IT Leadership Blueprint – The “Power Skill” Guide for IT Professionals
I am about to make the most obvious statement anyone in IT has ever made:
Technology is Changing.
Of course technology is changing, technology by its very nature evolves.
What we must understand, is that as technology changes; IT Leaders and Professionals need to change as well. It is no longer enough to be great technicians, we must be great leaders as well.
The biggest change that has affected the IT landscape — and our roles in it — is the emergence of cloud technologies. Cloud technologies have ripped the magic keys to the kingdom from our hands. What do I mean by “keys to the kingdom”? You know, the keys to the server room door where all the magic used to happen.
In the past, IT was brought into every new technology deployment because we held the keys to the server room. We purchased the server and infrastructure. We installed the OS and software. We mounted it in the rack. New technology couldn’t get deployed unless IT set up the infrastructure.
Now, the server room is boring. Not much there. Everything resides in the cloud. Everything is in someone else’s datacenter.
It is not enough to simply be a great technologist any longer. If you want to remain relevant, and keep (or earn) your seat at the decision making table of your organization, you must become a better leader.
The changing role of the Technology Leader.
How can a technology leader stay relevant? How can they continue to have influence in today’s changing, cloud-based technology landscape?
Technology leaders have to think differently. It is no longer enough to be technically savvy. You must have business savvy and you must have emotional savvy.
You must have strong “soft skills” to stay relevant. And really, these skills are not soft at all. They are powerful and impactful. They are the key to evolving from an IT Professional into an IT Leader. So, instead of calling them soft skills, let’s call them “power skills.” Because that is what they are…powerful.
We can use these power skills as parts of a blueprint. A blueprint to help current and emerging IT Leaders develop their leadership skills, and ultimately, their influence within their organizations.
First of all, let me say that in no way, shape, or form, do I consider myself to be an expert on leadership development. I am just a guy who got into Information Technology, somewhat by accident, and have had the fortune to spend the last 20 years of my life in this rewarding field.
I have been able to advance in my career from a hands-on IT Professional to an IT Leader. I believe that, along with good fortune and the support of great people, learning the power skills outlined below put me in a position to advance in my career.
Let’s look at these power skills as a “blueprint”. A set of instructions that will help you build a solid leadership structure and maximize your potential.
The Foundation
These are the “foundational” skills that will help you develop as a leader. Just as a structure needs a solid foundation, you need a solid set of core skills to build upon.
Technical Expertise
This is table stakes for any IT Professional. We absolutely must stay on top of technology developments to remain relevant. We cannot gain the trust of our manager, or other senior leaders in the organization, if we do not show technical expertise. There is an endless supply of content out there to help you continue to develop your technical skill set. Certifications, online courses, formal education, podcasts, blogs, and publications are all resources to help you to stay on top of the latest technology trends.
No matter what stage of your career you are at — from Helpdesk to CIO — you need to stay relevant and keep your skills up to date. Discipline here is critical. You must make time in your week dedicated to continuing technical education. Carve out 1-2 hours per week–in the evening, the weekend, on your commute to work–dedicated to your continued technical education. You will be off to a great start to maintaining your technical expertise.
Physical Exercise
I’ll preface this by saying I am not a health or exercise expert. But I am convinced that to be your best self you have to commit yourself to some kind of physical exercise. I am a firm believer in the mind-body connection. The better you feel physically, the sharper you will be mentally. Physical exercise also helps to reduce stress, which will make you approachable and easier to work with.
Look, we all know physical exercise is good for you and the benefits are many. If the benefits of physical exercise came in a pill, everyone would be taking that pill every day. Unfortunately, it is not that easy. You have to put the work in. There are a lot of options.
Try different things, experiment, find what works for you. But find something. If nothing else take 30 minutes when you get home, or after dinner, to go for a brisk walk.
Time Management
Time is the currency of our lives, the most precious commodity we have. To advance in our IT careers, we must own and prioritize our time. We cannot allow circumstances to push and pull us and knock us around like a rag doll through our days. We need an effective time and task management system that allows us to focus on the most important goals, projects, and tasks.
Here is a good analogy: Imagine you are going on a trip, but you have no map or GPS to guide you. You start driving and hope you find your way to your destination. Maybe you will get lucky and find your way. Maybe your gut, or the help of friendly strangers will guide you where you want to go. Or you may get hopelessly lost and never reach your desired destination. Why not take a map instead? That is what an effective time and task management system is; a map to your reaching your destination. The destination of accomplishing your most important goals.
There are many systems out there. Experiment and find one that works for you. Personally, I like to look at my time and tasks like a lion. My biggest projects are antelope, my small tasks are mice. What is better for a lion to hunt? Antelope of course! So I manage my time to allow for the most antelope hunting time possible and do my best to avoid chasing mice.
