The IT Leader's Manual

By Sébastien Giroux

Information technology is literally everywhere in our lives, at home and in the office. Rapid technological advances are allowing new entrants to disrupt well-established industries (Uber for instance); consumers’ behaviours are shifting; digitisation is attracting cybercrimes; workforce and shareholders are demanding more than financial rewards and social media is creating as many opportunities as it spawns threats. That is enough to give your CEO nightmares!

So there’s no better time to be looking for a leading role in this volatile and dynamic market.

THE IT LEADER’S MANUAL: A practical and personal framework for reaching the board and achieving success, is a book which is dedicated to seeing you realise your dream of making it to the very top in the corporate IT world of today.

In an easy-to-follow writing style, the book sets out the following parts:

1. The problems the author sees with IT in most organisations.
2. A possible solution lying in a new kind of leader: the Neo Classic Leader.
3. How you the reader can become one of these Neo Classic Leaders, improve IT in your organisation and grow your career.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dux Publishing
• Release date: Sep 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781911538004

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

What a great time to be in charge of Information Technology (IT)! Technology is everywhere in our lives, not just confined to the office but embedded into our phones, televisions, even in our fridges! And it is becoming pervasive to an intimate level, infiltrating our clothes, shoes and watches! Technology has become transparent, leaving the limelight to the information it carries. As much as we love our gadgets, what matters much more to us nowadays is the information we can share with others. Social media, information highways, digital services, all these recent additions to our everyday vocabulary has massively increased the focus on the data, the information and the knowledge it gives access to. The tins and wires that make this possible have no relevance to the vast majority of information consumers. We even call some of that technology ‘the cloud’ as if to confirm it should remain vague, barely described and hidden away.

It’s not just our personal life; the corporate landscape has evolved as well in recent years. If someone had been frozen in the 1980s and was coming back to life today, they would surely struggle to adapt to the new corporate world order. The market has become incredibly dynamic; technological advances have allowed new and agile entrants to severely threaten well-established companies; consumers can shift their behaviour with little warning; intense service digitisation is attracting a new generation of cyber threats; the workforce, the clients and the shareholders are demanding much more than the traditional financial rewards and, finally, social media is proving to be as much an opportunity to increase revenue as a threat to derail any organisation that contradicts public ethics and moral standards.

Furthermore, as if it was not enough already, all of these massive shifts are happening simultaneously, worldwide and fast. That’s enough to give any Chief Executive Officer (CEO) terrifying nightmares. How to steer the large corporate ship in such a perfect storm?

A few centuries ago, in the glorious days of sailing across the globe, large wooden ships also had to navigate in turbulent waters, although more literally. In this challenging and mostly unknown world, even the most seasoned captains could feel uneasy when facing Cape Horn. So much so that it was very common to invite on board a specialist navigator. These exceptional men knew how to steer a ship through the Cape and, upon approaching the choppy water, the captain would simply surrender their control to the hardened expert.

In today’s choppy corporate world, CEOs and other executives may, at times, wish they had such an expert at their side to help them navigate through complexity and uncertainty. The IT leader can assist by being this special and trusted guide. They are well equipped to make sense of the dynamic environment and steer the organisation through the required changes. The IT leader can provide a beacon or a buoy to reassure the CEO as they sail through the volatility of today’s global market.

IT has traditionally been located in the depths of the building, tucked away from highly strategic discussions. In modern days, the IT department has to adapt and become an intelligent service buyer who can become the loyal and close advisor to the CEO and their executive team, helping to steer the whole organisation rather than imposing technical limitations. Many modern IT managers aspire, quite rightly, to take an active and decisive part in the overall leadership of their organisation. Some of them want a seat at the top table where they can help direct strategy instead of suffer from it. In turn, it becomes increasingly apparent that many CEOs are also demanding from their IT leader the support to exploit information technology. Yet they don’t know where to find the right person for such job. There is a mismatch between CEOs’ expectations and Chief Information Officers’ (CIOs) aspirations.

True IT leaders are still rare. Most IT managers still run a supporting function that awaits commands and orders. What they fail to realise is that they may be seen as unconscious scammers. Imagine someone coming to your door one evening. They are selling a £19.99 encyclopaedia. You are taken by the argument, realise the one you own is 20-years-old and agree it seems a fair deal. What you don’t know until you sign up is that you were given the price for volume one only, out of 33. You cannot opt out before volume 20 is delivered and each book is actually £49.99. Are you happy with the deal? Sadly, this is too often how the business feels after being sold an IT project. It will be delayed, it will cost more than planned and it will be heavily de-scoped because that’s what IT does, right?

