One rule, five behaviors, three things we will not bend on
Vizius is a cybersecurity and technology consulting firm, a team of 14 based in Greenville, South Carolina, and mostly remote. This page is what people here wish someone had told them before they joined. If it makes a yes more confident or a no faster, it has done its job.
Our core value: live out the Golden Rule in every interaction
Everything else here is an elaboration of it. Five behaviors describe it in practice. Each pairs humility with something humility has to meet, because you cannot treat someone the way you would want to be treated while assuming you already know what they need. We coach toward these. Nobody here has fully arrived.
The hinge for all five: before a hard conversation or a big decision, ask yourself: am I tired, hungry, angry, or frustrated? Is my motive to help the other person, or to be right?
Adaptable humility meets reality
We start with the client's world, not our favorite playbook.
What it looks like here
We accept the situation as it is, look at more than one way to solve it, and pick the safest, simplest option that works. Adaptable does not mean doing whatever the client asks. It means taking their constraints seriously.
From the team: One of our engineers has no love for carrier-grade routing and switching. He took on heavy network work for a teammate who was buried. It was not his lane. He flexed anyway.
Excellence humility meets rigor
A deliberate focus on getting better. The result matters more than who gets credit.
What it looks like here
This is different from perfectionism. Excellence is the habit of asking how this could be better, and then acting on the answer, including a second set of eyes on every deliverable before it leaves the building.
From the team: One teammate came to us from an unrelated field. He learned our industry and our way of working in a short time, then rebuilt the project coordinator role around what the process needed.
Intelligent empathy humility meets inquiry
We slow down to understand people and context before we speed up to solve.
What it looks like here
Empathy here is a discipline with three steps. Learn how a person prefers to be communicated with. Meet them there. Then say the true thing in a way they can hear.
From the team: One client migration was chaotic. One of our engineers got to know the people on those calls one at a time. Once he understood what was going on underneath, his recommendations started to land.
Ownership humility meets agency
We take responsibility for outcomes: the client's, our teammates', and our own.
What it looks like here
Ownership has two halves. The humility half is knowing when to ask for help. The agency half is making sure the outcome is still yours after you have asked.
From the team: One colleague carries an enormous task list for a client's security program and brings order to it. He knows what he is doing, and he knows when to ask for help.
'Ungry humility meets mission
We are here to help, and we do not wait to be asked.
What it looks like here
Noticing a need that nobody has named yet and moving toward it. Being busy is not the same thing. (Yes, we dropped the H so the five fit A, E, I, O, U. It is how the word sounds when we say it.)
From the team: On a Friday when someone was in a bind, a teammate said, "I'm not sure I'm the right person for this, but I'll help." Then he drove to where the problem was and sat with the people who needed him until it was done.
Three things that are not negotiable
The behaviors describe who we are trying to become. These three are the minimum to be here at all, and we do not coach on them. Everyone on the team meets this standard today. We name them so that nobody is ever surprised.
Honesty and transparency
Tell clients the truth about their risk, including when they need less than they thought. When a fixed-price project is running over, say so the week you know it, not the week the invoice goes out. When you make a mistake, say "I" and say it plainly. A team you can be honest with is a team where you do not have to carry the weight of what you have not said.
Being proactive
Bring an agenda to every meeting you lead. Set the expectation contract out loud before the deadline arrives. When you see a problem, own it until it is fixed or until someone else has agreed to take it. Nobody here should have to ask you twice.
Putting others first
You cannot be the person who puts your own credit or comfort ahead of a client or a teammate. Say "we" about what the team has achieved. Say "I" when owning a miss. Take the work that is not your lane when a teammate is buried. Check in on people who have gone quiet.
What a week here looks like
About 50 hours
A normal week here is about 50 hours, including meetings, admin, training, and billable work. Inside that number, you are judged on outcomes: did the client get what we promised, was the work right, and could the people around you count on you.
Flexibility with a shape
Be generally reachable during a normal business day, and tell people when you will not be. Within those two rules, arrange your life. Leave for the school pickup. Start late after a long night.
Unplugged means unplugged
When you are off, we do not expect a reply. When you are on, we expect your attention.
Vacation is required
Three weeks of PTO a year is required, and more is fine within reason. Plan it early, arrange cover, set your out-of-office, and then unplug.
Everybody bills time
That includes the leadership team. Nobody here is pure overhead.
In front of clients early
Our engineers lead client conversations themselves. You have the authority to act on what a client needs. A quick fix is yours to make. Anything that changes scope, cost, or timeline gets written agreement first.
How we work together
How we talk
We want what you really think, said respectfully. Being in charge does not mean knowing better. Once a decision is made, the debate ends and we act. If the facts change, take the new facts to the person who made the decision and ask whether the agreement should change too. Feedback is kind, truthful, and aimed at the problem, not the person.
How we deliver
Agree on what done looks like before you start: the outcome, the timeline, and the client's part. Keep stakeholders looped in on what is working and what is stuck. Test the work and the assumptions behind it. If a process document is missing a step, add it so the next person does not chase the same problem.
How we look after each other
This work makes it easy to get stuck in a bubble. Check in on a peer you have not heard from. If you are feeling overwhelmed, or someone at home is, say so. We would rather know early.
How we grow
We hire strong principal engineers who lead client conversations and own outcomes end to end. Clients who trust us bring harder problems, hard problems make engineers better, and engineers sharpen each other. The principal engineer role is the growth path for engineers who want it.
First-year reading list
Vizius buys each one, in whatever format you prefer:
- Tractionby Gino Wickman
- Unreasonable Hospitalityby Will Guidara
- Fierce Conversationsby Susan Scott
- The Advantageby Patrick Lencioni
- Extreme Ownershipby Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Teamby Patrick Lencioni
- Turning the Flywheelby Jim Collins
- The 6 Types of Working Geniusby Patrick Lencioni
Pragmatic is the word at the center
We give an objective view and recommend the practical thing. When a client needs less than they thought, we tell them so. Around that center sit four kinds of work.
Secure
Find the blind spots and reduce the risks that are knowable: posture assessments against CIS or NIST, penetration tests, and vCISO programs for companies that cannot justify a security hire.
Dependable
Infrastructure a business can run on: networks, cloud, identity, and continuity that has actually been tested.
Compliant
Compliance effort and cost sized to the business: CMMC, NIST 800-171, ITAR, ISO 27001, and cyber insurance requirements. Often the controls exist and the proof does not.
Relevant
A responsible path into AI: governance, costed use cases, and automation that works.
Read the client stories · How we work with clients · Meet the team
Is this the right place for you?
You will probably do well here if
- You want to own a client relationship end to end, including the hard conversations.
- You want to be trusted with ambiguous problems and expected to figure them out.
- You can take direct feedback, and give it.
- You’ll trade a demanding week for real flexibility and vacation that is actually off.
- You want colleagues who care about you outside the task list.
You may not be happy here if
- You want a defined role, a clear task queue, and a manager who sets your priorities.
- You want a predictable 40-hour week. We respect that. Our model runs on about 50.
- You would rather keep working a decision after it is made.
- You would rather let a hard conversation wait a week.
- You keep score on who gets what credit.
- You would rather not be in front of clients.
- You want the structure, specialization, and scale of a large firm.
- Our purpose statement names God. If that language is a problem for you, it is better to know now.
Nothing here is off limits in an interview
If a line bothers you, bring it. We would rather have that conversation before you join than six months after. If treating people the way you want to be treated sounds like a good way to run a company, come talk to us.