ITLP Tuesday Readings

Terry Gray, IT Leaders Program alumnus from the University of Washington, suggested today's reading, "How To Rise Fast At Work: A True Story". Terry thought that the piece might be of interest to the leaders community. And, I agree.

In this Forbes.com piece, its author Avril David talks about two acquaintances - whom he calls Mark and Ted - and their respective, different approaches to their first job, analyst at a small investment firm.

Mark did not see himself as a self-promoter, and he wasn't sure he could outpace others at his assigned work. He decided that he needed to begin by learning all he could about the company. Following this path while he did this work, he built a broad network that spanned the entire company. Ted took the more traditional path and worked like a manic to try to show that he was better than any of his peers.

You'll have to read the entire piece to get the details and to find out who was judged the best performing employee at the end of year one. After you've read the article, perhaps you might reflect on the way you work as compared to Mark's and Ted's approaches, and then ask whether some change in your approach might be appropriate. And, if you conclude that some change might be appropriate, then do take the time to develop a new goal and a new set of action steps to help you make the change. Need some coaching. Renew contact with your peer coach or someone in your program oran alum on your campus, or your staff coach.

. . . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 11:11 AM | Permalink

Today's reading, "The Power of Trust: A Steel Cable", comes to us from the Mindtools Newsletter. The author is Bruna Martinuzzi, the founder and president of a Canadian consulting company that focuses on emotional intelligence, leadership, and presentation skills training.

Martinuzzi got my attention when she said: "Trust is largely an emotional act, based on an anticipation of reliance [that the other party will meet whatever commitment was made]. It is fragile, and like an egg shell, one slip can shatter it." Then, after a discussion about the role of oxytocin, a hormone and neurotransmitter, in our trusting, and reporting on research that the trust individuals have in business and political leaders, and in organizations is decreasing, she restates her core argument about trust: "...[B]eing trustworthy, in someone's eyes, is based on their own perceptions, and may be strongly influenced by the fracture of trust in the world around them. Indeed, people don't automatically trust leaders these days. Trust needs to be earned through diligence, fidelity, and applied effort."

Martinuzzi does not leave us without some advice. She offers 10 suggestions on a leader can do to become and be seen as more trustworthy:

1. Monitor your use of "I," particularly in communications. Focus on the team, think "we."
2. View promises as an unpaid debt. Diligently track the promises you make and your actions on them.
3. Keep talking about what matters. Lewis Carroll: "What I tell you three times is true."
4. Your reputation is like a brand. Manage it as diligently as a corporation.
5. Be known as a truth teller.
6. Earn the trust of your customers -- keep your promises, be willing to help, treat customers as individuals, make it easy for customers to do business with you, and ensure that all physical aspects of your product or service give a favorable impression ("Five Pillars of Trust," Winning Customers, by 1000 Ventures).
7. Don't try to lead through email. Make time to have "face-time" with people.
8. Manage your moods. Predictability engenders trust.
9. Are the corporate stories you tell consistent?
10. Do you make people feel safe?

For me at least, this is a powerful list. But Martinuzzi is not finished. She goes on to note that "if organizations want to increase collaboration and enhance teamwork, they need to start with trust." She says that "It's all about individual behaviors. Do individuals behave in a trustworthy manner or not? There is only a pass or fail here."

Martinuzzi ends with the question: "Can your people trust that your word is your bond?" And, you will have to answer that question. I do hope that you'll take some reflection time this week to read the full article and to ask yourself the question. If you do, you may find some behaviors that you need to work on.

. . . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 9:21 AM | Permalink

This isn't part of Jim Bruce's ITLP Tuesday Readings, but I thought this topic fit best here, rather than on my main blog.

A recent article in CIO Magazine points to the top 10 "recession proof" skills in IT. These skills speak to the "enterprise" nature of what we do in the CIC, and at the University of Minnesota:

1. Virtualization
2. Services management
3. Unified computing
4. Green IT
5. Resource management
6. Engineering
7. Network
8. Financial analysis
9. Project management
10. Communications

How do your skills compare?

Note that these 10 skills cross a lot of boundaries. The point of the article isn't that you need to have all these skills, rather that having any of these skills is a good hedge against future IT trends.

-jh

Posted by Jim Hall at 2:04 PM | Permalink

MIT's Leadership Center hosted Anne Mulcahy, then Xerox's Chairman and CEO at the Sloan School's Dean's Innovative Leader Series in November 2006. A synopsis of her remarks will be found at this page, and a video of the entire presentation is available at MIT World.

Mulcahy assumed the leadership of Xerox in 2001 when many thought that the company was a sinking ship. In five years, the company was back to profitability and had no core debt. These are not the reasons I have included her piece in this series. Rather, as I listened to her it was clear that her strategies for righting the Xerox ship seemed to be right on for what leaders in IT should be doing at this moment:

1. "Focus on your customers, and lead your people as though their lives depended on your success." advice from Warren Buffett which she followed.

2. Listen to your core constituencies and be prepared to act on what you hear. Look for critical feedback; it's a gift to discover a problem early.

3. Ask "Would the customer pay for this?"

4. Customer connectivity is something that has to be a part of all jobs in business.

5. Leaders should surround themselves with "people who are different and smarter than you are (and) people who have skills that you don't have."

6. When a crisis hits, a leader needs to articulate a vision for the organization that goes beyond just scraping by. "Even at the worst of times, invest in the best of times."

7. Leadership is a team sport. Communication is critical. Messages have to be consistent.

8. Align people around a common set of goals.

To me, these sound like what leaders need to be doing, no matter what they lead or the level of that leadership. So, I challenge you to take Mulcahy's advice as you move forward in 2010.

. . . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 6:23 PM | Permalink

If you are leading a change initiative, then you must be an influencer for that initiative to be successful. Yet studies have shown that only one in five leaders are able to influence positive change in a way that it lasts. What's going on?

Today's reading is The Influencers: The Top Five Reasons Leaders Lack Influence. In this piece, Ron McMillan and Joseph Grenny, the authors who also wrote "Influencer: The Power to Change Anything," provide five reasons why leaders lack influence:

1. Leaders do not believe that it is their job to influence. (I certainly hope that is not the case for IT Leaders alumni.) Leaders see their job as strategy, as selecting winning products and services, as engaging stakeholders and major customers. Few understand that their success, or failure, lies in influencing the behavior of those who execute the strategy. The most influential leaders spend 50 to 75 of their time thinking about and actively influencing those responsible for delivering results.

2. Leaders lack the skills required to influence. The study found that only one in twenty had a thought-out plan for influencing change.

3. Leaders often confuse talking with influencing. Verbal persuasion is rarely adequate.

4. Leaders believe in silver bullets. When leaders do attempt to influence behavior, they often look for a quick fix, believing that deeply ingrained bad habits can be changed by a simple action. Research shows that this almost always fails.

5. Leaders try to influence everyone. Rather than spreading their influence equally across all their staff, influential leaders invest time and effort in their direct reports and the opinion leaders in the area of the change. By doing so, they build trust with those individuals who are most closely associated with the change.

To be able to positively influence someone, you must have a positive relationship with that person. That's why building relationships is so important. In the Leaders Program we point out that relationships begin with someone initiating a contact; that it grows by inquiring, by mutually learning about the other; and that it matures by investing in the interests of the other individual. As the relationship matures, trust and empathy are build and we naturally influence one another.

So, let's all get to work on building and strengthening relationships. They will provide a solid foundation for the work we will be doing. . . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 9:54 AM | Permalink