“learning is defined as a change in behavior. you haven’t...

COPYRIGHT 2010

MOR Associates, Inc.

462 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472

tel. 617.924.4501 fax. 617.924.8070

www.morassociates.com

Brian McDonald, President

[email protected]

“Leadership can be learned; in fact, it has to be learned. There are very few born leaders.”

Peter Drucker

“Learning is defined as a change in behavior. You haven’t learned a thing until you take action and use it.”

Don Shula and Ken Blanchard

IntroductionIT Leaders Program

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About MOR AssociatesMaximizing Organizational Resources (MOR) Associates was founded in 1983 by Brian McDonald. His goal, then as now, has been to provide consulting services that enable organizations to continuously improve. MOR Associates’ work has been marked by long-standing relationships with a limited number of clients and the pursuit of a deeper under-standing of their individual cultures and needs.

Leadership Training

A great deal of our work is in leadership development. Hundreds of IT professionals from universities across the country have benefited from the skills-sets learned through the IT Leaders Program. We’ve provided campus-wide leadership training for senior leaders at MIT, University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, as well as for senior staff at MIT’s Office of the Vice President for Finance. We also have delivered on-campus IT Leadership Programs at Penn State, the University of Washington, the University of Iowa, and Indiana University.

Strategic Thinking

Another area of focus for us is what we refer to as “strategic thinking work.” We have assisted a wide variety of organizations in the public, private and educational sectors to develop strategic plans to guide the entire organization and/or facilitated strategic planning around specific efforts.

Surveys and Metrics

A significant line of work for us is the gathering, analysis and reporting of useful information. We have performed large-scale IT client satisfac-tion surveys at a number of institutions, including Stanford, MIT, The University of Washington, Northeastern, UC Berkeley, USC, NYU, and others. Our survey services are virtually turnkey and we provide expert assistance on survey design, methodology, administration, analysis, reporting and communication. In addition to our client satisfaction work, we have provided survey services to gather information for stra-tegic planning efforts, for workplace satisfaction surveys, and surveys to gauge the success of specific efforts. We conduct 360 surveys as part of many of our leadership development programs and we offer cus-tomized 360 surveys as well.

MOR Associates Staff

Brian McDonald, PresidentLeadership Development Program Leader and Coach

Jim BruceIT Leaders Program LeaderIT Leaders CoachFormer CIO, MIT

Lori GreenSenior ConsultantIT Leaders Coach

Annie StundenFormer CIO, University of WisconsinIT Leaders Presenter and Coach

J.Gary AugustsonFormer CIO, Penn StateIT Leaders Presenter and Coach

Chris PaquetteSenior ConsultantSurvey Services

Rick FredricksSenior ConsultantLeadership Coach

Jack WolfeSenior ConsultantExecutive Coaching

Maria CorsoFinancial Manager

Alexis BywaterSurvey Services Manager

Dan McDonaldAdministration and Production

Danielle CortClient Relations Manager

2009-2010 IT Leaders Program


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Session One: Leadership, Management, and Strategic Thinking

Day One: Defining LeadershipFebruary 9, 2010 – Stanford UniversityMeeting Location: Arrillaga Alumni Center, Barnes/McDowellContinental Breakfast 8:00 am

I Opening Comments 8:30 am Overview on the agenda Participant go-around Welcome to Stanford; Overview on Stanford University First Impressions Exercise II Presence and Presentation Leaders Need to Have Presence

III Perspectives on Leadership Participants compare and contrast thought leaders; small groups present a synopsis from advance readings: A) Bennis B) Kotter

Lunch 12:30 pm IV Perspectives on Leadership 1:30 pm Bill Clebsch, Associate Vice President, IT Services V Defining Leadership Leading, managing, and doing exercise

VI Overview on MIT

VII Your Leadership Journey What are the lessons you’ve learned in regard to leadership?

VIII Wrap Up

Dinner 6:30 pmZibibbo Restaurant 430 Kipling Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Session Outlines: Session One

C) HeifetzD) Raelin


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ii IntroductionIT Leaders Program

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Day Two: Developing Your Strategic ThinkingFebruary 10, 2010 – Stanford UniversityMeeting Location: Arrillaga Alumni Center, Barnes/McDowellContinental Breakfast 8:00 am

I Opening Comments 8:30 am Overview on today’s agenda Reflections on yesterday’s session Leadership journeys Overview on NYU Understanding group process and group dynamics II Being a Leader Means Being More Strategic Leading-Managing-Doing: Finding a balance Does the immediate preempt the important? • Setting priorities, capacity planning • Delegation is a process not a single act III Developing a Strategic Perspective How strategic are you?

IV Strategic Thinking-Context Matters What are the forces and trends shaping the external environment? Facilitating an environmental scan for IT in higher education What are the “major strategic issues” facing IT groups in higher ed? Lunch 12:30 pm

V Strategic Thinking Tools Conducting a SWOT analysis for your organization Scenario planning VI Strategic Issues in IT for Your Schools

VII Wrap Up

Evening Open


ii IntroductionIT Leaders Program

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Day Three: Individual Development PlanningFebruary 11, 2010 – Stanford UniversityMeeting Location: Sheraton Palo Alto, Cypress BallroomContinental Breakfast 7:30 am

I Opening Comments 8:00 am Outline of this session Reflections on yesterday’s session Leadership journeys Overview on the University of Chicago

II IT Leader Alums: Nancy Ware and Jim Knox

III Perspectives on Leadership Randy Livingston, Vice President for Business Affairs and CFO

IV Creating Your Development Plan Revisit the 360° survey Share examples of goals appropriate to this opportunity Peer-to-peer coaching conversations to refine goals Next steps for completing your development plan • Finalize and submit your goals

V Coaching for Performance Provide a demonstration of coaching Skills needed to be a coach

Lunch 12:30 pm

VI Developing Practices to Accomplish GoalsHow practices make the difference between good intentions and sustainable improvement

