Pathways:

“There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path” – Morpheus, The Matrix

Today is an interesting day and something of a notable event for me.  For the last 4 years I’ve been a participant in the CIO-sponsored Pathways Leadership Development Program and after what has been a remarkable educational journey I find myself closing out that particular chapter of my life and moving forward towards what I hope is the next chapter as a full-member of the CIO Executive Council, an invitation that was graciously extended by CIO and I accepted just a couple of weeks ago.

8 years ago I had the opportunity to take on a Leadership Role with a wonderful Enterprise that required walking away from a successful Small-Biz Consulting Company I had created that was generally doing a healthy 6-figure gross revenue (annually); Instead for a role that promised long-hours, high-stress, and the chance to help define what the technology infrastructure of a Multi-Billion-Dollar Global Enterprise was going to be for years to come.

Little Did I Know…

During that journey I discovered many things about Technology Leadership at the Enterprise Level, including that it is often far less about the technology solutions (which you are expected to be the expert at) and much more about the politics and the soft-sell (in which you MUST convince stakeholders that you ARE the expert and the path forward is the right one).

And while all the fundamental skills were there to what has led to what I believe has been a great 8 year period of growth and prosperity for both my Employer and my Team, there was a realization pretty early on that I personally needed to raise the bar in my development if I was going to raise the bar in theirs.

So, I did the research, looked at the various Technology Groups out there, and eventually started looking deeper into the CIO organization and the ExecutiveCouncil, finally attending a CIO 100 event in the fall of 2007.  It didn’t take long for me to meet some wonderful people, express a LOT of opinions about Technology and Leadership (those who have gotten to know me over the years have learned that one thing that will override my shyness is my Passion for what I do in Life) and take back with me the seeds of some terrific relationships.

It also wasn’t long before I got a reach-out from CIO about a program that they were putting together called Pathways.  The program was in its infancy at the time but the folks on the Executive Council had felt that they had identified a need out there to help Organizations develop the growing leaders that would eventually be candidates for CIO roles of their own and that my name had come up during those conversations. 

Listening to that at the time my thoughts were… So… We have a program that, while we know what the goals are, we are not quite sure what it is going to ultimately look like, how successful it might be or who all will be involved it.

For me, people might as well have just waved a Red Cape…  It was almost impossible to say no.

Fast forward 4 years and here I am, writing this post, and (later) giving a short presentation to the CIO Executive Council session at the Spring Leadership Event. And what have I seen, heard, & learned as I have been walking the Path(ways)?

·         Being a Leader focused on Information Technology is quite possibly the best career one can choose today:  Certainly I have a bias in this statement because it is what I enjoy doing and it is what I have spent most of my Career doing; but I think the statement holds up all the same.  What other profession goes through as much continuing reinvention of itself, is always looking to not only the challenges of today, but also to what the challenges of tomorrow are going to be, and is surrounded by such a consistently high percentage of people who are passionate about what they do?  What other Leadership Career is so consistently at the “hub” of everything that an Organization is involved in these days?  No other Career quite places you at the nexus of a modern organization like IT.  To Lead in IT is to be a part of it all.

·         You can Lead or you can Follow:  OK, I may have built something of reputation for being outspoken over time (also perhaps pushy, opinionated, and maybe some less kind adjectives on occasion) but being outspoken is part and parcel of the Leadership Process.  Being a bit of veteran, I’ve had the pleasure of occasionally being asked by prospective Pathways Candidates what they could expect to get out of the Program and my first answer has always been “exactly what you put into it”.  Pathways is a great program and I’ve always been astounded at the depth of breadth of the support of the people who run it If you reach out and ask. Remember, the whole point is Leadership Development…  Step One of the Process is to Stand up and Lead in your own development; you cannot get to Step Two otherwise.

·         The People who have volunteered for the Mentorship Programs (both Group and Individual) are quite possibly the most Valuable Resource you may ever find and well worth the price of admission all by itself:  For me, three names will always stand out in my experiences in Pathways: Steven John, Steve Finnerty, and Larry Bonfante.  Steven and Steve were my 1^st and 2^nd year Group Mentors, and the ability to check in every month and discuss subjects and issues that were moderated by Individuals who truly had “been there done that” brought me into a whole new world and a realization that while the technical challenges may be as varied as the organizations we lead, the Leadership issues are the same and shared by all of us.

Larry Bonfante became my personal Mentor/Coach/Advisor during my 3^rd and 4^th year (and still remains so today) and there really aren’t enough kind things I can say about him in that respect.  To be able to build a trusted relationship where both easy and difficult issues can be discussed without fear of impacting your current role and get an honest, unbiased (and undistorted) opinion about how to approach the challenges we all face daily simply doesn’t have a quantifiable dollar value.  Larry plays that role at this stage in my Career and I can’t thank him and Pathways enough for that.