Don’t worry it’s not just IT. Complacency is insidious… In recent years it has been increasingly accepted for common metrics such as corporate Return on Investment (ROI) to dwindle. Many executives will boast about their successes whilst key metrics are falling down. Why? Because there is always an external explanation: it is because we are going through a serious recession, it is because there is a skill gap, it is because competition is getting tougher, it is because we are part of Europe, it is because the aliens are invading… It doesn’t matter what the excuse is, it is not an acceptable business behaviour to hide behind irrelevant factors and pretend that all is going fine and the company is healthy when there are clear signs of difficulties.

The context in which businesses operate has evolved dramatically in a short span of time, less than a generation. Despite this, CEOs want their organisations to prosper. They want to rely on close partners to deliver their vision. Unfortunately, the people who reach the top positions have been trained in the same way as ever before. Their management methodologies have barely changed for more than 50 years. Some companies turn to some form of cheating (PPI by banks, strange accounting by a retail giant, rigged testing by automobile industry, etc.); others simply shut down or get bought out.

There is a need for a new breed of leaders to get up there and turn things around and I strongly believe that IT is a great location in which to find one of these new leaders.

This manual is written for all those who are managing IT and want to break the glass ceiling and take it to the next level: the board room, the C-suite, the strategic table. If you are aiming for the top, or if you are already there and are wondering how to successfully deliver your organisation’s objectives, then you can benefit from this book as it will help you define a personal strategy to both reach the board and, once there, to deliver great impact.

One last thing: the recruitment industry customarily expects business leaders to bring in revenue of at least seven times what they cost to their organisation. This often forms part of the silent assessment of candidates (you may not know it’s happening). For many CIOs it pretty much means that they need to bring at least £1m in revenue per annum. This is not efficiency savings; it is new money generated! If you want a seat in the C-suite, ask yourself this: can you demonstrate that you are meeting this figure?

Read on, you may be able to reach this by the end of the book.

What this book is about

This book is about you and how you can, and should, become a great leader of IT, ready to move up in your career and deliver real value to the organisation you serve. This is about becoming the sort of IT leader that the industry and, more crucially, many businesses need; the sort of leader that executives and CEOs are getting desperate to find and appoint; and finally, the sort of leader that you are aspiring to be if you are reading this book.

Throughout the book I give you tips on how to make IT management easier and more aligned with the business objectives. I am introducing a new concept: the Neo Classic Leader (NCL) as the answer to both the business’ expectations and the IT industry’s aspirations. It is offered as a potential way forward for a new wave of CIOs who aim to gain their seat at the board before ultimately becoming the driver for the overall organisation.

Finally, this book is a manual, not a guide. The reason is that it requires you to do actual work. Becoming a leader does not come from a three-day training course fuelled with coffee and sandwiches. You do have to work on yourself to achieve it.

What this book is not about

This book is not about the daily task of running an IT department. It will not tell you how to be a typical or generic IT manager – i.e. the person in charge of IT in a given organisation. There is already a plethora of books that do just that.

So if you are looking for specific help to implement ITIL or increase project success with Prince2, you should find the right books for you. This isn’t it!

Some definitions

IT lead

This generic term encompasses any job title held by those in charge of IT: IT manager, IT director, CIO, Head of IT, for the most common. The IT lead is, quite simply, the one person sitting at the top of the hierarchical tree for IT in a given organisation. They are leading strictly by virtue of their job title and position.

IT leader

This leader is not defined by a hierarchical position, but by those who follow her or him. Such distinction matters: it is possible to be ineffective and incompetent as a lead, but much harder to fool people as a leader. Leaders drive forward and get results. This is why they matter, why they get appointed to higher levels, why CEOs worldwide are looking for them.

The C word…

It is common wisdom that one size fits all… well, it doesn’t always work. The fashion industry has not managed to crack it. Ever tried a one size fits all outfit? If you are pretty average, it’s probably fine, but if you are a little too tall, too thin or too round it is likely that the outfit looks odd on you. The same happens with management ideas. The reality is that whatever you do, you need to adapt to your current situation. You may have managed 10 projects in your career but it doesn’t mean your current one will go the same way. We are made to believe that a well-proven method is our best friend. Call it best practice if you wish, it does not deliver success by simple virtue of being used by many others. Adaptation is paramount to success.

I am now going to introduce an important word, or better still a key concept.