VIII Where from Here Applied learning suggestions Feedback on the workshop Outline of the next session at MIT and assignments

Adjourn by 2:00 pm


iv IntroductionIT Leaders Program

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IT Leaders Program Model:


iv IntroductionIT Leaders Program

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Program Roster


University of Chicago

Mike Dublak Manager, Windows Systems Team, NSIT [email protected]

Mike Fary Enterprise Data Architect, NSIT [email protected]

Barry Johnson Manager, Integrated Client Services & Support, NSIT [email protected]

Steve Keane Director for Renewal Projects & Architecture, NSIT [email protected]

Bob Majhi Director for Information Technology & Facilities Services, Alumni Relations and Development

[email protected]

Sara Worrell-Berg Director for Web Services, NSIT [email protected]

Stanford University

Kathy Pappas-Kassaras Manager, Project and Process Office, IT Services [email protected]

Jon Pilat Manager, Unix Systems, IT Services [email protected]

Anne Pinkowski Manager, Application Support, IT Services [email protected]

Alvin Chew DNE Manager, IT Services [email protected]

Richard Holeton Director, Academic Computing Services, University Librarian’s Office

[email protected]

Jay Kohn Strategic Liaison, IT Services [email protected]

Jimmy Hale Technical Manager, IT Services [email protected]

MIT

Virginia Gifford-Reckley IT Project Manager, Sloan School [email protected]

Jean Reale Technology Support Services, Sloan School [email protected]

Curt Heintz Sector Manager of Infrastructure & Operations, Lincoln Lab

[email protected]

Michael Greenidge Sector Manager of Enterprise Applications, Lincoln Lab [email protected]

New York University

Raymond Lau Project Director, Enterprise Computing & Support [email protected]

Neptali Martinez Director, Human Resources, ITS [email protected]

Christine O’Connor Director, Client Services, ITS [email protected]

Michael Puskar Project Leader, eServices, ITS [email protected]

Lynn Rohrs Manager, eSystems & High Performance Computing Services

[email protected]

Lawrence Mirsky Director, Technology Development & Communications [email protected]


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Leadership Involves:

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Session ILeadership, Management, and Strategic

Thinking in IT

February 9-11, 2010

Stanford University

Session Outline

Defining Leadership

Your Leadership Journey

Introduction to Strategic Thinking

The Immediate Versus The Important

Creating an Individual Development Plan

Coaching for Performance

Adopting Practices

Presence and PresentationIT Leaders Program

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3

First Impressions Exercise

First impressions are influential.

Based on your limited exposure and observations, please write down three to five phrases or words to characterize each individual in your group. At least one must be a “critical” observation. Then see the question further below.

Name:

Descriptive phrases or words:

Name:


Name:


Name:


What phrases or words might others have used to describe you?

First Impressions ExerciseIT Leaders Program

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Presence and Presentation

The Power of Presence

Presentation Do’s and Don’ts

“Leadership is about relationships, which are more important than being right. Relationships permit you to ask the hard questions.

Leaders are paid for presence; not for work. The answer is in the room.”

Bill ClebschStanford University

IT Leaders - February 9, 2005


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Presentation Dos and Don’ts

Do’s...

Be clear about your purpose: What are you trying to get across?

Understand your audience: Where are they listening from?

Select your medium: What medium would be most effective to achieve your objective?

• Would a talk be appropriate?

• Would a presentation using PowerPoint be the best means?

• Would a demo work better?

• Would an interactive session be a better means?

• Would a story help make the point and leave people with an image?

Select a speaking style that works for you and the group.

Use prompts if helpful (i.e., outlines, notes, handouts, slides, etc.).

Engage people if appropriate: Active modes are usually better than passive modes.

Use a question to entice the group to think with you. Even if you don’t involve them in interacting with you, it may engage them.

Step out of your comfort zone and experiment, try extend-ing your range of voice intonation or the use of your physical presence, or incorporate stories that make the point or use graphics that capture the supporting image.

Don’ts...

Rely on overheads or worse yet, read the slides while looking at the screen.

Put too much text on the slides.

Lull your group into a passive state—you’ll lose their attention.

Fall into a monotone.

Lose your composure no matter what people throw at you. If people ask critical questions, challenge you or use sarcasm, you may feel defensive, but avoid reacting this way. Take a deep breath and ask a question. (e.g. What do others think?)

Background on the Universities

Stanford University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

New York University

University of Chicago

Backround on the Participating UniversitiesIT Leaders Program

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Notes:

Contrasting Views on Leadership

What is Leadership?

Leadership Lessons for the New President

Leadership InquiriesBennis, Kotter, Heifetz, Raelin

Leadership InquiriesIT Leaders Program

12 Leadership InquiriesIT Leaders Program

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Contrasting Views on Leadership

Please summarize how each author described what leadership is and how this is distinctive from one of the other perspectives.

Warren Bennis on Leadership:

What’s distinctive?

John Kotter on Leadership:



12 Leadership InquiriesIT Leaders Program

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Ron Heifetz on Leadership:


Joe Raelin on Leadership:



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Reflections on Leadership Bill Clebsch, Associate Vice President, IT Services

Notes:

Reflections on LeadershipIT Leaders Program

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15 Defining LeadershipIT Leaders Program

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Defining Leadership

Please outline your initial thoughts on:

What is leadership?

How is leadership different from management?

What is different about leadership and management within IT environments?

What is Leadership?

What Leaders Do

Leading Versus Managing

Defining Leadership

Leadership Is:

• Holding out the vision

• Modeling that vision

• Being true to yourself

• Putting resources behind the vision

Leaders don’t pass blame.Leading is like a circus not an army.A coordinated set of activities, not a bunch of independent ones.

Annie Stunden, CIO - University of WisconsinIT Leaders Program - April 13, 2005

Defining LeadershipIT Leaders Program


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Defining Leadership

“A leader’s job is to make sure the organization does the right things while a manager’s job is to make sure we do those things right.”