·         We all ultimately are limited only by what we dare to dream of:  Here is a surprise for all of you.  I have spent a large part of my Career in Leadership Roles believing that I’m not worthy of the trust that people place in me on a daily basis.  From my first (very informal) Leadership Role as a crew chief at the Oakwood Gun Club (where everything was informal, and just happened to be around lethal firearms), to Shift Manager at McDonald’s, to IT Leader in 3 Operations and Small Business Owner of 1, I have continually been astounded that anyone would make that vote of confidence.  Because these are the things I know about myself:

I’m a college drop-out:  Yup, tried twice & built up about 2 years of credits, while basically going broke both times as life took precedence.  In a world where I frequently get asked “what was my Bachelor’s Degree in?" and increasingly “do you have an MBA?" learning to answer that it isn’t the formal education but the track-record that matters has been a difficult thing to do.

I’ve lived through both business and personal Bankruptcies, watching my Parents go through job loss and financial ruin in the early 80’s (which was the first time I had to drop out of College), to being a Leader in two companies I worked for go-under, to near-death experiences of my own business on several occasions is a humbing experience and not exactly a foundation for success.

My leadership track-record is not perfect and I’ve made big mistakes over the course of my career:  I’ve made bad choices, didn’t support people that I should have on occasion and supported ones I shouldn’t, occasionally made a situation worse rather than better, and (on rare occasions) gotten wrapped up in my needs at the cost of the greater good for my Team or the Organization.

The key though (if you are looking for one) is to Dream Big and Believe that You can still get There (wherever There may be).  Don’t let anyone tell you that because you don’t have the degree, the credentials, or the perfect track record that you aren’t the right person for the job or that you cannot be successful.  Don’t get mad either (unless a little anger motivates you).  Failure is only a learning experience if you let it educate you, People who say you don’t have the “cred”; whether it be educational cred, paper cred, street cred, or experience cred are simply non-believers who are all potential converts.  There will always be that little voice that tells you you are not worthy.  Worse, there will always be real voices (from real people) who will tell you the same thing.  They will be loudest when you make mistakes.  As a part of Pathways and many of the CIO Leadership events I was surprised to see numerous examples of others who had to deal with similar adversities and still got the things they wanted out of life as well.  The lesson learned from all of that (and I suspect they would all say the same thing) is Don’t Listen to the Naysayers and Keep Reaching for the Sky.  That’s not easy I know but it is the only way to get There.

And with this post reaching about 1,500 words it is time to wrap it up.  My hope is to continue to be involved in the Pathways Program (I’ve already sponsored 3 entrants into it, with 2 of those currently involved) as a Member of the CIO Executive Council.  Hopefully I’ll be able to share what I have learned over the years and “pay it forward” and if someone manages to reach the pinnacle of their Technology Career from some small contribution that I have made, then every amount of Time and Money that was invested was absolutely worth it.

Now – let’s all of us have a Great Leadership Week!

Why Destroying a Kitchen makes for Better Leadership:

"When you're green, your growing. When you're ripe, you rot.” Ray Kroc

After several years of grousing, griping, and planning; Evelia and I began the process of gutting and replacing our Kitchen.  And I do mean gut. As with the exception of two of the appliances that were relatively recent purchases not a single cabinet, floor, outlet, pipe, duct, or even window will not have been replaced.  And we are doing virtually all of it ourselves.

Sure, we are fortunate enough at this phase of our lives and careers where we could outsource most or all of this project and likely get it done in half the time, and yes, doing it ourselves is saving us a fair amount of $$$ in sweat equity, but the real reason for the work is that I honestly believe the results make me a better individual and Leader in the long run.  And here is why:

·         It keeps me sharp in a broad array of skills that I may be practicing less in my role in the Enterprise these days:  For most Leaders (and especially for Technology Leaders), Leadership Maturation also brings with it a diminishment of the hands-on activities that were generally responsible for the development of the Passion that got you into your Career to begin with.  One way to solve that problem is to transition those passions from the Technical Roles to the Leadership Roles but another is to find other outlets for those hands-on Passion needs.

·         It stimulates multiple areas of the brain.  More than a few studies have shown that the more areas of the brain that are stimulated, especially as we grow older, the slower our mental faculties deteriorate.  And as most of us tend to rise to Leadership Positions as we grow older, it is probably in our best interests to counterbalance our wisdom and, uh, maturity with raw brain power.

