Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

LARRY BONFANTE has held executive leadership positions over the past twenty-nine years in the financial, pharmaceutical, nonprofit, consulting, and sports and entertainment industries. He has received numerous industry accolades, including being named one of Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders in 2009. As Chief Information Officer at the United States Tennis Association, his team is responsible for all information technology–related services supporting the U.S. Open, the most highly attended annual sporting event in the world. A founding member of the CIO Executive Council, he is the founder of CIO Bench Coach, LLC, an executive coaching practice for IT executives. He has served as a mentor and executive coach for many IT leaders in various industries and serves as Chairman of the Fairfield-Westchester chapter of SIM. He has been a guest lecturer for the master’s degree programs at Columbia University, NYU, and Polytechnic Institute and is an accomplished public speaker who has presented at many industry conferences. He writes a leadership column and blog for CIO Insight magazine.

He can be reached at Larry@CIOBenchCoach.com.
You can learn more about his executive coaching practice at www.CIOBenchCoach.com.

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Focusing on the qualities required to transform an organization through the lens of the CIO, Lessons in IT Transformation provides hands-on advice on how to address key issues, as well as create a context for the type of leadership qualities required to broaden the CIO’s impact in every aspect of the corporation.

Written from the unique perspective of an actively practicing IT practitioner, Lessons in IT Transformation focuses on the human side of IT leadership as well as on the real, pragmatic leadership issues that are critical for your success as a CIO. Practical and actionable, this book delves into the nuts and bolts of what is entailed in transforming an IT organization, including:

• Helping to create a vision that your team will embrace
• The real purpose of IT … driving business value
• How to develop effective communication skills
• Becoming an effective relationship manager
• Developing the people on your team for maximum contribution
• How to lead a major change effort
• Creating an atmosphere of partnership with your people, clients, and vendors
• Working on developing the qualities of great leaders
• How to sustain success once it’s achieved

A timely look at how the IT function can become truly aligned with the strategies and operational direction of your business’s enterprise, Lessons in IT Transformation reveals how you can develop solid leadership qualities in those around you―and in the process, become a better leader yourself.

Aus dem Klappentext

Lessons in IT Transformation
Technology Expert to Business Leader

Focusing on the qualities required to transform an organization through the lens of the CIO, Lessons in IT Transformation provides hands-on advice on how to address key issues, as well as create a context for the type of leadership qualities required to broaden the CIO's impact in every aspect of the corporation.

Written from the unique perspective of an actively practicing IT practitioner, Lessons in IT Transformation focuses on the human side of IT leadership as well as on the real, pragmatic leadership issues that are critical for your success as a CIO. Practical and actionable, this book delves into the nuts and bolts of what is entailed in transforming an IT organization, including:

• Helping to create a vision that your team will embrace

• The real purpose of IT . . . driving business value

• How to develop effective communication skills

• Becoming an effective relationship manager

• Developing the people on your team for maximum contribution

• How to lead a major change effort

• Creating an atmosphere of partnership with your people, clients, and vendors

• Working on developing the qualities of great leaders

• How to sustain success once it's achieved

A timely look at how the IT function can become truly aligned with the strategies and operational direction of your business's enterprise, Lessons in IT Transformation reveals how you can develop solid leadership qualities in those around you and in the process, become a better leader yourself.

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Lessons in IT Transformation

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

Before we get into the "nuts and bolts" of what is involved in transforming an IT organization, we will spend some time defining some key concepts. Specifically, we will focus on the following concepts:

Defining what I mean by leadership

Comparing and contrasting leadership and management

Reviewing common misperceptions regarding leadership

Examining the critical roles that a transformational leader has to play

Defining Leadership

There are probably as many definitions of leadership as there are people who have an interest in the topic. Many of us have formed our thoughts and definitions based on the people in our lives from whom we have learned our lessons of leadership. For many people, the image of leadership comes along with formal power and authority. For others, it elicits a vision of eloquent orators who can inspire with their thoughts and words. Some may conjure up emotional pictures of military leaders or sports coaches who "fire up" the troops.

What we will explore in this book is the fact that there is no one approach or definition to leadership. Individuals bring their own unique personality and talents to their position of leadership. In trying to define leadership, perhaps a good place to start is to differentiate between two very important but different things—leadership and management.