Effective time management allows you to get the most important things done. It shows your organization you are an IT Professional that can make things happen and puts you in line for continued growth.
Suggested Reading: The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker
Business Acumen
You are probably comfortable with acronyms like: API, CAT6, and DHCP. But, how do you feel about acronyms like: P&L, EBITDA, and COGS? These are the acronyms that your CFO, COO, and CEO care about. Take the time to learn them. This is the language of business.
Ultimately, the technology you are developing, deploying, and managing impacts these crucial financial indicators. Know what they mean. Be able to have an intelligent conversation about your organization’s financials.
Take time to review and understand your organization’s financials. If you work for a publicly traded company, they will be easily available to you. If you work for a privately held company, ask your manager or someone in your finance department if you can see them. Ask questions about them if you do not understand.
If you are already in a position where you have access to financials, become a master of them. At the very least you should be able to read an Income Statement (P&L), Balance Sheet, and Statement of Cash Flows.
Being inquisitive about, and understanding financials will greatly increase your business acumen and make you stand out.
Suggested Reading: Seeing the Big Picture, Kevin Cope
The Frame
Once the foundation is built, the frame of the structure is erected. This next set of power skills builds upon the foundational skills, helping your leadership structure to take shape.
Networking
To advance in your career, and become a better leader, you have to become a better at networking. And no, I do not mean physical wiring, switch, and router networking; I mean business networking. In fact, one of the best predictors for career success is having a large, open network ( https://medium.com/accelerated-intelligence/the-number-one-predictor-of-career-success-according-to-network-science).
I do not wish to make stereotypes or sweeping generalizations, but it is fairly safe to say that most IT professionals tend to be introverted. We are not always the best at “getting out there” ( http://www.michaeldmcgill.com/2018/02/19/it-professionals-get-out-there/) and meeting new people. We can tend to feel more at home behind the monitors: coding or managing a network. However, nothing will help to advance your career as much as having a strong network.
Network both inside and outside your organization.
Outside, join a professional networking group like SIM (Society for Information Management) ( https://www.simnet.org/home) or AITP (Association for Information Technology Professionals) ( https://www.comptia.org/membership/it-pro).
Inside your organization, meet regularly with other business leaders and stakeholders. Invite them out to lunch. Learn what their goals and pain points are. This helps to build trust and your reputation.
Communication
To get ahead in your IT career you must be an effective communicator, both written and verbal.
Let’s take a quick look at both.
Written – Make sure that your written communications have, at the very least, good grammar and spelling. E-mails and other communications sent with obvious misspellings and grammatical errors are not a good look. Turn on spelling and grammar check tools in Microsoft Office. Grammarly ( https://www.grammarly.com/) is also a great tool that works in several platforms to make sure your spelling and grammar are correct. I am not trying to be a grammar cop here, but this is critical. After you have your grammar and spelling nailed down, you can move on to the next level of writing. Want to really improve your writing? Take an online writing class. Udemy has some great classes to help you become a better writer. Want to get really, really improve your writing? Start a blog.
Verbal – The most important verbal communication skill for an IT Professional is the ability to discuss technology at a level your audience will understand. Know your audience! If you are speaking with a fellow IT professional…let the technical jargon fly. If you are talking to someone outside of IT, speak more in concepts than in terms. Speak about how the technology will benefit them more than how it works. If they get inquisitive and lead the conversation towards technical detail, follow them down that path and get more technical. But with non-technical people always start conceptual then get technical.
Emotional Intelligence
One of the most critical skills an IT Professional can develop to break the stereotype of being cold, aloof, and overly technical is Emotional Intelligence.
It’s true, in IT we solve technical problems. We need to follow best practices and processes to keep the code clean or the network up and running. Emotionless objectivity is critical at times (See the section on Stoicism below).
But we are also in the people business. We are ultimately solving people problems. The business of solving people problems is the business of emotions. To reach your full potential in IT, you have to be aware of and able to respond to emotions. Your emotions and the emotions of others.
There are two distinct benefits to Emotional Intelligence: self-awareness and empathy. Both will serve you well in your IT career.
Emotional Intelligence will help you be more aware of your own emotions. This will help you “nip it in the bud” at the first sign of a negative emotion such as anger or frustration. You can take preventive measures. Instead of being lead around by the nose by your emotions, you can better identify and manage them.
Emotional Intelligence will help you identify and empathize with the emotional state of others. Instead of being out of touch with how the other person is feeling, you can meet them in their emotional state. This will build trust and make others want to work with you.