Warren BennisWhy Leaders Fail

“The only true leader is someone who has followers. An effec-tive leader is not someone who is loved or admired. He or she is someone who has followers who do the right things. Popularity is not leadership. Results are. Leaders are highly visible. They, therefore, set examples. Leadership is not rank, privileges, titles or money. It is responsibility.”

Peter Drucker

“The essence of leadership is found in the ability to transform vision into significant actions. The two dimensions are vision and the ability to implement. To this end, the leader’s chief resource is power: the capability to get things done.”

William HittThe Leader Manager: Guidelines for Action

“I’m talking about leadership as the development of vision and strategies, the alignment of relevant people behind those strat-egies, and the empowerment of individuals to make the vision happen despite obstacles.”

John KotterWhat Leaders Really Do



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Defining Leadership

Leadership: The activity or process of mobilizing people and groups to do adaptive work. This includes getting people to con-front and deal with problematic realities on behalf of improving the human condition and generating progress.

Adaptive Work: The challenging work of shifting values, norms, belief systems and world views so that progress can be made. In doing adaptive work, the problem is often unclear and therefore the solution is unclear. Adaptive work is generally messy work that requires persistence, creativity and courage to work through.

A Leader: What one is “being” when one exercises leadership. Not a formal position, but a function that anyone can do irrespective of title or status. One is never “always” a leader as it is usually a momentary activity.

Ronald Heifetz, Riley Sinder, and Dean Williams“Political Leadership: Managing the Public’s Problem

Solving,” in The Power of Public IdeasRobert B. Reich, Ed. Harvard University Press,

Cambridge, MA

Leadership is:• A collective phenomenon (not individualistic

and not leader as hero)• Linking leadership to innovation• Accomplishing things that have real meaning

Leadership must tap and align the natural desire to do something new and better.

Leadership is the capacity of a human community to shape its future. [It is] collective versus individual act.

Leadership is about releasing the energy in the community to cre-ate what they would like to create.

Peter SengeMIT Leader to Leader Program

Begin, Carter, and Sadat

Lincoln

Roosevelt

Ghandi



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What Leaders Do

Specific things leaders do:

• Creating vision and strategy

• Communicating vision/strategy and getting buy-in

• Motivating action

• Helps an organization grow, evolve, and adapt to changing circumstances

John Kotter Leading in the New Economy

The four leadership competencies are:

• Management of Meaning

• Management of Attention

• Management of Self

• Management of Trust

Warren Bennis Why Leaders Fail

Five leadership practices common to successful leaders:

• Challenging the process (the status quo)

• Inspiring a shared vision

• Enabling others to act

• Modeling the way

• Encouraging the heart

Kouzes & Posner The Leadership Challenge

The transforming leader gets us to transcend our self-interests by con-stantly focusing our attention on the mis-sion and goals of the larger organization.

William D. Hitt

CIO Leadership Agenda

CIO magazine’s editors have iden-tified the five must-dos that make up the successful CIO’s agenda for great leadership:

• Drive innovation and growth while managing costs

• Prove the strategic value of IT

• Run IT efficiently and effectively

• Develop the next generation of IT leaders

• Manage CXO expectations



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“Leadership can be learned; in fact, it has

to be learned. There are very few born leaders.”

Peter Drucker

What Teaches Leadership Skills

70%Challenging jobs and work assignments, on-the-job skill practices

20%Feedback, mentoring/coaching

10%Course work and study

The Leader’s Key Responsibilities According to Bill Weisz, Former Chairman and CEO of Motorola

1. Determine the long term direction by:

• Scanning the environment

• Envisioning the future

• Selecting the strategy

2. Shape the organization by:

• Selecting the people

• Underscoring key principles

• Selecting the structure

• Using reinforcements and rewards

3. Build the capacity to respond:

• Identify threats and opportunities and how much to manage them

• Let guiding principles provide grounding

• Push down decision-making/responsibilities



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Edge is defined by Jack Welch to mean:

• Insatiable appetite to learn

• Acute listening skills and ability to sort facts

• Applies intuition and sound judgement for speed/impact

• Strong convictions and courageous advocacy

Characteristics of a good leader at GE:

• Integrity

• Intelligence

• Drive – sense of urgency

• Ability to work with others

• Humility

Dennis Dammerman CFO & Vice Chairman, GE

4 Es of Leadership at GE

ENERGY

ENERGIZE

EDGE

EXECUTION

Leadership at GE

“The world of the 1990s and beyond will not belong to ‘managers’ or those who can make numbers dance. The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders – people who not only have enormous amounts of energy but who can energize those whom they lead. In an environment where we must have every good idea from every man and woman in the organization, we cannot afford management styles that suppress or intimidate.”

Jack Welch



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LeadersProvide direction

• Establish the vision

• Develop the strategies

• Cope with change

Align people

• Communicate the direction

• Engage people in implementation

• Build commitment

Motivate

• Hold up the banner

• Coach and empower

• Recognize and reward success

ManagersPlan

• Set goals and targets

• Establish goals to achieve the plan

• Allocate resources

Organize

• Create structure

• Develop staffing

• Communicate the plan

Coordinate and control

• Identify deviations

• Solve problems

• Measures results against plans

Leading versus Managing

Adapted from What Leaders Really Do,John Kotter, Harvard Business Review

Leaders impart values: • In the way they work• When making decisions in the best interest of the institution• By listening and learning

Tracy FutheyCIO - Duke

IT Leaders - March 8, 2005


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Mistakes Managers Make

Move up to the Next Job and Take Your Old One with You• It can be comforting to hang onto the familiar but you will be very busy trying to do your new work along with much of the old. In the end, you in all likelihood will come up short on both accounts.

Staying Busy Usually Means You Don’t Have Time to Think• If your plate is too full or you find yourself so busy you can’t find time to think, you are surely some-one who will be flailing in your job if not failing. How often do you take time to reflect and think about the bigger issues?