Leadership versus Management

Before we begin our discussion on leadership, it is important to differentiate between the concepts of leadership and management. Many people will share that they think good leadership is more important to an organization's success than excellent management. This is akin to saying that speed is more important to an athlete than strength. The truth of the matter is that both are critical to success.

Over the almost 30 years I have worked in the industry, I have come to realize how rare excellent management is and how rarely it is appreciated and rewarded. In many organizations, when an individual contributor excels, he or she is promoted to a management position. The thought process is that if someone is proficient in a functional area, that person would naturally be able to manage others who are focused in that area of endeavor. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although some people clearly can make this leap, excellence in any endeavor and the ability to manage people in the same discipline are two very different sets of muscles. Working in the field of IT, it is sometimes painful to watch very talented technical people who entered the field because of certain skills and personality traits being asked to act in what can only be described as unnatural ways to try to manage the efforts of other technical contributors.

In my experience, there is a dearth of quality managers. People who can help teams execute and deliver results are a precious commodity. Many organizations do not value or reward excellent managers. However, without these people, companies would never accomplish the results required to achieve success. Therefore, in our discussion of leadership versus management, I want to be clear that I value both capabilities. It's just that they are very different things.

To me, the simplest way to differentiate between leadership and management is to identify three questions that must be answered for teams to succeed. The first two questions are issues of leadership. The third is a question of management.

Question #1: Where Are We Going?

The first question that must be answered by a leader is, "Where are we going?" The essence of leadership is setting the direction for the organization. Leaders must work with their people to explain their destination. There is an old expression that if you don't know where you are going, you might not like where you wind up! The first responsibility of a leader is to know where you are going so you can communicate this direction with your team. Many books I have read on the topic of leadership stop there! They feel that the primary responsibility of a leader is to determine and communicate the team's destination. I think that there is a second related question that leaders are required to answer.

Through the Lens of the CIO—The Need for CIOs to Inspire

I can remember the first time I heard the idea of the CIO having to inspire the organization. It was at an industry conference, and we had a keynote speaker who suggested that leaders must inspire their people to greatness. Why is this a daunting challenge for most CIOs?

Let's think about where most CIOs come from. Many of us grew up through the ranks of the technology organization. Our skill sets were in areas such as business analysis, systems development, and process management. In school, we were more likely to be attracted to topics such as math and science than to subjects such as psychology and philosophy, which many of us probably viewed as "fluff" courses. (I will make the admission that I was a dual major when I got my undergraduate degree, pursuing both economics and psychology!) We are most comfortable with quantitative, hard-core, tangible items that we can see and touch. We are often binary in our thinking—after all, computer science is at its core based on ones and zeros! We count lines of code; we install and program switches and routers—no bull happening here!

All of a sudden, many of us are placed in positions where we have to lead and "inspire" people. Inspiration is the stuff of evangelists and football coaches, not managers of technology. But like it or not, people only perform at their greatest potential when they are inspired.

One of the big mistakes many CIOs make when attempting to inspire is to think that they have to come up with some magic words that awaken the greatness that resides in all of us. We have to know exactly what to say to light the fire in people. Truth be told, individuals have their own motivators that inspire them. All we have to do is figure out what those things are for the people we lead and find a way to align our vision and our mission to the things that drive people. You can call that inspiration. Motivation is really an "inside job." Our role is not to create the things that inspire people but simply to make people understand how what we are doing connects with what already inspires them.

Another challenge many CIOs have is trying to develop the cult of personality. Some of us (like me) happen to become extroverts over time. I started out an introvert, but based on life experiences and situations have become far more extroverted and comfortable in dealing with people than many CIOs are naturally wired to be. But what about those of us (and this is probably the great majority) who are introverted? After all, there is a reason we went into IT as opposed to sales or marketing. What do we do about the introverts? Remember that inspiration is about your people, not about you! What CIOs have to do is to be real, to be human, and to be themselves. People can smell a phony from a mile away. Therefore, trying to be a cheerleader if this is not your nature will most certainly backfire. Be yourself. Be genuine. Speak from your heart in a way that people know is true to who you are, and they will respect you for...