·         It continues to keep one humble.  As I’ve pointed out every year in my Leadership Resolutions, My Direct and Indirect Reports Know More About Their Jobs Than I Ever Will.  Try building a Kitchen from Scratch (which encompasses Carpentry, Electrical, Plumbing (and in my case) Tile, HVAC, and Metal Working; and one’s respect for the People who have dedicated their lives to becoming subject matter experts in all of those areas will serve as a reminder that All Leadership is only as good as the ones working for them who actually get the job done.  If you cannot learn humility during that process you probably shouldn’t be a Leader.

·         It continues to develop important Interpersonal Relationships.  Seriously.  It’s a wonder my Wife hasn’t left me yet.  I’d like to believe that that is a result of my trying (very hard) to be understanding and accommodative during the process of destruction/creation that I have been engaged in.  These are skills that will benefit any Leader.

·         It pulls one out of the comfort zone.  As we move up the organizational chain, we all tend to gravitate towards the skills and techniques that we are comfortable in.  The problem with this is that we tend to stop developing the ability to adapt to change as a result.  By doing things that we may not entirely be uncomfortable with and run a greater-than-normal risk of mistakes (or even possibly failure), we retain that ability to work in uncomfortable situations, adapt, and succeed.

I’ve got about 3 more weekend before the project is basically done.  In the meantime I continue to learn about myself from both an unexpected skills and limitations standpoint that will end up becoming part of my Leadership Tool Chest in daily use.

The Cult of Leadership:

I confess:  I get fairly obsessed with patterns and trends and I’m wired in such a way that I simply cannot look at any situation, be it technical, political, or sociological, without attempting to also look for correlations and supporting (or disproving) evidence. 

That “passion” if you will usually lends itself well to the career of IT and the study of Leadership.  It also tends to be the framework for how a blog post like this comes together and this one is no different in that respect.

This week I saw a Viral Video by a Well-Known Director, Read a Great Post on CFO.com about Steve Jobs, and heard a comment by someone who believes themself to be an exceptional Leader but probably isn’t.  Throw in a blog post two weeks ago from a Leadership Expert that is worth reading and an interesting pattern emerges about the state of Leadership Today and why it is still so damn difficult to be Exceptional at it.

So what were the triggers for this post?

·        Ridley Scott, who has done a number of remarkable movies in the course of his career, is getting ready to do another one titled Prometheus.  One theme that he will be touching on is the concept of the mega-enterprise and in an intentional ViralVideo Here one of his fictional Leaders does a stadium-like presentation to themasses.  It’s a powerful piece and brings shades of many of our more dynamic Leaders to the fore and for me raised the question of whether every Leader may suffer from at least small measure of megalomania.

·        Susan Cramm, an author and executive coach that I just recently stumbled upon (and whose work I’d highly recommend) published a great piece in CFO.com about Steve Jobs and why, while he was an enormously successful Businessman, may not necessarily be the type of Leader we should all be striving to emulate.

·         A Leader with whom I periodically interact with, made a statement in a meeting recently (and it was not the first time they made this statement) that “Leaders” MUST be Assholes/Bitches/Bastards in order to individually succeed and successfully drive a team as otherwise they are simply setting themselves up to be taken advantage of.  And mind you, in every technical sense of the word, this person has been successful in their career, having risen from entry-level to a high-paying executive position that influences multi-million dollar decisions on a daily basis.

The interesting thing here is that in all three examples, these are PUBLICALLY respected Personas; People that are admired by other Leaders, Rewarded by the Stockholders, studied for their actions, and pursued by (sometimes fanatical) followers.  Yet every one of them at an INDIVIDUAL level were probably disliked by many that had to support their efforts, left many betrayals in their wake, and at one point or another created a culture  of Darwinian “survival of the fittest” mentality that pushed aside ethics and morality for the sake of the “Win”.

The problem here is that we all love winners and we all hate making decisions.  This combination lends itself well to creating a culture that worships Leaders who appear to be successful and appear to make rapid, definitive decisions that discourage argument.  And there certainly have been plenty of Leadership Cults throughout history that show this to be true, even though the end-result may have been disastrous (I shouldn’t need to name any, there are plenty out there to find). 

Many years ago someone once asked me “Haven’t you ever needed the business, needed the “win” so badly, that you took it even when you knew it was wrong?”  The answer should always be no.

So while it isn’t too hard to figure out what kind of Leaders we DON’T wish to be (and now would be a good to time to toss out the link to the Blog Post by Dan McCarthy on 10 Excuses for Being a Lousy Manager), what can we do to build out own Leadership Cults that are truly worth following?

Here are my Two Cents:

The challenge that we all have as Leaders is to not just Be Decisive and Be Winners (which is actually easier to do than most people think), but to also Be a Leader of LEADERS.  To do that requires that one is not only a Leader in their own right but an educator as well, someone who pushes people to become comfortable with making decisions, someone who reinforces the morality of those decisions and understands that respect and likeability are positive traits to have with both individual Leaders as well as Leadership Cultures.