Recommended Reading: Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman
The Finishes
The foundation is built, and the frame is erected. Now it is time to add the finishing touches to your leadership structure. Evolve it from being a functional structure, to being a beautiful one you can take pride in.
Servant Leadership
People often struggle in their career because they are too focused on themselves. They see the people they lead and work with as a “means to an end”.
Don’t be one of these people.
The most successful people see themselves as servants. They have a mindset of helping others. The same goes for IT Professionals. We are in a very unique and fortunate position to help others. From the CIO helping the organization achieve its goals, to the helpdesk technician helping someone fix their broken keyboard, we have many opportunities to serve.
If you are in a position of leadership, develop a servant mindset. Get to know the people who you lead, understand and help them achieve their goals. Put the needs of others before your own and choose to serve instead of seeking to be served. Learn how to practice Servant Leadership.
If you are early in your IT career, establishing a Servant Leadership mindset is one of the most powerful things you can do. You do not have to be in a formal leadership role to practice Servant Leadership. The author Ryan Holiday writes about a practice called the “Canvas Strategy”, where you create “canvases” for others to “paint” on. Basically, your aim is to help others by creating or capitalizing on opportunities.
Bruce Kassnoff writes about a beautiful approach to life (and your career) in his blog post “Help This Person.”. Every time someone approaches you, don’t see them as a distraction. Instead think “Help This Person”. It will turn your career into a mission. It will also have the added benefit of helping you advance in your career. People simply want to work with people who are willing to unselfishly help them.
No matter where you are at in your IT career, developing a servant mindset will give you a successful and rewarding career you can be proud of.
Recommended Reading: The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle, James C. Hunter
Stoicism
Let’s face it, being in IT is stressful. Servers “crash”, we get “hacked”, their are security “threats”. The language of IT suggests we are under attack. If you want to be an IT Professional, you have to be tough. You have to be calm and composed when the “you know what” hits the fan; as it inevitably will.
What can we do to keep our composure when things go wrong? How can we stay calm when everyone around us is panicking?
We can practice Stoicism.
What is Stoicism?
Stoicism is an ancient philosophy whose practitioners (or Stoics) focused on strengthening their will and leading virtuous lives. They followed a set of practices to examine their minds and weed out non-productive, negative thoughts. These were replaced with productive, positive thoughts.
Why would an IT Professional bother learning about a dusty old philosophy? Because Stoicism can help you: look at things objectively, identify what you can and cannot control, and calmly focus on solutions when crisis arises.
The amateur panics when a crisis arises. The professional remains calm, and works towards a solution.
Be a pro.
Take the time to learn about Stoicism and how it can help IT Professionalsremain calm, no matter what unforeseen circumstance arise.
Reading Recommendation: The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday
Mindfulness
The final skill will not only help you advance in your IT career, it will benefit you in every single area of your life. This skill will help you gain greater objectivity and remain calm in the face of adversity.
I am talking about Mindfulness.
Mindfulness helps to “create a space” between stimulus and response. It allows you to choose your response instead of going with your first emotionally driven reaction. How many times in your career have you responded out of stress, anger, or frustration. Only to look back and wish you had handled it differently.
Mindfulness gives you the ability to handle it differently at the time it is happening.
Strong leaders are calm in the face of chaos. While others around them panic, act rashly, or freeze; a great leader calmly looks over a situation and decides the next best course of action. Again, they DECIDE, they do not REACT.
Practicing mindfulness meditation gives you the ability to pause and evaluate a situation before you react. People will see this in you and recognize your ability to remain calm and lead.
Learning Mindfulness has a low barrier to entry. Just download any of the apps (Headspace, Calm, Waking Up…pick your poison). Commit yourself to 10 minutes a day to do a guided Mindfulness meditation. I promise that if you commit to this habit, you WILL see a difference in how you respond to life situations.
Your organization desperately needs good leaders who can help steer the ship in the right direction. Practicing Mindfulness Meditation can slow things down, provide the space needed to objectively evaluate a situation, and allow you to act with purpose and compassion.
Suggested App: Headspace
In Conclusion
So there you have it. A Blueprint to become a more effective IT Leader. Ten “power skills” that can help you achieve your full potential in your IT career.
Build your foundation by improving your technical expertise, physical health, and time management.
Stand up the frame by improving your network, communication skills, and Emotional Intelligence.
Put on beautiful finishes by adding Servant Leadership, Stoicism and Mindfulness.
Building these power skills cannot be delegated, assigned, our outsourced. You have to put in the work. You have to commit yourself to working on the most valuable asset you have…yourself.
The future of IT Leadership belongs to those who work harder on themselves than their technical skills. Don’t be left behind.
