaker.
• Storytelling - Talked about personal experience
• The mental health discussion - As someone who deals with mental health, it was nice to hear about it in the workplace.
• Personal stories - He hit all the major points and gave us real-life situations.
• The presentation on mental wellness, respectful workplace and workplace violence prevention and reaction was helpful to me.
• I agree it is important to report any behavior, events or information that could be related to what was presented in the workplace violence section of the presentation.

“Company employees responsible for conducting employee investigations and/or receiving employee complaints should attend the deceptive behavior training. The course offers practical tips on how to properly conduct employee investigative interviews and how to engage employees in a manner that encourages discussion and cooperation. John provides engaging and entertaining real- life videos of public figures engaged in untruthful behavior to help attendees spot physical and verbal cues that a person may be lying.”

“I was among the course attendees this Tuesday. This training was really great. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that it was so easy and direct that I already detected lying in one of my meetings two days after the course. I’m really impressed. And if you have any recommendations on additional materials, I would be happy to receive them. You may consider me as your follower now!”

“The deceptive behavior training has been a great benefit for operations. I encourage my teams to continue with this as the applicability is for many situations.”

“I had John come out and deliver this training to our Employee Relations, Human Resources, Legal and Security personnel this spring. Had over 55 attendees and it was a huge hit.”

“Two days after John’s class, I applied the methodology and determined someone was deceptive and able to resolve the matter faster.”

I met John during ASIS International (now Global Security Exchange) in Las Vegas in 2007. John was kind enough as to spend his lunch hour with a security rookie stranger. We had a very pleasant conversation that ended up changing my career and life.

A year later, I joined John’s group as the Country Security Manager for Kimberly-Clark Healthcare. I worked for John shy of three years, we kept in touch and John even helped me with my next career opportunity. Deep inside I always wished that I would work for John again. Although that didn’t happen, John has stayed my mentor and friend since.

John is truly a people-oriented person who’s always willing to hear you and offer his guidance. John, I am really grateful for all of these years, I’m sure you will continue to fulfill your calling by helping others.

John is a true professional. He is methodical, insightful, and strict on his approach to security, yet he is also compassionate. I had the opportunity to work for and with John on many projects involving site security audits assessments, installation of CCTV and access control systems as well as managing contract security teams and conducting internal investigations. While John excels in all areas of Security, his interviewing and investigations skills are top notch. He can get to the bottom of issues and obtain the truth from people while being respectful and fair. His expertise, experience, demeanor and professionalism make him an asset to any organization. On top of that, he has a wicked sense of humor. Great guy to hang with. I feel lucky to have him as a colleague and friend.

John is an outstanding mentor to me and is always ready for mentoring and guidance as an experienced security professional. He’s a reference point for me and many others to consult with regarding security programs and cultures, investigations, code of conduct, violence at workplace, and physical security.

When you need the extra mile for the most complex security cases and projects, and especially with business/security cultures, his understanding of human behavior sets him apart. Along the many years, John has develop the sense and ability for those cases where deceptive behavior is involved and his compassionate way of conducting investigative interviews has been helpful in my career to learn and apply the same abilities.

Over 15 years ago, John asked me to join his security team at Kimberly-Clark and since then he has been a mentor, colleague and friend who has helped me grow in my career. He also recognized the talent and unique skills others bring and is humble to recognize that others have expertise that he does not and that makes others feel even more valued. I recommend John Rodríguez as an excellent human being and security professional who dedicates his time to protecting People and Organizations.

When you know and work with someone for more than 25 years you get to know their values and skills. You tend to maintain and grow the genuine and talented ones. I have valued my relationship with John Rodriguez throughout various career moves for both of us, including my time as a Director of Security at four different Fortune 500 corporations. He is someone I count on for mutual professional respect, and who I trust with tough challenges.

John and I met at an international conference and have been steadfast friends and colleagues ever since. On several occasions I called on John in his consulting practice to help our security team work through very difficult and serious incidents. In one instance at one of our major international manufacturing plants there was a payroll robbery that resulted in the murder of one of our employees. Because of the relationships John had with local and state law enforcement as well as prosecutors he made sure the five bad guys were identified and convicted including the shooter. This investigation took more than five years and John monitored it every step of the way.

