I admit, as a technology manager, I may be a bit biased here. However, at the risk of sounding egotistical, I believe technology managers possess especially strong leadership potential. In fact, there is a growing trend of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) becoming Chief Operating Officers (COOs), Presidents and CEOs. In your own organization, have you noticed how often IT leads the organization in new policies and best practices? I think this is because our colleagues in these departments are among the best educated and experienced in leadership principles, such as the following:

Innovation

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” -  Steve Jobs

Leadership demands an ability to look to the future and understand broad trends in a given industry in order to develop tomorrow’s solutions. Individuals working in technology are always dealing with what’s coming next. Most technology projects are depreciated over 3 years – 5 at most. The useful life is often less. As a result, technology managers are among the best when it comes to innovation.

Risk Management

“The man who knows it can’t be done counts the risk, not the reward.” – Elbert Hubbard

There is a delicate balance of risk and reward in cultural leadership. Organizations need leaders that understand this balance and the degree of risk that is acceptable for their business models. When balancing the costs, development time, dependencies and other risks, technology managers become proficient at risk mitigation.

Communication

“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” – Lee Iacocca

Leaders who can not communicate effectively rarely remain leaders very long. Communication is also constantly required to be effective in technology management. The pace of change in information technology combined with the ever increasing dependency upon technology to do our daily jobs, results in effective communication as a basic skill of IT managers.

Listening

“If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.” – Albert Einstein

While effective communication includes listening, this is a skill so especially in demand for leaders that it deserves it’s own section. Similarly, effective technology managers are required to constantly listen to their customers. Business needs and organization requirements are constantly changing, evolving. As a result, the technology needs of stakeholders are always in flux. Technology managers that effectively build relationships with their customers must be great listeners.

Change Management

“Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” — Niccolo Machiavelli

If your organization is not changing with the times, it will lose to the competition. Therefore, leaders must be effective at managing change. The combination of constant innovation in their field, balanced with the communication necessary to support it, make technology managers particularly effective change managers as well.

Cross Functional Support

”Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.” – John Maxwell

To be an effective leader for an organization, you must be empathetic to a diverse array of needs. I’ve always said, their are two leadership roles in an organization that must be especially adept at comprehending the broad needs of stakeholders: Chief Financial Officers and Chief Information Officers. CFOs must understand the needs of each department to effectively leverage financial assets. CIOs must understand the business needs of each department to effectively prioritize and deliver information solutions.

So while I may be a bit biased, I’m not surprised to see a growing number of technology managers being recognized for broader leadership roles in their organizations. After all, who better to lead your organization than one who grasps innovation, balances risks, communicates effectively, listens intently, manages change and provides support to all stakeholders?

Question: Do you see benefits in the growing trend of technology managers promoted to broad leadership roles?

Crashing Into a Ditch Teaches A (Leadership) Lesson

At 7:15 AM, I was already well on my way down the hour-long commute.  On that morning I drove “the wife’s car”, because my regular vehicle was in the shop.  It was a classic Midwest winter day, with plenty of lake effect snow, but the region was prepared for the conditions.  As such, the roads were fairly clear. Still, occasional sections looked suspiciously like ice.  As a result, I drove under the speed limit, but still passed a few people who “probably shouldn’t be on the road anyway”.

It was during one of those passes that I felt the back end start to slide out.  After several counter-steering attempts, the fishtailing continued and I realized there was no escaping it.  The car crossed from one shoulder to the other, traversing two lanes and back, before crashing into the median.  Thankfully, with the exception of my ego, there was virtually no damage.

I counted my blessings and pulled up the maps on my iPhone.  The GPS located me precisely.  I called AAA, which had me back on the road in an hour.  A quick inspection by my regular mechanic and I was still in the office by noon.

Making the best of an unfortunate situation, I realized there were several leadership lessons in this experience that were worth sharing:

1. Observe Warning Signs – Remember those people that “probably shouldn’t be on the road”?  Their caution was a warning sign.  They had experiences (or lack thereof) which caused them concern.  Don’t ignore the warning signs in your organization.  Nay sayers may not just be pessimists.

2. Manage Change – I drove a less familiar vehicle.  This should have created more caution, especially in poor weather. When have you treated a new environment in business as “the same old situation”?

3. Balance Risk / Reward - As discussed in Project Tailgaters and Brake Checkers, it’s important to understand the risks and rewards or cost / benefit of each decision.  Here, by passing other cars, I could arrive 15 minutes earlier.  I assessed the road and it seemed clear and safe, but was it worth the risk?

4. Monitor Progress - As I sat in the ditch, covered in snow, I had only a vague idea of my location and was not certain how to guide someone to me for the tow.  If your project goes awry, will you know the quickest route to recovery?

5. Have the Right Tools - Thankfully, I had the right technology tool (GPS) to support a quick recovery. Do you have the right technology to support your needs?

6. Have the Right Team - With a AAA membership, the right people were just a phone call away. I also had a trusted mechanic who fit me into his schedule quickly and provided an assessment I trusted. When you get into trouble at the office, do you have a team to do the same?

7. Learn From Mistakes - Hence this post.  If I end up in a ditch again, after sliding on ice, hopefully I can say I learned from these mistakes and it was something new, that caused the crash this time. Will you learn from mistakes at work?

Question: Now the fun part.  After looking at all the things I did wrong, what other lessons can you take away from my mistakes?  Go easy on my ego though, please.  I’m already doomed to months of jokes at the office for my failure to stay on the road.