IT Leadership Manual E-Book

Alan R. Guibord

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Wiley CIO
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 367

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Savvy advice for developing the necessary skills to become a vital part of any management team Today's IT leaders are faced with an unprecedented leadership and organizational challenge. The entire landscape has changed over the past few years and it is now time for leaders and organizations to re-invent themselves to meet the new order. IT leaders need to redefine their role into one of being a trusted business advisor. IT Leadership Manual provides you with a set of specific recommendations and suggestions to assist you in your self-evaluations and to develop a personal plan for the future. It helps you build the leader in you, as well as how to become a formidable competitor in your own right. * Essential coverage of one of the most demanded IT topics * Helps you redefine your role from IT leader into trusted business advisor * Discusses leadership style, building out your network, achieving balance, the art of sales, and more * Written for IT managers and executives * Helps you transform from the backroom support service to a recognized member of the leadership team * Gives you the tools to migrate to today's expectations; Innovation, collaboration, influencer, trusted advisor Traditional skills no longer apply. Organizations are now demanding a new set of expectations from IT leaders. IT Leadership Manual reveals how you can adopt new styles to make the transformation from IT manager to top management.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: The Journey

The New World Order and the IT Challenge

Today's Cultures

Objective of This Book

Chapter 2: We Are All Unique

Look within Yourself First

Self-Evaluation Process

Reading Others

Make Time for Yourself

Know What You Don't Know

Journey to Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness Exercise

Be Prepared

Make Time for You and Live in the Moment

Seek a Mentor

Are You in Balance?

What Motivates You?

Do You Have Passion?

What Will I Be When I Grow Up?

Notes

Chapter 3: Are You Ready to Make a Move?

Evaluate Yourself and the New Position

Dealing with the Change

Do Your Homework

The Integration Process

Building the Foundation of Trust

Chapter 4: Developing Your Leadership Style

Cast Your Own Shadow

Consult a Mentor

Leaders Succeed from the Bottom Up, Not the Top Down

Building a Strong Team

It Is Okay to Be Passionate

Chapter 5: Soft Stuff Is What Really Matters

The Generation Gap

Combining Cultures

Match Your Style to the Market

Ego Gets You Fired

Be a Good Communicator

Chapter 6: How Do You Compete?

Competing on the Job Is Not Enough

It Isn't Just about Winning

Instill Competition in Your Organization

Controlled Aggression

Politics

Understand the Uniqueness of the Environment

Chapter 7: Do You Have Enough Friends?

You Need Friends to Succeed

Building a Network Is Critical

No Man Is an Island

Building a Network

Always Be Willing to Help

It Is All about Relationships

Networks Are Connected

Chapter 8: What Is Your Balance?

Striving and Never Arriving

Make Every Day Unique

Filter Your Input and Make the Right Decisions

Slow Down to the Pace of Life

Chapter 9: How Good Are You at Sales?

Presenting Is Entertaining

CEO Means Chief Sales Officer

Sales Is Influencing Behavior

What Is Your Sales Style?

Sales Is the Most Difficult Part of Starting a Business

Are You Trustworthy?

Chapter 10: Are You Ready to Make the Change?

Getting Acclimated to the New Company

Preparing for the Interview

Getting Comfortable in Your New Role

Understanding the Culture

Learning the Language

Identifying and Building Relationships with Power Brokers

Integration Is an Ongoing Process

Chapter 11: Today’s New World and How We Cope

The Influence of the Internet

What Is the Market Looking for in a Leader?

The Distributed Workplace

Create a Plan for You

Become a Mentor Yourself

Learn to Present to the Interest of the Audience

Bringing It All Together

About the Author

Index

Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Guibord, Alan R., 1947– IT leadership manual : roadmap to becoming a trusted business partner / Alan R. Guibord. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-118-11988-4 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-22466-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-26271-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-23796-0 (ebk) 1. Information technology–Management. 2. Leadership. I. Title. HD30.2.G85 2012 658.4′038—dc23 2012022659

This book is dedicated to my wife, Donna. Without her dedication and unwavering support, I would never have been able to achieve my goals.

Foreword

So you want to be a successful IT leader, eh? Well, you made a good start by picking up this book, because a lot of great IT technical people really suck at leadership skills. Moving from being an IT expert to a successful leader is really quite elusive and requires a hybrid blend of “hard skills” and “soft skills.” There are plenty of textbooks on the technology that will take you to the glass ceiling of a career as a subject-matter expert, but there are not many books that focus on the “soft skills” specific to an IT role. So if you want to break through that glass ceiling, read on.

Leaders are not necessarily born but are molded and developed based on life's experiences. This book is designed to help guide each of us in our transitional journey to becoming effective leaders. We are all different in our personalities as well as our backgrounds. There is no one size that fits all. We each need to develop a style that works for of us. This book is designed to help us with that journey.