John’s expertise has deepened as he has navigated the complexities of various business environments – with numerous successes along the way. After so many years of corporate success John is returning to security consulting. His is an exciting, new, and creative approach of how to better infuse safety and security into the culture of businesses of all sizes. John understands the very real challenges and has developed effective and meaningful approaches through his new venture Empathic Security Cultures. I find the work John is doing truly unique and an approach which already has yielded significant positive results. You will benefit by contacting John to get a sense how he and the process he has developed will support your goals for safer, more secure, and more profitable business.

John, Thank you for sharing your insightful concepts and experiences with our group. Your approach tobuilding a Security Team around a culture that values the importance of human aspects like trust, empathy and compassion was on point. Look forward to connecting in the near future.

I have listened to John’s seminars several times during the last couple of years. He brings to the security industry a wealth of experience and knowledge. He makes us “think” outside of the box and see the human elements of the people and how they feel. I recommend you to any association to be a lecturer and presenter. I appreciate your time and talent!

The OSAC/LARC Security Culture Foundations Workshop was exceptional, thank you for your time wisdom, and knowledge given to all of us present. I can not thank you enough, has opened me to my third eye.

I have nothing but the highest praise for John and his work. Without getting into too much detail, while I was at Cardinal Health, I had a personal family emergency where John’s expertise simply shone. While a very emotional situation, John was not only able to evaluate the circumstances with a remarkable amount of calm, patience, and foresight, but he was able to execute flawlessly, helping to remedy the situation for both myself, my family, and others involved.

The time and effort - both off-hour, late, and long hours - John spent with me helping to gather details, evaluate the options, engage with relevant stakeholders, and arrive at a successful resolution, is something I will forever appreciate. John was not only a steady, kind, and reassuring hand throughout us working together, but an employee with a high-level of expertise in the field. He knew the right people to contact, at the appropriate time, with the correct information. It was incredibly impressive, and will not be forgotten.

I would highly recommend John for any position involving direct person-to-person interaction; the need to make high- stakes and high pressure decisions w/ a strong and calm head; successful communication; security, durability, and safety expertise; and an earned work ethic.

It is rare that you come across standout talent like John and rarer to have the opportunity to work with someone with his expertise. I had the pleasure of working with John Rodriguez at Cardinal Health over the last 12 years. John was a Regional Security Director and as the Global Security Travel Manager our paths crossed frequently. John has knowledge of not only security and investigation processes but also is always knowledgeable of current intelligence globally. I was particularly impressed with John’s ability to convey his knowledge and expertise through meetings, instructor-led courses (taught by John), and business phone calls connecting topics as needed. John made a difference in the security program at Cardinal Health and consistently gave 100 percent to his role. As a member of the security industry, John earns my highest recommendation.

I’m having the honor and pleasure of having John as my mentor in the mentoring project from OSAC/Women in Security. This has been an amazing journey of learning and getting to know John, not only as a Top Security professional and leader, but as a person with the biggest sense of care, compassion, understanding, and empathy - always willing to share his experience and philosophy of work, and who is assuring me that I’m on the right path. I’m so privileged and happy of living this experience! Thank you OSAC! Thank you John! I can’t wait to learn more from you!

I’ve had the privilege of having John as my mentor for over 5 years. During this time, he has encouraged, guided, and advised me. Thanks to him I have managed to scale exponentially in my career and see qualities of mine that without John’s guidance I could not. His human sense, empathy, genuine connection with people, and the inspiration he generates have made me want to follow in his footsteps. I recommend John Rodríguez as a great strategist, teacher, friend, mentor, and above all an excellent human being who dedicates his time to protecting People and Organizations.

I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with John in my time at Cardinal Health. Though in different departments we quickly connected. He has been since then one of my dearest mentors and I’m sure of many more too. In the highs and in the lows but specially in the lows he has always been available to me from both a professional and personal point of view. John is a seasoned individual with tons of experience not only in Global Security but also in sensitive things like investigations. He’s a great teacher and moderator. He’s humble but gets his message across quite effectively. I think any organization would benefit from having John and I was lucky enough to cross paths with him.

John has been an amazing addition to my personal and professional life as mentor. John has worked with me to polish my resume, apply for jobs and review skills needed to interview and work in a professional setting. His willingness to devote his time to others is inspiring, encouraging and has been emotionally uplifting for me. His many years of experience and his desire to be go above and beyond for his mentees is ultimately what you want in a mentor. Thank you John.