…and it is an art. This is from the perspective of a technology leader seeing the changes over the last ten or so years, and is in the same thought process as the CIO write up I posted last week.

There’s more than a few non-technical hurdles we have to jump over. Consider these scenarios as a for instance.

• A C level executive wants to push a project through – you as the senior IT executive cannot sign off on the release until some sanity checks are done, but the C level releases anyway.
• A senior executive refuses to implement controls because it will add complexity to the project – yet the controls are required by the industry.

These aren’t insurmountable issues but are just a couple of the hoops we have to jump through. The point here isn’t to have answers to the above issues, but to show that the art (see title) is not only being a leader in the technical field, a mentor to technical staff and all the other attributes of a senior IT executive, but also to deal with the personalities of those above you – managing your managers so to speak.

Should it be this way? No, not really but it’s not a perfect world we live in. If we can’t communicate at all levels we are in the wrong job. If we can’t make these people see reason all we can do is inform them of the risk. Since it’s our neck on the line when things go awry we need to make sure all bases are covered. Even if we are right we cannot afford to make any part of the business look bad so it becomes a strategic issue, but is that really where we want to go with this, or where we need to be? If we have tried all avenues and we are still not being heard – perhaps the business isn’t ready for a senior executive in the IT leadership role. That’s a hard truth and also a tough call.

We’ve seen the IT role move from being a customer organization to a business partner, and rightfully so. Look how long it took to do that. In the age of ever advancing technology does everyone realize that the business will not function without IT? That’s a rhetorical question but the excuse of not knowing what IT does isn’t going to cut it anymore. Should we explain the complexity of our environment to everyone, or should we be seen as the enabling business partner that drives the business forward from the proper use of technology?

This isn’t a rant by the way. It’s attempting to realize something that I have been working with for a long time. IT has value to the business and is a business partner. We know IT is not revenue generating but we should not be seen as a drain on assets, or a department that spends for the sake of spending. We have to trust that our IT executives know what they are doing, just as you would trust a CEO or COO that they know what they are doing, and accept that you cannot know all about everything that we do. (yes, I meant to write that sentence that way!). Superseding and second guessing our world is not going to help the business, in fact more often than not it will hurt the business.

As with everything there are many points of view pertaining to this topic. I’ve read many on the CIO forums and LinkedIn noticeboards, and I’ve heard many when speaking at conferences and attending seminars. But what I feel the most is, we as leaders can say the words “they don’t understand”. If that is where we leave it we don’t deserve to be leaders. We have to stand up and bridge the gap. For example, in the role of information security some say “the execs will get it when we get hacked, then we’ll get the money”. That’s a little too late for my liking. In that case I will take drastic measures to protect the business, that might include hacking the company myself. I would rather it be me that breaches the company than a hacker, and if done correctly it will have the desired effect. That will also add to your credence as a leader and more trust will start to flow. That being said there is a chance it could backfire. Not everyone can accept a direct approach like that.

I can go around in circles on this one, but I’ll leave it here for now. This isn’t meant as a blue print or guideline. It is meant to provoke thought and point of view and I fully understand that there are those that will push back hard – and that is good too. Care to share your thoughts? I’d love to hear them.