During the past 30 years, the focus in business was generally on improving operations, improving efficiencies, and building hierarchical organizations. This trend probably started back at the end of the industrial era and continued well into the ’70s and ’80s. Once we reached the ’90s, things began to change; the focus became more and more on people and process where the way that people were led and motivated significantly changed. This phenomenon has continued to expand throughout the decade of the ’90s and into the 2000s. We are now at a point in the business world where it's more about how we lead than how we execute. Leadership has become the primary competitive advantage in today's world. During the past few decades there was very little focus on developing effective leaders. That has now changed in today's world with the advent of the Internet and other global communications capabilities that have transformed us into a global economy and a global business environment. We no longer have the luxury of having our entire staff located in one or two physical facilities. Today's world is virtual in every way. It is virtual in the services that we provide as well as the organizations that we manage. The only way that we can effectively address this new world is through developing better leaders.

During my over-30-year career in corporate life I’ve witnessed this phenomenon firsthand. There has been a definite shift in focus from the world of efficiency and productivity to one of people and process. This requires a new type of leader and I have personally experienced the journey of transition in my own style as well. We now live in a world with an abundance of outside sources of information and stimuli. These have a tremendous amount of impact on our day-to-day lives and the way we approach our personal and business lives. We need to recognize the influence that these factors have on our behavior as we adjust our leadership style.

So much has changed in recent memory—the way we communicate, the way we interact with each other, and the multigenerations in the workforce all lend themselves to the need to create a new model. I have always prided myself on being people-centric throughout my career, and that didn't always sit well with my consuming interest in technology innovation. I had to push myself to face the fact that the demands on leaders today are far different than they were even 10 years ago. It means that we are now in a world of personalization and instant gratification thanks to the advent of the Internet. It's now all about personal relationships rather than group dynamics. The way that we lead and motivate needs to be aligned with these new phenomenons.

I strongly believe that this book should be required reading for every aspiring leader. It's very easy for all of us to say, “I don't have the time to work on these soft skills due to the day-to-day demands that are being placed on me.” What this book makes you aware of is the fact that each and every one of us must allocate a substantial amount of our personal time in learning how to develop enhance and improve our leadership skills.

The book also teaches us about being aware of the world in general. Not just the workplace but the entire environment in which we live. We can no longer separate our lives into two areas: one in which we work and one in which we live. This new environment now requires us to develop a single style of leadership. It requires us to build on strong relationships and personal experiences. These are behavioral characteristics that can be consciously developed, but you have to be as structured about developing your soft skills as you have been about developing your hard skills. Alan has taken the time to articulate his wise counsel and offer a roadmap for each of you to follow as you develop your unique personal leadership style.

Jim Noble

Senior Vice President, Talisman Energy Inc.

Preface

It is a warm summer day at Watkins Glen International Raceway. I am just finishing my second test session of the day. It is unusually hot for this time of year and we have had to make several adjustments to the car. I am here as part of the F2000 Championship Series, a professional series in its sixth year.

Young kids from all over the world are here, and the competition is tougher every year. With over 30 cars competing, there are only two seconds separating the field. Every one-hundredth of a second is important.

We have made several adjustments to the chassis, added new springs, adjusted the Penske shocks, played with ride height, and adjusted tire pressures. Our team engineer, Angello, calls a racecar “the unsolvable equation.” He has a degree in mechanical engineering and is a great asset to the team. He can prepare each car to the individual driver's preferences. I like understeer, which we call “a push.” It causes the front end to be a little loose. The advantage to me is that it keeps the rear more stable. Every driver has his own style.

The young drivers like our series because it features several experienced drivers. Many are national champions. We range in age from 17 to 72. I love to watch the kids learn and grow from our mentorship. All they know is how to go fast, but speed is not the only thing that counts. It is all about how you enter a turn and how you pick your turning and breaking points. It might be a tree, a spot in the track, a bump, or any other recognizable object that you can identify at over 100 MPH. Every new racer makes the same two mistakes: turning in too early and carrying too much speed into the corner. This leaves the driver fighting with the car when he should be accelerating out of the turn. Young drivers eventually learn from following us and we love to mentor them.

Driving a racecar is a constant battle between your mind and the car. The car is telling you it can make it through that corner faster and your mind is telling you it can't. This is probably one of the most difficult things for drivers to overcome. If you don't, you will never be fast. You develop the feel of your body moving inside the car and soon you can translate that into knowing the limits of the car. Like people, each car has a personality; like people, we must treat each car as an individual.