Focusing on the Immediate Versus the Important is Easy• Taking on whatever comes your way or whatever shows up on your schedule means you have little say over your own time or focus. Meetings, mail, e-mail and numerous interactions during the day take countless hours out of your schedule. Do you get to the important things only you can do?

Working Harder as a Strategy is a Sign of Slippage Not Success• Most people need to work harder at one time or another, but if your long-term strategy is to double up then you’ll probably double over at some point. Is there a way to sort out tasks? Is there a way to del-egate? Is there a way to work smarter?

Being Tactical Doesn’t Require Heavy Lifting + Maintains a Short Term Approach• Most managers live in a tactical world with the focus on execution. Strategic thinking can be a bit of a stretch and a tad abstract. So most managers stay focused on the day to day without ensuring that the priorities, the process, or the strategy makes sense for the long term. Are you doing the right things?

Few Big Ideas Get Implemented Through Solo Performance• As many folks work harder and harder they don’t have time or the inclination to develop their staff or to build the relationships they need in the organization. Few people make it all on their own given suc-cess usually requires interdependence with others who need to contribute to the task. Are you develop-ing your staff? Are you building the relationships your group needs to be effective?

Brian McDonaldMOR Associates


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Doing - Managing - Leading Self Assessment

What percentage of your time do you spend in leading activities or managing activities versus doing the work?

The risk is the immediate tasks preempt the important ones. Hence, people who are looked to for leadership are too busy with current priorities to provide what is needed.


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DOERSDo the task

MANAGERSFacilitate operational

excellence

LEADERSCreate future viability

AGENDA FOCUS

Personal producer• focus on operational tasks

• get core work done

• do high risk, high visibility items

Planning and budgeting• draft goals and operational

plans

• allocate resources

• submit budgets

Establishing direction• develop vision and strategies to

achieve goals

• track external trends

• anticipate future needs

PEOPLE FOCUS

Self and boss• high ownership for the work

• want to succeed, please the boss

• personal statistics

Organizing and staffing• individuals, teams

• establish structure to accomplish plan

• assign responsibilities

• develop policies and procedures

• develop systems to monitor implementation

Inspiring commitment and aligning people• communicate direction

• engage others in formulating and undertaking strategic pursuits

• role model leadership

• work on raising people’s commitment levels

PROCESS FOCUS

Being the best player• do it myself

• whatever it takes

• do it right

Controlling and problem-solving• monitor results vs. plan

• identify deviations, variances

• facilitate problem-solving

• develop systems for repetitive processes

Developing capability needed for the future• build organizational capability

required to accomplish strategic goals

• oversee high-potential leader development

• challenge and coach

• recognize and reward

RESULTSFOCUS

Individual results• produce outcomes

• produce high quality individual contributions

• role model style to others

Operational results• produce stakeholder outcomes:

quality, service cost, on budget

• produce degree of predictability and order via systems

Strategic results• produce organizational change

and improvement

• new business direction and strategies

• new processes, products

• new organizational capabilities



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Leading - Managing - Doing

How do you think you spend your time currently? Between activities related to Leading-Managing-Doing?

Would you look to change this in any way?

Where are there opportunities for you to play more of a leadership role?

What do you need to do to enhance your ability to act in leaderly ways?



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A Practical Guide for Leading

Focus at the strategic level to ensure the organization is doing the right things.

• A leader’s most important responsibility is to determine the overall strategic direction for the enterprise.

• A strategic focus requires the leader to be at times externally focused on the trends shaping the future while understanding the strengths, weaknesses and core capabilities of the organization.

• Charting the strategic path for the organization will have enormous consequences for the ultimate success or failure.

Focus on the results; go for the goals.

• Organizations exist to fulfill certain needs.

• Needs are better defined in specific, outcome oriented goals.

• Goals can then be measured to assess progress and allow for adjustments.

• At the end of the day results do matter.

Don’t let the immediate preempt the important.

• Too many leaders are constrained in their efforts to move the enterprise forward by the compelling tendency of many people to pull the leader into the immediate issue or day to day concerns.

• Identify the top five areas critical to your success and select the three you personally will champion.

• Block out time, schedule events to focus, focus, and focus on the priorities you believe are critical to your success.

Develop the discipline, build the practices.

• “Best Practices” companies got that way for a reason.

• Select the practices you believe will make excellence a habit not a chance act.

• Practices can sustain the desired changes if they are incorporated into the rhythm of the business.

Having passion for what you do will make an incredible difference.

• If you care intensely about what you are doing, this will influence those you lead in a positive way.

• Having passion behind what you are doing means you genuinely believe this effort has value and this conveys sincerity to others.

• You bring the energy to your role that will help build the support you will need to succeed.



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Understand the environment, the politics, and the world around you.

• Where there are people there are politics, issues of influence, and power.

• You don’t need to play the political game but you don’t want to be blind-sided.

• Build the alliances needed to get support for the initiatives you are sponsoring that are key to success.

Be self aware, know your own strengths and shortcomings.

• Be reflective, know yourself and play to your strengths.

• Make the best of what you have to work with and develop yourself where gains are likely.

• Ask others to give you feedback and coaching.

• Recognize your shortcomings, where you aren’t likely to be able to develop and figure out how to compensate or complement yourself with others.

• Draw on your experiences to develop yourself.

Surround yourself with absolutely the best people.

• Finding the best talent will make an incredible difference.

• Select the best people you can find, don’t compromise on quality.

• Develop people, don’t settle for less or you’ll continually pay the price.

Being decisive is a requirement for most leaders.

• It helps to be able to sort through considerable information and cut to the chase with some dispatch.

• It is important to have the ability to move expeditiously and to have the courage of your convictions.

• Moving sooner is usually better than moving later, few leaders ever look back and wish they went slower.