Those would the things that I would start with.  What would you add?

Best, Most Memorable Lines from 2011:

I’m a voracious Reader and an Information Junkie.  Almost any time I have a down-time moment, I spend it reading, researching, studying and looking for ways to add to my internal knowledge-base.  As a result each year there always seem to be a collection of blogs, articles, or catch-phrases that stand out and 2011 was no exception.

So with minimal opinionating on my part, here are the ten serious and not-so-serious quotable moments that got my attention.  I’ll leave it up to you determine which are which.

1)            Best Email Auto Reply:

 I am currently out of the office on vacation.

I know I'm supposed to say that I'll have limited access to email and won't be able to respond until I return - but that's not true. My blackberry will be with me and I can respond if I need to. And I recognize that I'll probably need to interrupt my vacation from time to time to deal with something urgent.

That said, I promised my wife that I am going to try to disconnect, get away and enjoy our vacation as much as possible. So, I'm going to experiment with something new. I'm going to leave the decision in your hands:

If your email truly is urgent and you need a response while I'm on vacation, please resend it to interruptyourvacation@firstround.com and I'll try to respond to it promptly.

If you think someone else at First Round Capital might be able to help you, feel free to email my assistant, Fiona (email redacted) and she'll try to point you in the right direction.

Otherwise, I'll respond when I return…

Warm regards,

Josh

-- via Brad Feld

2)            Best Counterpoint to what why so many IT/Vendor Relationships Fail:

Scott McNealy, ex-CEO of Sun Microsystems, tweeted this message last month: "Most over used phrase in business is 'strategic partner.' Favorite partnership for me is a purchase order. Defined charter, beginning, end."

"That is precisely why many external partnerships fail. True collaboration is much more than a purchase order. Setting up an external partnership as if it were a PO, at best, leaves value on the table. At worst, it leads to conflict and value destruction."

-- Ben Gomes-Casseres

3)            Best Statement showing why ALL OF IT will be driven by Consumerization & Ecosystems, not “Solutions”:

"The battle of devices has now become a war of ecosystems, where ecosystems include not only the hardware and software of the device, but developers, applications, ecommerce, advertising, search, social applications, location-based services, unified communications and many other things. Our competitors aren't taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem. This means we're going to have to decide how we either build, catalyze or join an ecosystem."

-- Stephen Elop

4)            Best Ethics Statement:


“When leaders commit an ethical violation they should be fired – not coached.  It only takes one ethical violation to ruin the reputation of an otherwise outstanding company.  All employees need to understand that integrity is a condition of employment and not a performance appraisal factor”

– Marshall Goldsmith

5)            Best Evidence that maybe all we need to know we REALLY DID learn in Kindergarten

"In all our lab studies, we found that when subjects were near toys or engaged in activities like watching cartoons, the number of cheaters dropped almost 20%. In several studies we had participants play games in which they filled in missing letters to complete words. Those who were primed with childhood cues were far more likely to form “moral” words like “pure” and “virtue” than those who weren’t. In addition, people behaved better in the presence of childhood cues even if they weren’t feeling particularly happy."

-- Sreedhari Desai

6)            Best Retention Quote from the Front Lines:

"Much has been written about employee motivation and retention. It’s written by folks who actively use words like motivation and retention and generally don’t have a clue about the daily necessity of keeping your team professionally content because they’ve either never done the work or have forgotten how it’s done. These are the people who show up when your single best engineer casually and unexpectedly announces, “I’m quitting. I’m joining my good friend to found a start-up. This is my two weeks’ notice.”

-- Rands In Repose

7)            Best Talent Search Statement:

 “I only ever hire ‘A’ players for me and my companies. If I hire ‘A’ players, they will hire ‘A+’ people below them. If I hire ‘B’ players, they will hire ‘C’ players below them. ‘A’ players don’t get threatened by better people below them; ‘B’ players do.”

-- Anonymous via Eric Jackson

8)            Best Statement about what is wrong with IT Talent Searches Today:

"People in the "hiring industrial complex" seem to constantly get hung up on the same things: Specific industry experience and skills that just don't matter. In 25 years of IT I have yet to find how industry experience has truly made a difference. The main things to look for [in prospective employees] are being a good analyst, solving problems (all the way through), and having a penchant for being constantly unsatisfied."

