2011 Goals

Now is the time to make goals for 2011. Start with values and think in terms of what you value from a business, personal and family perspective. Once you are clear on your values you will be able to create goals that align with what you believe is important! It has been demonstrated that if you create goals and write them down you will gravitate toward them. This is true even if you do not look at them for another year. Besides if you don’t know where you are going, how can you possibly get there?

Here is the format I use...

Values:

1 Year Goals and 5 Year Goals:

Career:

Earnings:

Personal Relationships:

Family:

Education and Learning:

Health/ Fitness:

Improve Home:

Free Time/ Hobby:

7 Skills for IT Leadership

I read an article in CIO Magazine: 7 Essential CIO Leadership Skills That Get Results by Thomas Wailgum regarding a recent study and book on this subject by Graham Waller of Gartner Executive Programs, and Korn/Ferry's George Hallenbeck and Karen Rubenstrunk.

The 7 Essential Skills are:

1. Commit to Leadership First
2. Lead Differently than You Think
3. Embrace Softer Side
4. Forge the Right Relationships to Drive the Right Results
5. Master Communications
6. Inspire Others
7. Build People not Systems

The #2 skill “Lead Differently than You Think” is a little vague - They mean the natural tenancy for a technical professional is to outsmart everyone and this is counter to being effective as a CIO. The interesting thing is that all these skills are related to interaction, relationships and success through others. Note that none of these 7 key skills involves technical superiority or technical vision. Clearly to be an effective CIO a broad technical understanding is necessary but these are table stakes.

Article link for CIO Magazine: 7 Essential CIO Leadership Skills That Get Results by Thomas Wailgum:

http://www.cio.com/article/626991/7_Essential_CIO_Leadership_Skills_That_Get_Results_

Planning IT Projects

There is enormous power in sitting down and planning out an IT project before getting started. This is one of the keys to effective consulting. Typically a consultant has to follow a fairly rigid document path involving several planning steps. The plan should be created, then reviewed and revised by the team. As simple as this sounds, often IT projects get stated and move forward with little planning beyond the description of the work to be performed – “Cowboy Style”. If you find yourself moving too quickly with little planning, step back and re-assess the IT project. Develop a complete plan!