Know where the money is.

• Understand the financials, don’t delegate the balance sheet.

• Analyze what the prime contributors to improved performance are and track cause and effect relationships.

• Target a few strategies directly at the financials.

Brian McDonaldMOR Associates



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Prioritized Competencies

Strategic Thinking

Contributes to the organization’s development of a vision and priorities.

Anticipates the future and builds scenarios based on explicit assumptions. Demonstrates a systems view when analyzing goals, strategies, services, or processes.

Identifies business/performance opportunities in areas such as content management and using technology to support teaching and learning.

Shared Leadership

Knows how to build working relationships with co-workers and external parties.

Can negotiate and handle problems without alienating people; understands others and is able to get their cooperation through influence.

Delegates both responsibility and authority as appropriate.

Develops the leadership and talent of those around him or her.

Change Management

Accepts role as a change agent and acts as a champion for change.

Develops plans and follows through on change initiatives.

Accepts the ambiguity that comes with change activities.

Decision Making

Makes timely and sound decisions based on data and facts, versus intuition.

Gathers and uses all available information and logic to make a decision, including evaluating the long-term consequences.

Makes decisions judged to be right for the university versus what IT might prefer, even though they may be difficult choices.

Takes ownership for decisions.

Communication and Persuasion

Uses appropriate interpersonal styles to guide and persuade individuals and groups to meet expectations, accomplish tasks, and follow directions.

Distills ideas into focused messages that inspire support or action from others.

Effectively communicates when making pre-sentations, offering recommendations, or through written materials.



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Managing Complex Projects

Uses planning processes to assess opportuni-ties and barriers. Develops short and long-range plans to meet goals. Can map and man-age complex initiatives.

Continually adjusts plans and strategies based on new information.

Identifies and coordinates appropriate resources to support objectives.

Financial and Business Acumen

Possesses financial savvy and demonstrates the ability to lead cost-efficient initiatives with-out sacrificing quality or core values.

Knows how to manage, deploy, and leverage capital (both internally and externally).

Selects and successfully leads projects/programs that produce favorable results including both business and financial out-comes.

Demonstrates understanding of the changing financial constructs supporting IT.

Working Across the Organization; Developing Strategic Partnerships

Develops networks and alliances; engages in cross-functional activities; collaborates across boundaries and finds common ground with a widening range of stakeholders; utilizes con-tacts to strengthen internal support.

Identifies the internal and external politics that impact the work; approaches each situation with a clear perception of organizational and political reality; can maneuver through political situations effectively to get things done.

Possesses Self Knowledge

Knows personal strengths, weaknesses, oppor-tunities and limits.

Seeks feedback and gains insight from mistakes.

Is open to criticism and is not defensive.

Building Agreement

Recognizes different points of view, brings them out into the open, and builds on areas of agreement.

Exercises influence in ways that enhance the support needed to advance initiatives.

Builds consensus when appropriate.



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Leadership:

• Hire good people who know more than you do.

• Know when they are bluffing.

• Pick your battles carefully.

• Get the faculty on your side. Tallman Trask

EVP - Duke UniversitySpeaking at IT Leaders

March 9, 2005

Leadership:

• Appreciate leadership when you see it.

• The leader rallies people for the future.

• Be who you are.

• Don’t be afraid to have an opinion.

• Have integrity.

• Be true to your values.

• Be compassionate, even when someone does something very dumb.

• Be willing to challenge others, even your boss.

• Your community is more than just your institution.

• Don’t forget your family.

• Don’t forget why we do this. Gary Augustson

Former Vice Provost for ITPenn State University

IT Leaders - May 12, 2005

Perspectives on Leadership



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Scoring Your Competencies

Create a Simple Baseline

Rare

ly

Som

etim

es

Ofte

n

Very

Ofte

n

Alm

ost A

lway

s

1 2 3 4 5

I ensure our organization is doing the right thing. c c c c c

I effectively align strategies and actions with the strategic direction.

c c c c c

I communicate effectively in multiple mediums. c c c c c

I know and leverage my strengths and interactions with others.

c c c c c

I demonstrate an understanding of the importance of organizational culture and politics.

c c c c c

I create an engaging and developmental environment that enhances people’s contributions.

c c c c c

I effectively manage initiatives that result in sustained improvement.

c c c c c

I map out and manage all facets of complex projects effectively.

c c c c c

I work well with people, collaborating effectively in IT and beyond.

c c c c c

I make sound, timely decisions based on facts and analysis. c c c c c


Your Leadership Timeline

Leadership Lessons

Self-Awareness: Know thyself-it’s advice as old as the hills, and it’s the core of authenticity. When you know yourself, you are comfortable with your strengths and not crippled by your shortcomings. Self-awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. It enables you to keep growing.

Lawrence Bossidy and Ram Charan

Your Leadership JourneyIT Leaders Program

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Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.

Ralph Waldo Emerson


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Everyone has a learned point of view on leadership that comes from the sum of their life experi-ences. Think over the leadership experiences you have had in your life. Think of the most impor-tant lessons you have learned about leadership from your life experiences, parents, teachers, schools, mentors, work, etc. Think about how you learned these lessons. Identify the lessons learned or values that influence your leadership story. Event Leadership Lesson or Value


40 Your Leadership JourneyIT Leaders Program

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* Note lessons learned relating to leadership

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Your Leadership Timeline

Construct a drawing similar to the one below on a flipchart or on the following page. Plot the major leadership events you identified and specify the learning derived from each event. Add any major life events that have had a big impact on what you believe about leadership. The drawing represents positive and negative events that have shaped your point of view on your leadership.

This drawing will help you define and articulate your personal “teachable points of view” on leadership.

Plot the ups and downs of your development as a leader. Label the critical events, lessons learned, and peaks and valleys.