-- Anonymous via Meridith Levinson

9)            Best Help Wanted Ad that could be confused with an Information Technology Posting:

"EVIL GENIUS seeks minions to sacrifice their lives in World Domination attempt.  Must be prepared to work 24/7 for fascist psychopath for no pay.  Messy death inevitable but costumes and laser death rays provided.  No weirdoes.   CALL 1-900-MWAH-HAHA"

-- Cafe Press

10)          Best Words to Close On:

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

-- Ferris Beuller

(Top Ten) Technology Leadership Resolutions 2012:

On January 10^th last year, I posted the 3^rd revision of my Annual Leadership Goals/Resolutions.  That makes today the day for 2012 and once again, here that are.

One of the things that has been surprising as I’ve worked on these every year is how much more difficult it has become to do.  On the surface it flies in the face of Logic as I believed when I started this effort (as well as NO ROM BASIC as a Blog) that the list would become refined over time and something that could be maintained as a general framework that would get easier as it went along.

But along the way what I found is that is has forced me to completely assess what I’ve accomplished over the last year and what has improved (or not) during that time.  This is a good thing and I’ve actually considered making this practice part of a regular career assessment plan for future mentoring situations.  That in and of itself has made this a good learning experience and an unexpected benefit of the effort.

So without further ado, here are my Leadership Goals and Resolutions for 2012:

1) Continue to Recognize the Importance of the Whole F$%#@ Work/Life Balance Thing: (2011 SELF GRADE – D) 2011 was an improvement in actual work-life balance, but most of it was driven by unexpected family demands, including the loss of several loved ones over the course of the year.  So while I did take more personal time off in 2011 than in the previous 3 years, my last full-week vacation remains in 2007.  My commitment to let my Wife put together a vacation that both of us can enjoy together is still a #1 goal and hopefully that will happen.  In the meantime I will continue to console myself with that fact that the Work/Life Balance for virtually everyone who strives to be a Leader today has never been more difficult and will continue to place this as a top goal.

2) Work on my Personal Career Goals: (2011 SELF GRADE – B) While it always difficult to predict the future, there is a strong sense that 2012 will be a crossroads from a career-development standpoint.  For starters after 4 years of participation, this will be my last year as a “student” in the outstanding CIO Pathways Program.  Having been a participant in the program nearly from its inception has been a delight and an honor.  Probably the highest compliment I can give to an educational program is that not only did I get the opportunity to expand and sharpen countless skills that I knew I could continue to improve, but I also discovered and refined skills that I did not know I’d had.  In the meantime the professional friendships that have been built as a result of that program simply cannot be replaced.  Great Stuff.

I’ve also been working to reinforce my Leadership skills by working once-a-month with a Nationally Recognized CIO and Leadership Coach – Larry Bonfante.  While I’ve mentioned my personal feelings about how I believe there is benefit to being able to work with an Executive Coach and Mentor in past Blogs and outside publications, I do want to take a moment to point out that I do try to practice what I preach and Larry has been an immense help over the last year as a sounding-board and person who I can rely on for honest and impartial advice.  In the last Year Larry has been a busy person as well, launching his own Coaching Enterprise as well as Publishing his first IT leadership Book.  So while finding the right Coach/Mentor is a very personal endeavor and not every Coach is a perfect for every Student, for those that are looking, anyone who is lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with Larry should give it serious consideration.

Last, I continue to reinforce those basic educational needs, constantly updating the skills that are needed to be a modern-day IT Executive.  To be a CIO today requires a set of interpersonal, business, and technical skills that are almost unmatched in any other Executive Position and as someone who is always curious about nearly everything, IT continues to be the Leadership Career of choice.  There is simply no other Enterprise Job out there that that satisfies so many parts on my mind.

3) Take Some Risks (New to 2012, No Grade):  Leadership and Career Success is a funny thing:  Look at most People who have been successful and one of the many things that stand out is that they took Risks along the path to success.  However as one rises up the Leadership Chain and builds a reputation for getting things done, the instinct is to become risk-adverse as the stakes get higher.  The reasoning for an increased risk-aversion usually are sound; however the irony is that this also can end up creating a situation where you lose one of the very things that got you where you are in the first place.  During a recent discussion with a Mentor I trust, I was asked when was the last time I took a potentially career-changing risk and I found myself really having to think about that one.  And so this makes the resolution list year as something to consider.

4) Work to assist others with their Career Goals as well: (2011 SELF GRADE – C) This follows closely on the heels of Goal #2 with a purpose in mind and as a reminder that one of the primary responsibilities to anyone in a Leadership Role is to provide those opportunities for those around you to achieve their goals as well. Over the last 8 years I have had the honor to have been charged with developing a group of people who would have the capabilities to take a Global Enterprise I.T. Infrastructure and Operations system to a level of Excellence that most Enterprises rarely see. For anyone who has ever been in an I.T. Leadership Role for any length of time it should not be difficult to recognize that the Technology is not the Challenge: Throw enough $$$ and FTE’s at any technical problem and you can likely get it to work. The challenge is finding and developing the right PEOPLE. As my Team approaches about 2 dozen direct reports, and more than 7 years in development (and nearly 10 years since discussions about building this Team started), I have had the opportunity to see people develop and mature their careers in a myriad of wonderful (and sometimes surprising) ways. Seeing individuals grow and develop as technologists and leaders, increasing their value to an organization and being rewarded in increased compensation and opportunities and even sometimes occasionally moving on to other Enterprises that will take their careers to the next level has to be just about the most satisfying thing that anyone can do. And it sure as hell beats building a reputation as someone who might be regarded as slave-driver who is only interested in their personal reputation and the bottom line.