The C. word is CONTEXT. Those of you who have enjoyed John Stewart’s The Daily Show will remember his frequent use of the word. Context is a powerful lens that lets you better appreciate how information, events and situations are interrelated. As you keep reading you will understand the prime importance of knowing your context well and why it is so critical that you constantly assess it not just to react to changes, but also to anticipate them.

HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL?

This book can help you in several ways:

•It can help you reach the executive board or the C-suite.

•Once you get there or if you already are, it can help you make a bigger impact.

•If you are an executive looking to recruit or appoint your next IT leader, you can also get useful tips to guide your search and find or groom the right person.

Book format

This book is split in three parts:

1.Problem. Firstly, we explore the traditional IT management and how it doesn’t really answer the business needs anymore.

2.A solution. The second part introduces a new type of leader that can help IT deliver real value to the business and resolve the gap issue once and for all.

3.Apply it to you. And the last part invites you, the reader on a journey to become this new leader, change your life and bring value to your organisation.

In summary, I will expose the problem I see with traditional IT management and offer a potential solution in the form of a new kind of leadership. And then the fun starts as I help you to grow into this new leader and reap the benefits.

I want this book to be easy and pleasant to read. Including plenty of references and listing them as special notes at the bottom of the page would add unwanted weight and detract from the pleasure of reading. I have, therefore, decided to offer a list of ideas for further reading at the end, in Appendix B.

Is this book for you?

IT is very often described as an enabler. IT is seen as a supporting function that enables an organisation to perform its regular activities and meet its objectives.

Let’s pause and think for a minute. If you are an enabler, if your role is to enable something, then it means that someone else somewhere has thought of that something; someone is making it happen and is controlling its execution. In all of this, you are but a catalyst.

Now ponder this question: why would a catalyst be invited to a strategic conversation?

If you want a seat at the board, if you want to make an impact in your organisation, if you want to bring your ideas to a strategic discussion then you need to work for it. You do need a personal strategy to join the board and to make an impact once you are there.

Optimal path

The best way to get the most out of this book is simply to read it in a linear and orderly manner, absorbing the background information from the first chapter, going through your own discovery and exploring the proposed framework as chapters progress. I advise you to take notes and complete the exercises or tests mentioned on the way.

Appendix A provides the questionnaire accompanying part three. By the end of the last chapter, and if you have completed all exercises and tests, you will have a personal strategy and an action plan to fulfil your goal.

Targeted pursuit

Many reasons will drive you to individual parts of the book and you may want to avoid reading it whole. I understand that really well! I would probably be like you… so I have tried to make things very clear. For instance, you could read only Chapter 9 where the model is fully explained, then go to Appendix A to run the questionnaire and this would already give you a good idea of what to do next.

About the Author

I am a passionate believer that IT can make a huge difference by delivering business value, helping people grow and driving the required business transformation to suit a highly dynamic and volatile market.

Throughout the last 20 years, I have held several management and leadership positions in different sectors from start-ups to global giants. Coming from an engineering background and moving into consultancy, I came to realise how bare technology had become less relevant to most organisations. Old habits die hard and it has proven a real struggle for countless IT functions and their managers to evolve at the required pace; it has also proved difficult for the rest of the business to accept that IT could change. I have witnessed this first hand and have spent several years trying to find a way to re-position IT so it can effectively deliver value and be the partner that many businesses are looking for. My post-graduate degree allowed me to conduct research into this problem and I have come to the view that a new type of leadership is required to drive IT departments out of their current supporting role and into a driving seat.

By way of summary, this is what I have learned over the last 20 years:

1.1995 – Technology is an enabler.

2.1997 – Business content matters more than the underpinning technology.

3.1998 – Success comes from people.

4.1999 – IT can deliver business value.

5.2000 – New technology is everywhere, but people are scared of it.

6.2002 – The world is moving online fast, but businesses are slow at catching up.

7.2004 – IT can generate business results.

8.2007 – Classic management has become irrelevant, distracting and hindering.

9.2009 – IT leaders must drive business change, generate revenue and increase profit.

10.2011 – A new breed of IT leadership is emerging, but much more is needed.

The reason for this book

The 10 stages above represent an evolution of my own mind-set through the years and the various challenges I faced. A further stage took place recently:

11. 2015 – I should write about this!

Traditionally trained in the art of management applied to IT, I have struggled for many years with the concept of IT being a mere supporting function.

I have observed the effects of great leaders on organisations and people and that made me wonder what they would do in IT. This is