40 Your Leadership JourneyIT Leaders Program

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Leadership Lessons

From my leadership timeline:

From other leadership timelines:

Bibliography

MOR Leadership Bibliography

BibliographyIT Leaders Program

44 BibliographyIT Leaders Program

45

PresencePut Your Best Foot Forward: Make a Great Impression by Taking Control of How Others See Youby Jo-Ellan Dimitrius and Mark Mazzarella320 pagesPublisher: Scribner; 1st edition (December 25, 2001)ISBN-10: 068486407XIn Put Your Best Foot Forward, two experts in “people reading” identify the four qualities -- trustworthiness, caring, humility, and capability -- that form the foundation of every great impression. They explain how to convey these vital qualities through personal appearance, body language, voice, and actions, and reveal how particular environments affect the impression one makes. With hands-on tips and advice, they teach readers how to accentuate their positive traits and eliminate negative ones.Micromessaging: Why Great Leadership is Beyond Wordsby Stephen Young224 pagesPublisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (October 24, 2006)ISBN-10: 0071467572Young offers a common language for encouraging open discussion in the workplace, along with skills to identify and address familiar micromessages; tools for deploying microadvantages; and real-life workplace scenarios, self-assessments, and solutions that help read-ers interpret and alter ingrained behaviors and their effects. He delivers valuable information on: * Crucial leadership skills and how to acquire them * Universal workplace cultural issues * How expectations affect the performance of others * Ways to speak fairly, not falsely * Techniques that eliminate group think * How to reset the “filters” you use to “screen” othersPresence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Societyby Peter M. Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers289 pagesPublisher: Doubleday Business (August 16, 2005)ISBN-10: 038551624XPresence is an intimate look at the development of a new theory about change and learning. In wide-ranging conversations held over a year and a half, organizational learning pioneers Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers explored the nature of transformational change—how it arises, and the fresh possibilities it offers a world dangerously out of balance. The book introduces the idea of “presence”—a concept borrowed from the natural world that the whole is entirely present in any of its parts—to the worlds of business, education, government, and leadership. Too often, the authors found, we remain stuck in old patterns of seeing and acting. By encouraging deeper levels of learning, we create an awareness of the larger whole, leading to actions that can help to shape its evolution and our future.


44 BibliographyIT Leaders Program

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LeadershipLeadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dan-gers of Leadingby Martin Linsky and Ronald A. Heifetz252 pagesPublisher: Harvard Business School Press; 1 edition (April 18, 2002)ISBN-10: 1578514371An encouragingly practical guide to putting yourself on the line and negotiating the hazards of leadership. The authorsʼ points are illus-trated by the experiences of leaders from all walks of life, making this a useful and inspiring manual for anyone hoping to put themselves on the line and make a difference in the lives of others.Why Leaders Canʼt Lead: The Unconscious Conspiracy Continuesby Warren Bennis192 pagesPublisher: Jossey-Bass (July 21, 1997)ISBN-10: 0787909432Leaders beware. Thereʼs an unconscious conspiracy afoot, aiming to sabotage your plans and undermine your vision. Entrenched bureau-cracy, ominous social trends, and mind-numbing routine are among its members - and their proliferation is an unfortunate sign of our times. But take heart. In this highly acclaimed work, legendary management consultant Warren Bennis unmasks the culprits, analyzes their tactics, and offers new insights for change agents struggling to take charge in an era that conspires against effective leadership.Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Donʼtby Jim Collins300 pagesPublisher: Collins Business; 1 edition (October 16, 2001)ISBN-10: 0066620996The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include: * Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness. * The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. * A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. * Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differ-ently about the role of technology. * The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, “fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”


46

The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us Allby Michael Useem, Warren Bennis336 pagesPublisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (November 2, 1999)ISBN-10: 0812932307Eugene Kranz returning Apollo 13; Arlene Blum leading the first womenʼs expedition climbing the Himalayan peak of Annapurna; Roy Vagelos committing Merck to spending hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a drug needed only by people who couldnʼt afford it; Alfredo Christian ending the civil war in El Salvador. These are just some of the stories in this unusual and important book about leadership. Michael Useem believes that by examining what others have done when a busi-ness, a life, or even the fate of a nation is on the line, we all can learn what works and what fails, what hastens a cause or subverts a purpose, and what must be done when we must perform and lead under pres-sure.

Strategic ThinkingThe Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain Worldby Peter Schwartz288 pagesPublisher: Doubleday Business (April 15, 1996)ISBN-10: 0385267320Author and president of an international consulting firm, Peter Schwartz presents lessons in thinking for the future. Schwartz offers scenarios from the oil industry that can be applied to all aspects of life. His first-hand accounts, originally developed for Royal Dutch/Shell, are invaluable tools for creative thinking in oneʼs personal life and in busi-ness. Schwartzʼs methods will enable anyone to think more creatively.The Art and Discipline of Strategic Leadershipby Mike Freedman288 pagesPublisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (July 1, 2004)ISBN-10: 0071441212The Art and Discipline of Strategic Leadership offers business strate-gists an integrated five-phase model for setting and implementing strategy. Proven effective at a diverse range of organizations world-wide, the model provides executives with a powerful framework for as-sessing and tweaking current strategy, or charting a bold new strategic course.

Session One/Day Two IntroductionIT Leaders Program

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Session One/Day Two


Day Two: Developing Your Strategic ThinkingFebruary 10, 2010 – Stanford UniversityMeeting Location: Arrillaga Alumni Center, Barnes/McDowellContinental Breakfast 8:00 am

I Opening Comments 8:30 am Overview on today’s agenda Reflections on yesterday’s session Leadership journeys Overview on NYU Understanding group process and group dynamics II Being a Leader Means Being More Strategic Leading-Managing-Doing: Finding a balance Does the immediate preempt the important? • Setting priorities, capacity planning • Delegation is a process not a single act III Developing a Strategic Perspective How strategic are you?