5) Share More/Mentor More: (2011 SELF GRADE – B) Continue the chain of knowledge transfer and support that allowed me to arrive at the place in my career where I am now. Do not restrict this to just internal education, reach out beyond your place of work (and even your field of expertise) and share what you have learned across a broad range of Enterprises and Operations. You might be surprised at what you get back in return.

As mentioned earlier in this post, I have been fortunate enough to have spent the last 4 years in the CIO Pathways Program and will exit the program in May as a student.  Having reached what to me is the end of a fantastic educational journey, I have opened the opportunity up to 2 rising stars within the Enterprise that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with over the last 8+ years and very much hope that they see the same benefits.  Providing that pay-it-forward belief is something that has continued to become more profound to me as time has gone on (and I have increasingly realized how damn lucky I’ve been to have such Talented People support my development over the years) and moving into a mode where I can provide these resources and advice to others is the best way I can think of to thank those who have supported me.

6) Give praise and positive feedback in as many warranted cases as possible: (2011 SELF GRADE C) Virtually every study ever done in regards to workplace environments contains feedback from staff that doesn’t feel that their accomplishments or highpoints are highlighted or praised enough by their leadership. Personally I’d like to believe that I do provide positive feedback at a level that is better than the average bear, but even so it seems like every year when I look back I still see moments where I fell short. This resolution is to continue to try and recognize as many of the high points as they occur as I can.

7) Don’t ask anyone to do anything you would not be willing to do yourself: (2011 SELF GRADE B) Many years ago on one of my first jobs, I was asked by a superior to crawl into a septic tank and unclog a sewage line. Not one of my more pleasant experiences but one of the things that I carried away from it was that during the whole (truly disgusting) process the owner of the business was right there with me helping to get it done. Later when I made Manager at the same operation and this same situation came up I was reminded by the same business owner that unless I was willing to personally participate in resolving the problem, I had no moral or ethical standing in asking someone else to do it. Since then I’ve always made an effort to spend some time in my week contributing in non-leadership ways, uncrating shipments and placing them in the storeroom if needed, running server updates if people are busy, taking out the trash or going out to get lunch or snacks if there is a fire to put out or if people don’t have time. But this makes my list every year as I don’t ever want to find myself thinking that I don’t want to do something for the sole reason that “I paid my dues” or “my time is more valuable than that task”. The world is way too populated with Executives who believe that their day is of a higher value than the people who actually make the Enterprise run.

8) Remember that the Career and Personal Goals of those that report to you may not necessarily reflect Your Goals, Your Enterprises Goals, or their Co-Workers Goals. (2011 Self Grade -- C) It’s amazing what goes in people’s lives.  As Leaders we all have a team of Direct and (depending on size) Indirect Reports that spend 50% (or more) of our time working towards common goals that support the Enterprise.  What we tend to forget is that there is a whole other 50% that involves family, loved ones, personal interests, and career interests separate from anything that you are doing as a Leader.

In most cases none of these Spouses/Partners, Children, Friends, etc… care anything about what your Leadership or Enterprise Goals are (and for the most part they shouldn’t).  But anytime you have to have a self-humbling moment, think about that fact. Once you have then remember that a continual and ongoing goal should be the recognition that all of these outside influences are present with your reports as well as everyone you work around and the time may come when those goals will pull them away from where you are going.

Keeping a finger on the pulse of what is going on with the people who are responsible for your success as a Leader is vital and recognizing where their priorities are at any given time in their lives allows you as a Leader to make all the goals you have happen. Not to mention it is also the right thing to do.

9) Be Humble: (2010 SELF GRADE – C) Remind myself on a regular basis that if I have done my job correctly, EVERY single person that is working on my team has something valuable to contribute and knows things from a technology standpoint that I don’t. Or won’t. Ever.

10) Be a Novice: (2010 SELF GRADE – B) Continue to remember that no matter how far I’ve come; there is still an almost limitless array of things that I can learn in Technology (and Technology Leadership). This is one of the major reasons I got into an I.T. Career to begin with and the day one starts believing that that they have learned it all should be the day they think about getting out. I did have many more Novice Moments in 2010 than in previous recent years as I begin to stretch my “education” into areas and certifications that are not strictly Technology in Nature. The positive result from this was the reminder that we cannot be experts in everything but should learn all that we can from those that are experts in their field when possible to do so.

