Leadership

During the course of a Leadership Program many of the participants ask how to conduct effective meetings and even more groan under the impact of the meetings on their calendars.  This weeks reading, Eight Steps to More Effective Meetings which can be found at <http://www.cio.com/article/141300/Eight_Steps_to_More_Effective_Meetings>, provides some concrete data on the negative impact of ineffective meetings […]

During a 2005 guest lecture at MIT’s Sloan School of Management the following question was asked:  “What should you be learning in business school?”  Jack Welch answered:  “Just concentrate on networking.  Everything else you need to know, you can learn on the job.”  In this week’s reading, “Great Leaders Build Off Great Relations”  <http://www.cio.com/article/152451>, John Baldoni talks […]

As it nears the end of the year, it seems appropriate for the Tuesday Reading to turn to the future.  In “A Roadmap for IT Leadership and the Next Ten Years” <http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0626.pdf> Tim Chester, CIO at Texas A&M at Qatar, argues that the future requires that CIOs and other IT leaders become technology advocates and […]

Early last month, I was talking with with a businessman who is now the president of a small college in New York. In the course of our conversation, he noted how rude his faculty were to one another.  I couldn’t help reflecting on the rudeness I had observed among IT staff members during my two decades […]

In “Situational Awareness 101”, John Baldoni points out that “A sound sense of situational awareness is vital to leadership decision making.  A leader must know context (what is happening), circumstance (what has happened) and consequence (what could happen) at all times.” In this short piece, Baldoni talks about context, circumstance, and consequence and concludes “Ignoring […]

In “Making Strategy That Sticks“, Susan Cramm points out that all too often when we develop a strategy, we focus on getting the right content rather than getting the right commitment.  She writes:  ”The acid test of strategy is whether it informs and constrains decision making by compelling leaders to align their functional goals and day-to-day […]

 John Baldoni, in “Questions to Make You a Better Leader” argues that asking good questions is a practice that all leaders need to have.  He suggests five: 1.  What about your work motivates you?  If it’s not motivating, what can you do about it?  What changes can you make to increase satisfaction? 2.  What challenges are […]

Most of us cringe at the thought of saying no.  We think that it is not an option.  We don’t want to disappoint.  Etc.  However, saying yes to everything creates an untenable position for you and for your organization.  Esther Derby in “The Benefits of No” gives us an essential management tool, a three-point approach to saying no: 1.  Start by […]

In “How to Make Nice,” Susan Cramm addresses the issue of influencing others.  She begins by noting that “Getting others to do what you want them to do because they want to do it is the ultimate test of leadership skill.”  Cramm then focuses on rebuilding relationships that have been damaged — who hasn’t gotten themselves […]

In “Web Rage:  Why It Happens, What it Costs, How to Stop” authors Daniel Goleman and Clay Sinsky point out that most forms of electronic commnication – i.e, email, IM, and telephony – cannot provide those subtle, mainly non-verbal clues that help us form our interactions in those conversations.  Without these signals we may speak (or […]

In “The Power of Persuasion“, Susan Cramm  Cramm argues that persuading and inspiring others starts with your character and credibility which you have established through personal interactions.  She believes that effective leaders get things done through others and, in doing so, are able to create a powerful role for themselves, their organizations and technology.   In […]

We all like to be treated with appropriate respect and consideration as we go through the several roles we have each day.  And, we bemoan the fact that in the fast-paced world we find ourselves in even the most basic decencies such as saying “hello” and “goodbye,” or remembering and using the names of people […]

One of the topics we discuss in the IT Leaders Program is giving and receiving both positive and negative feedback.  In today’s reading “Learning to Accept Criticism“, John Baldoni reinforces the importance of giving and receiving  criticism noting that they are essential leadership capabilities.  He then gives several helpful suggestions:   –  Know your facts […]

In  “Five Bad Habits to Lose on the Road to Success“,  John Baldoni highlights several bad habits — from Marshall Goldsmith’s newest book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There — that leaders need to abandon: •  Stop winning too much. We all want it our way, but sometimes it does not add value to […]

In “Total Leadership” <http://www.cio.com/article/109250?source=nlt_cioinsider>, Patricia Wallington, former CIO at Xerox, discusses a topic, conflict and confrontation, that makes most of us very uncomfortable.  She begins by noting that confrontation is a regular feature of IT.  She then asserts that IT leaders must become experts in the art of confrontation.  Her approach has seven steps —    […]

In this piece, Becoming a Change Leader, May 8, 2007 CIO  <http://www.cio.com/article/108351/Becoming_a_Change_Leader>,  Maya Townsend, founder and principal consultant of Partnering Resources, introduces four key factors which she argues are crucial to successful change initiatives: 1.  Active, committed leadership — if you are not committed why should your staff commit? 2.  A clear, compelling business (not technical) […]

Today’s reading focuses on Emotional Intelligence, a topic discussed in the leader’s program.  In this piece —  “Soft Skills for CIOs and Aspiring CIOs:  Four Ways to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence“, or <http://tinyurl.com/29au7g>, Diann Daniel argues that soft skills and emotional intelligence are must haves for IT leaders and workers today.  As she notes and as been identified by […]

You will remember Joe Raelin as one of the authors whose papers you were assigned to read for the first workshop of the Leaders Program.  In this paper, “The ‘Bottom Line’ of leaderful practice,“ which you can download from http://www.leaderful.org/pdf/BottomLine.pdf he argues that the one thing that most makes a leader is a compassionate approach, a […]

Today’s reading the “The ‘Pull Leadership’ Manifesto” by Stever Robbins, founder and president of LeadershipDecisionworks.  This piece from the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge Archives caught my eye because of its thesis:  “We need leaders who inspire others to follow, who engender loyalty.”  Robbins calls this “pull” leadership and then goes on to identify twelve key […]

We all experience pressure, almost daily.  Sometimes the pressure is generated by the schedule and expectations we set for ourselves;  sometimes from the expectations others place on us.  Rick Brenner’s Chaco Canyon had three (short) columns last December that focused on several aspects of pressure associated with projects: Communications and Expectations  <http://www.chacocanyon.com/pointlookout/061213.shtml> The Unexpected <http://www.chacocanyon.com/pointlookout/061220.shtml> […]