IV Strategic Thinking-Context Matters What are the forces and trends shaping the external environment? Facilitating an environmental scan for IT in higher education What are the “major strategic issues” facing IT groups in higher ed? Lunch 12:30 pm

V Strategic Thinking Tools Conducting a SWOT analysis for your organization Scenario planning VI Strategic Issues in IT for Your Schools

VII Wrap Up

Evening Open


49


49

Reflections Practice

What are the take-aways you have from yesterday?

Name one on-the-job application of what you listed.

Leading, Managing and Doing

The Immediate Drives Out the Important

Leading-Managing-Doing Self-Assessment

The Immediate versus the Important

Senge’s System Model

Planning for Success

Decision-Making Styles

Balancing:The ImmediateThe Important

DoingLeading

LifeWork

Managing

Vs.

Leading-Managing-Doing IT Leaders Program

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53

Leading-Managing-Doing Self Assessment

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What percentage of your time do you spend in leading activities or managing activities versus doing the work?

The risk is the immediate tasks preempt the important ones. Hence, people are looking to you for leadership and you are too busy with current priorities to provide what is needed.


55


55

LeadersProvide direction

• Establish the vision

• Develop the strategies

• Cope with change

Align people

• Communicate the direction

• Engage people in implementation

• Build commitment

Motivate

• Hold up the banner

• Coach and empower

• Recognize and reward success

ManagersPlan

• Set goals and targets

• Establish goals to achieve the plan

• Allocate resources

Organize

• Create structure

• Develop staffing

• Communicate the plan

Coordinate and control

• Identify deviations

• Solve problems

• Measures results against plans

Leading versus Managing

Adapted from What Leaders Really Do,John Kotter, Harvard Business Review

Leading-Managing-DoingIT Leaders Program

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The Immediate Drives Out the Important

“’Nobel laureate James Franck has said he always recognizes a moment of discovery by “the feeling of terror that seizes me... I felt a trace of it that morning. My discovery was this: I had become the victim of a vast, amorphous, unwitting, unconscious conspiracy to prevent me from doing anything whatever to change the university’s status quo. Even those of my associates who fully shared my hopes to set new goals, new directions, and to work toward creative change were unconsciously often doing the most to make sure I would never find the time to begin.”

Warren Bennis, Why Leaders Can’t Lead, The Unconscious Conspiracy Continues, p.14 (1989)

Examples

Immediate Important

Email Strategic priorities

Meetings Planning for the future

Crisis of the day Critical business projects

Interruptions Developing talent

Strategies for Focusing on the Important

• Identify the top five areas critical to your success and select the three you personally will champion.

• Block out time, schedule events to focus on the priorities you believe are critical to success. Plan to spend time on the important. Manage your calendar, don’t let it manage you.

• Be reflective, know yourself and play to your strengths.

• Delegate to others in ways that provide people with the chance to take ownership for the decisions and actions needed.

• Develop the people who work with you. Give yourself an unfair advantage.

From Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:

Put first things first.

Begin with the end in mind.

Be proactive.



57

Tension Exists Between the Immediate and the Important

Immediate and Less/NotImportant

Immediate andVery Important

Not Immediateand

Not Important

Not Immediateand

Very Important

Things to do:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.


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The Immediate Versus the Important Worksheet

Please enter the tasks that currently make up your work days in the appropriate boxes

Immediate and Less/NotImportant

Immediate andVery Important

Not Immediateand

Not Important

Not Immediateand

Very Important

What might you do differently?



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Systems Thinking Model

Systems thinking requires you to look at the whole versus any one part.

Systems thinking acknowledges the interdependence within the system.

Peter Senge, Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management

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Providing LeadershipMeans focusing on the strategic

Requires us to balance our time on immediate demands with the important priorities

Requires most of us to create capacity

Strategies to ConsiderEstablish clear priorities.

Create a capacity planning practice.

Take command of your calendar.

Become more decisive.

Become a more effective communicator.

Refine your delegation process.

Develop your people via exposure, experience, and stretch assignments.



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March 2010 - August 2010

What are the highest priorities?

What actions, meetings or tasks do you need to sponsor or take to move the top two priorities forward?

Priority Action Needed Who Else?

What entries do you need to make in your calendar to advance these initiatives?



63

Capacity Planning

How do you currently spend your time?Conduct a one month audit. What do the results tell you?

How can you gauge your capacity to get things done?

By estimating time, hours, and days

By determining level of effort required

Projecting forward, how could you better manage supply (your time and energy) with the considerable demand?

What strategies or practices might enable you to open some capacity to devote to the important priorities?



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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27



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MONDAY, MARCH 1 MONDAY, MARCH 8

TUESDAY, MARCH 2 TUESDAY, MARCH 9

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10

THURSDAY, MARCH 4 THURSDAY, MARCH 11

FRIDAY, MARCH 5 FRIDAY, MARCH 12

SATURDAY, MARCH 6 SATURDAY, MARCH 13


66

Leaders and managers recognize there are a range of decision making styles available to you. It is important to think about what decision making mode is most appropriate to the situation.

Decision Making Continuum

Directing

Make a decision and inform

people

Selling

You or someone above you makes a decision, then

you sell the direction

“How will we do this?”

Consulting

You ask for input and then make a

decision

“I’ll take into consideration

what I’ve heard and then decide.”

Participating

Is used when you ask and want a

consensus

“Let’s decide.”

Delegating

You hand off to someone else

“You decide.”

Despite a cultural tendency toward consultation and consensus building, it is helpful to remember this is most useful when you want to get input or increase ownership. In some instances, there is little benefit to taking the time yet managers fall into the habit of always deferring to the group. This can be an inefficient way to manage expectations as well as decision making. Oftentimes consultation, that is asking for input, will provide people with a sufficient opportunity to be heard and lessen the time required to work the decision. In any case, it is helpful if you are clear as a leader what decision making style is best for the issue being addressed. Be intentional so you create expectations in alignment with what you will be doing.

D-M Shorthand

D1 I decide.