***

And so another year has passed.  During that time I've seen Direct Reports, Peers, Friends, and Associates have their share of Achievements and well as Setbacks.  Hopefully at the end of the day my being in a position of responsibility has contributed to their growth and minimized their stress.  Here’s looking to a New Year that reaches higher and grows more.

(Past Resolution Posts)

2011

2010

2009

IT Without Borders; or Why All IT Leaders Must Be Global Leaders:

Except for the smallest of businesses (most of whom typically would not have an Executive IT Leader yet), IT Leadership is becoming a world of no boundaries.

This weekend I was doing a little casual personal research and came across the web site for a major Enterprise with locations in the U.S., Europe, South America, India, China, Japan, etc…  Yet the web site only had English, Spanish, and French as their language choices and while their mobile “app” is available for both iPhone and Android (so they have about 80% of the smartphone market covered) it is only in U.S. English.

Of course this should be workable for a lot of their customers, but what message does it send to those that Speak Mandarin, Japanese, Indian, German, Korean, etc?  To be fair I don’t have the stats on how much of their business involves their International Locations or how many of their customers do cross-border travel (nor do I know if expanding this is already an IT Priority) but from an IT Leadership standpoint to me this practically screams of being a Marketing Opportunity Being Lost.  Especially in a period of time where a large number of U.S. Based Enterprises are seeing most of their growth coming from Asia.

What about the Enterprise that isn’t even doing 3 Languages/Regions but just Two or One?

Information Technology knows no borders.  IT Leadership cannot afford to ignore that.  The age of the globally connected MPLS network is no longer a bragging point or a luxury for the new CIO, the Multilingual, Virtualized, and Cloud-Oriented Data Center (In-Sourced or Out-Sourced) is no longer an “option” and the IT Leader that has not been outside of the borders of her/his country is rapidly going to find themselves at a strategic disadvantage.

I’ve blogged about some of this in the past, but if anything the reality has become even more important in the last several years.  IT Leadership needs to be incorporating International Exposure into its training and development programs, as well as its hiring practices.  As someone who has had to lead a Shared-Services Infrastructure and Operations Team for a number of years now we have built exposure in the following ways:

·         Spending time with boots-on-the-ground in virtually every location where we do business:  While I’ve been fortunate enough to have spent some real time in places such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Dublin, etc… My doing this is simply not enough.  For any company that has a Leadership Development Program, seriously consider making part of that program a requirement to spend at least 7-14 days a year abroad in the “local” offices.  These are the people who you will be relying on to make decisions and provide counsel to you as a Senior Leader on strategic technology initiatives.  If you are not giving them the tools to make informed decisions that reflect the cultures and economic realities of where you are doing business, how can you expect those decisions to be better than your competition?

·         If your company can do it, considering having even the non-leadership IT personnel doing at least 7 days abroad on a biennial basis.  I’m aware that this is not cheap (I see my own expense reports) but I’ve yet to see someone that I’ve sent to, say, Shanghai, for week that did not come back enlightened and with a different attitude towards the local IT needs.  If you can budget for someone to go to a Conference for a week or 7 Days of Platform-Specific training and certification, you can and should budget for what should be considered “strategic cultural training” at least every couple of years.

·         Broaden your hiring horizons:  I’m proud of the fact that I have Team members (past and present) that were raised and/or spent significant amounts of time in places such as Sweden, Germany, Mexico, Pakistan, and the Czech Republic.  While statistically a small number within our group (we are a Midwestern Mid-Size Enterprise), the exposure that these folks bring to the group has improved our ability to respond to the needs of our Enterprise and arguably improved Productivity.  Something to think about the next time you are conducting interviews.

·         Put language and cultural training tools in place and defend them as a budget line-item.  We have made Enterprise Applications such as Rosetta Stone available to IT for several years now. And while usages were initially slow, they have both been steady and steadily growing over the years.  And you might just find an unexpected future IT Leader in the usage stats.

The Global-Oriented IT Leader really is no longer a luxury but a baseline need that today’s Enteprise can ill afford not to have.  Is your Team Ready?  Are You?

Why a Zero-Tolerance Ethics and Integrity Policy is the Only Leadership Choice.

“When leaders commit an ethical violation they should be fired - not coached. It only takes one ethical violation to ruin the reputation of an otherwise outstanding company. All employees need to understand that integrity is a condition of employment not a performance appraisal factor.” – Marshall Goldsmith

The Initial Reaction would be that this seems like a Harsh Statement.  But is it?