We have a three-car team; myself, my son, Alan, and our friend Bob. We have been together for over 10 years. During that time, we have learned one another's strengths and weaknesses. When we go out, we follow each other to learn what each of us is doing in certain parts of the track. We also have video cameras as well as computer telemetry on each car. During qualifying, we take turns leading while the others get in behind and push the leader. I must say that I am a better racer than a qualifier. I am always overdriving the car.

When we return to the pits, we immediately download our computer telemetry as well as the video chips. Then we all go to the trailer lounge, the whole team. We overlay the data to see where each one is faster and slower. We then compare it to the videos to gain an understanding of what we are doing. The camera does not lie. If you are not hitting your marks, it will show you. After we have all shared the computer data and watched the video, we provide individual feedback as to how we feel the car is performing.

The things I like most about racing are the competition, the team, and the camaraderie. We have two rules: (1) Don't beat them in the pits, which means help your fellow competitor when he or she is struggling with a broken car, and (2) we all have to go to work on Monday. I think you understand that last one. Enough said.

Teamwork is the key to success in racing as well as business. The principles are the same. Maybe it is just a little more intense at the track. We succeed and fail together. Each person has his or her designated assignment. If one fails to deliver, we all fail.

Keeping your team motivated is critical to winning. When your team spends countless hours preparing your car and you put it into the wall on the first lap, it can be devastating. It is all about how you handle it with them when you get back to the pits. The first thing you do is apologize. The second thing you do is talk about what went wrong. The third thing you do is roll up your sleeves and help to fix it. Remember all the time that each member has an assignment. Offer assistance, but let each member of the team do his or her job. Let your team know that you respect their contributions.

Leading and motivating a team is crucial to winning. They need to know that you appreciate them. They need to be proud of their efforts. Your job is to assist when needed, provide the tools and physical setting, and give them motivation and reinforcement. Done right, a team is like a well-orchestrated performance. This is true in business as well.

I have learned many lessons from my days at the track. These experiences, and the lessons they provide about competition, teamwork, and leadership have provided the foundation for my career. I will be sharing these lessons with you throughout the book.

The book is designed to help you create your own personal journey to becoming a trusted leader. The process begins with a self-evaluation. This exercise is designed to help you create an objective look at your inner being. It is a critical building block on your journey. The next step is to start planning your career path. In order to understand your personal needs, you must first set personal career goals. These will then become the foundation for your personal plan. This is not a one-time effort, but a continual exercise as you move through your career.

The next three chapters are designed to be a guide to developing your personal leadership style. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to leadership. It must be a balance of the basic fundamentals molded to your personal comfort zone. This again is something that you will be continually revisiting throughout your career.

Once you have completed your self-evaluations, it is now time to start building your skills. Chapter 7 on relationships is, in my opinion, one of the most important aspects of becoming a trusted partner. It is all about people working with people and this chapter is designed to help you to recognize your own approach, but also, to impress on you the need for being a strong relationship builder. Leadership is all about balance and in Chapter 8 I have provided you with some thought-provoking ideas as well as recommendations for living a balanced life. It is impossible to achieve your goals without personal balance.

Leadership is also about influencing the behavior of others. The best way is to hone your sales skills. Selling your concepts and ideas is critical to gaining trust and respect. You can't ignore the need to sell. Many of us dislike the thought of having to sell. However, it is critical to our success. The higher you go in an organization, the more you will need to hone your selling skills. Chapter 9 is designed to first make you aware of the need to sell and then how to learn to sell based on your personality.

In today's world, changing jobs is a part of life. Most IT leaders change jobs every three to five years. We need to understand how to effectively integrate ourselves into new organizations and cultures. In Chapter 10, I have shared my own experiences as well as those of others to help you better prepare for your next change.

The last chapter, Chapter 11, is about dealing with the new world we now live in. The pace of change continues to accelerate and we now must accept it as part of our daily lives. In addition, new technologies such as the Internet have had a profound effect on our lives and the way we work with others. The market is also looking for a whole new set of skills and we now must understand what the market is looking for and fill our personal gaps to align with them. The last chapter is designed to address those topics as well as bring all the concepts of the book together.

Acknowledgments

Ithank the following for making this book possible:

My children, Sandra and Alan. Their love and support have always been my inspiration.

My racing teammates. We have had quite a ride and I cherish the memories. Drive fast and take chances!

My corporate friends. There are too many to identify each one, but, my thanks to all of you for joining me in the journey.

My mentors, Bob Goundry and Howard Hosbach. The lessons I learned from them gave me the courage to take on challenges with confidence and conviction.

CHAPTER 1

The Journey

Today’s Leadership Challenges

This book presents insights I have gained as a business professional for over 35 years and from my experiences as a racecar driver. The lessons I have learned in the boardroom and in the driver's seat have been the key to my personal leadership growth. Being a leader is about more than your experience in the workplace—it is about the way you conduct your life and the lessons you learn from your life experiences.