Malcolm Portelli on music, meaning, and the trade-offs of leadership

Malcolm Portelli, Chief Information Security Officer at Andaria Financial Services, has shared a personal reflection on LinkedIn about music, meaning, and the realities of prioritisation in a demanding career.

While known for his advocacy around security and privacy, Mr Portelli revealed that few non-living things bring him as much joy as music. He described how music can “help find meaning in pain, create connections that may have been impossible without it, and even immortalise impactful moments”.

Mr Portelli explained that although he has always loved both listening to and making music, finding the time to create has become more difficult as professional and personal responsibilities have taken precedence. “Sometimes the latter is harder to do when higher priority items steal time from your very finite amount,” he wrote.

Rather than frame this as a loss, Mr Portelli said he has chosen to focus on what he has gained. He pointed to “priceless time with the ones I love” and building “a career that I am passionate about and proud of” as trade-offs that, for now, take priority over creative pursuits.

He acknowledged that music will always remain part of who he is, but stressed that time with family and opportunities for personal and professional growth cannot be reclaimed later. As he put it, “I can always go back to making music when the time is right, but I can never get back the time I could have lost with my kids, or the time not spent to better myself as a professional and a parent.”

His reflection concluded with a broader message relevant to leaders navigating competing demands: “Bottom line, prioritise those things that mean the most and make the most sense at the time, but never lose the fire inside that makes you YOU!”

All in all, Mr Portelli reminds us that leadership is not only about professional milestones, but also about the quiet, personal decisions made daily about where time and energy are invested.