Matching your skills and passions with market needs if the best way to ensure longevity, relevancy and revenue. On that quest, at times, you will come across those you should part with at the earliest opportunity. Strangely enough, sometimes those folks include some of your your current and prospective clients. Being paid for a product or service is the name …
Be a leader, not a decision maker
Leadership is earned, not given and as such you need to justify your privilege to lead others. Your title alone is not enough to make you a leader. Your position as a CEO, CIO, CFO, CMO, President, Vice President…gives you an opportunity to make decisions, not necessarily lead people forward. To lead others you must win their hearts and minds, …
Resources follow vision
Complaining about the lack of resources is utterly useless and here’s why. I am yet to meet an organization that has too many amazing people, too much money or too many great ideas, knowledge, technology…and so on. That doesn’t exist, accept it, internalize it and move forward. Instead of complaining, act on delivering value to the entire organization and making …
Build a great team, they are your reflection
The quality of your team, their performance and contributions are directly related to you as a leader. In a sense, they are a reflection of you. You set standards, expectations and instill values across your team and as such you need to use caution in the initial selection process. Furthermore, you need to provide them resources they need to be …
Push your employees over the edge then be there to catch them
Push your employees “off the edge” and be there to help them land safely. Get them out of their comfort zone and enable their growth, advancement and provide them with opportunities. At times, you will come across folks who lack confidence and belief in their abilities and it is on you as a leader to find a way to reinvigorate …
Share the spotlight
Share opportunities with your team and empower your staff to get actively involved at the highest strategic levels. This exposure and recognition at the executive level will enable people to have a better understanding of the strategic priorities and realign themselves with that in mind. Furthermore, don’t keep all strategic, leadership projects and responsibilities for yourself, but rather share them …
Talk is cheap
Actions speak louder than words. We have all heard this saying and it holds true in nearly all areas of our lives. Having that in mind, it is interesting to see that way too many people don’t go past words, speeches and talks. Too many people don’t deliver what they claim they will and that is the greatest differentiation between …
Remove obstacles and focus on solutions
Remove excuses and eliminate obstacles for others to be successful. This is a very simple view of what leaders must do and in particular what IT teams must do. Technology needs to empower people and provide solutions, not be in the way of people achieving their goals and being successful.
You must win hearts and minds of people
In order to accomplish greatness, you must win hearts and minds of people who are on your team. You must find unique ways to motivate each of them individually while simultaneously building a cohesive team capable of great accomplishments.
Leaders set the culture
Leaders set the organizational culture and that will never change. Accept it and choose your leaders wisely. On the other hand, if you happen to be a leader, it is equally as important to take your responsibilities seriously and act in such way that promotes quality, accountability, and communication across all areas you lead. Whether you like it or not, …