SIDEBAR: Fighting an Entrenched Culture
A Coast Guard commander finds that developing IT leaders can be a titanic struggle
Captain Robert Day, division chief for the United States Coast Guard Pacific Area, recognises that his IT organisation, which numbers 265 people, has a serious gap in leadership development. Unfortunately, he has found it to be a difficult fix.
The deep-rooted culture of the Coast Guard has always favoured generalists for promotion to leadership positions. "Since the Coast Guard's real mission is flying planes and saving lives, IT specialists were not readily looked upon as guys who'd be promoted to admirals and commandants," says Day, who is in charge of command, control, communications, computers and information at the Coast Guard in Alameda, California. "There wasn't a direct tie of the work they did to the operational side of the business that the public sees. Consequently, we've had a lot of problems with retention." He estimates that from 1996 through 2000, about half of the folks with the most leadership potential left for the public or private sectors, frustrated by the lack of upward movement and no formalised leadership program.
Though it will take a boatload of time for IT specialists to break through the cultural barriers and be viewed through the same lens as their cutter- and aeroplane-piloting brethren, Day feels things are moving in the right direction. "The biggest thing has been the circling of wagons of senior IT leadership for mentoring these guys and at the same time fighting the case with senior [Coast Guard] leadership of letting the business guys know in business terms what these [IT] guys can do," he says. Day is also excited about last year's appointment of Clifford Pearson as CIO. Pearson is the first CIO since the Coast Guard created the position seven years ago who has a predominantly IT background. "We're seeing the impact of that decision already," he says. "There's a much tighter focus on the entire IT program, and alignment with key business is even closer."
SIDEBAR: CIOs on Leadership Development
CIOs cite some of the things they've learned over the years for developing leadership in their IT staffs
START EARLY Randy Mott, CIO, Dell
CIOs need to develop their employees' business and leadership skills right out of college, not 10 years down the road. Also, IT leaders should move staffers to new areas regularly so that they are challenged and energised. "I've been guilty of not rotating people in the past," he admits.
STUDY CHEMISTRY Steve Matheys, CIO, Schneider National
Underestimating the chemistry of a team can be critical. "So when thinking about building talent, you have to find talented individuals [who are] capable of working well on teams."
MIND YOUR MENTORING Tim Stanley, CIO, Harrah's Entertainment
If you're going to implement a mentoring program, you'd better do it well. Stanley began one for IT junior staffers about a year and a half ago, but it's now on hold. "We didn't think we had a system in place to make it work well or the time for the mentor and mentee built in or the best approach to selecting people."
R-E-S-P-E-C-T Wei-Tih Cheng, CIO, Aetna
Treat your staff with dignity. "I believe the fundamental Golden Rule applies very well to leadership training: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."
SEEK OUT AND CHALLENGE Paul Donovan, CIO, ING US
Institute a method of identifying high-potential leaders. "Those leaders typically will be leaders someplace else - if they're not being challenged here, then there's the potential to lose them to another company."
PUSH THE ENVELOPE - WITH DIPLOMACY John Carrow, CIO, Unisys
"I think the major lesson is to stretch people beyond what they think they can do and take some risk in terms of what you allow them to do. Give them the opportunity to make a mistake." Carrow also preaches caution when identifying future leaders. "There are obviously a lot more not identified, so you have to be careful you don't disrupt the rest of the workforce."
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