In Marshall’s recent (and excellent) Blog Post WhenLeadership Coaching Works (And When It Doesn't), I ran across this exceptionally profound statement and as I’ve been chewing away on it for the last week I’ve found that it is an excellent talking point for working to getting into my regular posts on NO ROM BASIC again; especially when one looks at some of the stories that have occurred over the last week.

So let’s start with the big one:

Penn State Mess:

Here is one of the ultimate recipes for disaster:  Take a long and storied Leadership Organization (The Penn State Football Staff); one that has been headed up by a person who in many ways defined the meaning of ethics and integrity in his field of expertise; and destroy that reputation virtually overnight. Not because of the alleged commission of illegal and morally repugnant acts, but because virtually all the key leaders involved chose to minimize or repress the acknowledgement of those acts in order to “protect” the system.  For Joe Paterno, one key moment of ethical lapse has led to the irreparable damage of the careers of a number of key Leaders, and the likely loss of millions of dollars in revenue for an education institution that will not be able to be used for Scholarships, Research, and the Preparation of Young Minds for Careers of their own.

Given those circumstances was Penn State right in deciding to immediately fire Paterno instead of letting him exit on his own terms?

Moving onto the Financial Business; MF Global:

So what happens when you have spent your life building a reputation as Leader in Global Finance and Politics with a point of emphasizing a high level of regulation, integrity, and accountability, then find yourself heading up a firm that appears to have taken $600 Million of client money in order to shore up their own failing trading operations?

In this case Jon Corzine resigned; whether by choice or at the behest of his board will likely never be publically known (and probably at this point doesn’t matter).  Damage done?  The loss of over 1,000 jobs with more to come, $600 Million that individual investors may or may not ever see again, and an increased distrust in the honesty of Wall Street Financial Companies.

In this case we almost certainly had ethical lapses at multiple levels on numerous occasions, which likely in each case was seen by people in the Leadership Chain as isolated, minor lapses or what some would call “grey areas” of ethical decision making.  It would be hard to draw any conclusion other than one in which a culture of acceptance of ethical and legal violations became a part of the MF Global operation, probably starting small enough with instances of people crossing the line when “it didn’t really matter” or when it was for “the greater good” of the organization.

Would a Zero Tolerance Policy have made any difference?

The IT Leadership Tie-In:

Hoboken NJ IT Admin sets up email diversion policy to spy on Mayor’s Office.

Here we have IT Administrator who apparently was not fond of the current Mayoral Administration and was concerned about his job.  Solution? Set up a policy on the mail server that captured and archived emails on the Mayor and Staff so that he then could review this information at his leisure later.  Further compounding this clear ethical lapse was his decision at some point to begin leaking this information to local media and social network sites in an apparent attempt to further his personal causes.

In this case he was not only terminated, but is now facing criminal charges, so we have a situation where a Zero Tolerance Policy was in effect for the IT Employee, however what is far more disturbing to me is the overall tone and point of the article which was this:

“It's an open secret among IT workers that many find casually snooping on co-workers’ emails just too tempting. In a 2008 survey conducted by security firm Cyber-Ark, one in three "senior IT professionals" said they'd spied on co-workers’ email.”

One in Three.  How does this fit into anyone’s leadership philosophy?  But it’s just some casual email snooping.  Right?

Many years ago during one of my first Leadership roles (as a Manager for McDonald’s), we had a situation where would occasionally find one or two empty orange juice containers in the storeroom.  Even though the cost was fairly minimal (from a loss-prevention standpoint it was maybe about $5.00/week), after approximately two weeks of this the owner set up a camera in the area to catch the person with the thirst problem. (FYI - In 1983 this was an expense of several hundred dollars to prevent the loss of somewhere around $20.00 total)

Turns out it was one of our young employees and he was fired on the spot.  I know at the time I brought this very question up and the Owners response was that the dollar amount didn’t matter.  What mattered was that someone who was a representative of his store and the McDonald’s corporation had committed actions that violated the ethics and integrity of both and if it were allowed to continue then not only could the employee not be trusted, but neither could anyone who had decided to give him a “pass” on it.

While I have always led a life of high integrity, It took me some time to gain additional life and leadership experience before I realized the fundamental and absolute truth of that statement.  But just like the Owner/Operator who gave me my first formal leadership position, Marshall calls this one correctly and his quote at the beginning of this Blog Post should be a major bullet point in any and all Leadership Training and Coaching Programs.  So much so it bears repeating:

“When leaders commit an ethical violation they should be fired - not coached. It only takes one ethical violation to ruin the reputation of an otherwise outstanding company. All employees need to understand that integrity is a condition of employment not a performance appraisal factor.” – Marshall Goldsmith