Elements of executive protection

Executive protection has almost nothing to do with the usual image of a bodyguard. EP specialists, or agents, are professionals who attend specialized schools to learn and improve their craft, and they mostly use their wits, not weapons. (They know that if you have time to draw your firearm, you have time to shield or remove the protectee instead.)

Corporate executive protection relies on numerous important tools to safeguard and support protectees:

Threat assessment
Intelligence gathering
Transport facilitation
Choreography
Advance research of routes and destinations
10-minute medicine
Management and proper employment of technology, staff, and other resources

Adversaries, such as street criminals, kidnappers, and terrorists, hold nearly all the cards: they choose the time, place, and method of attack. To counter that advantage, EP specialists use their intellect, diplomacy, and cunning to anticipate threats and then help the protectee avoid them--basically, to win the battle before it ever begins. EP specialists use the same skills to avoid or respond to other dangers, such as car crashes, fires, and other twists of fate.

EP specialists are also careful to arrange protection so that it is as transparent as possible. In fact, good protection makes life easier for the executive. Travel runs more smoothly, unwanted interruptions are reduced at work and at home, and security worries and transportation hassles are reduced or eliminated