D2 What do you think? Then I’ll decide.

D3 We need to come to a conclusion.

D4 Consult me, then you decide.

D5 You decide.

Delegation

Delegation Is a Process

Delegation Self-Assessment

Delegation Task Assessment Form

Delegation Task Tracking Form

“Effective leaders give team members the self confidence to act, to take charge of their responsibilities, and make changes occur rather than merely perform assigned tasks. In short, leaders create leaders!”

Larson and LaFasto, Teamwork: What Must Go Right, What Can Go Wrong

DelegationIT Leaders Program

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Delegation Is a Process, Not a Single Act

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Defining Delegation

Delegation is:

• Assigning specific tasks to others, along with clear criteria for success, and the authority to complete those tasks

Delegation is not:

• Abdicating responsibility for a task

• Dumping work on the unprepared or unwilling

• A new and fun way to micromanage your staff

Why Delegate

“Effectively delegating to others is perhaps the single most powerful high-leverage activity there is”

- Steven Covey

The Benefits of Delegation

• Frees up the manager’s time to focus on the important

• Draws on the strengths and expertise

• Develops your staff

- Challenging assignments

- Exposure to wider experiences

- Creates opportunities



71

What to Take “Off Your Plate”

• The routine and the necessary

• Tasks that don’t contribute to group goals

• “Occupational hobbies”

• Developmental opportunities

• Consider succession

• Over-delegating is rarely a problem

“He who has no faith in others shall find no faith in them.”

- Lao Tzu

What Should Stay “Yours”

• Tasks which require a level of authority

• Policy/direction setting tasks; strategic

• Personnel/confidential matters

• Crisis management ????

• Internal group communication strategy

Your Responsibilities

• Willingness to delegate

• Select the right task (s) to delegate

• Select the right person to delegate to – assess competence, commitment, time

• Ensure person:

- Knows what you want, clear expectations

- Has the authority to achieve it

- Knows how to do it or how to find out

- Has access to necessary, relevant information

• Delegate not only tasks, but decisions

• Evaluate the risk

• Focus on results, not how it’s done

• Expect only as well as necessary

• Do not solve problems for the delegatee

• Monitor progress along the way



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Habits of Highly Effective Delegators

#1 Think “Delegation” First

#2 Set Out Expectations Clearly

#3 Establish the Timeframe

#4 Level of Authority Established

- Level 1: Recommend

- Level 2: Inform and Initiate

- Level 3: Act

Checklist

To ensure successful delegation

� Expected results clearly described?

� Deadlines established?

� Authority granted?

� Responsibility clearly defined?

� Employees empowered to get results?

� Required resources provided?

� Desired learning discussed?

� Follow up?



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Delegation Worksheet #1

What holds you back from delegating?

Barriers to delegation:

What have you tried that worked?



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Delegation Worksheet #2

What among the many tasks on your list, can be delegated?

To whom might you delegate this task?

What are your expectations?

How much authority will the person have?

Where is this individual on the competency and commitment scales?

What information will this person need?



75

Delegation Self-Assessment

For each of the following questions, circle Yes or No regarding the way you usually deal with delegation. Don’t think too long on a question; go with your first reaction.

1 I spend more time than I should doing work my subordinates could do. YES NO

2 I often find myself working while my subordinates are idle. YES NO

3 I believe I should be able to personally answer any question about any project in my area. YES NO

4 My “in box” is usually full. YES NO

5 My subordinates usually take initiative to solve problems without my direction. YES NO

6 My operation function smoothly when I am absent. YES NO

7 I spend more time working on details than I do planning or supervising. YES NO

8 My subordinates feel they have sufficient authority over personnel, finances, facilities, and other resources for which they are responsible.

YES NO

9 I have bypassed my subordinates by making decisions that were part of their jobs. YES NO

10 If I were incapacitated for an extended period of time, there is someone who could take my place.

YES NO

11 There is usually a big pile of work requiring my action when I return from an absence. YES NO

12 I have assigned a job to a subordinate primarily because it was distasteful to me. YES NO

13 I know the interests and goals of everyone reporting to me. YES NO

14 I make it a habit to follow up on jobs I delegate. YES NO

15 I delegate complete projects as opposed to individual tasks whenever possible. YES NO

16 My subordinates are trained to maximum potential. YES NO

17 I find it difficult to ask others to do things. YES NO

18 I trust my subordinates to do their best in my absence. YES NO

19 My subordinates are performing below their capabilities. YES NO

20 I nearly always give credit for a job well done. YES NO

21 Subordinates refer more work to me than I delegate to them. YES NO

22 I support my subordinates when their authority is questioned. YES NO

23 I personally do those assignments only I can or should do. YES NO

24 Work piles up at some point in my operation. YES NO

25 All subordinates know what is expected of them in order of priority. YES NO


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Delegation Task Assessment FormTASK RETAIN SHARE DELEGATE

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Developing People

Selecting and Hiring the Best

On-Boarding

Assessment

Developing PeopleIT Leaders Program

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Developing People

Selection

• Expand the Pool

• Establishing Competencies and Criteria

On-Boarding

• Establish Expectations

• Provide a Way to Lean the Landscape

• Have the Culture Explained

• Share Key Themes

• Provide a Stretch Assignment

Situational Leadership

• Asses the Person’s Level of Competence

• Asses the Level of Commitment

• Adapt Your Leadership Style

Professional Development

• Set Goals and Strategies

• Identify Opportunities

• Agree on Practices

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping togeth-er is progress. Workingtogether is success.”

Henry Ford

“George Marshall under-stood that leaders must spend the time to recruit the right people for the job and then support them completely, so that they can do the job. The excep-tional leader sees his or her job as enabling peopleto do their jobs.”

Peter Drucker

“When You are looking for talent, you have a license and an obligation to go hunting for the best person possible, don’t settle for good enough.”

Jim BruceCIO Emeritus, MIT

Process Timeline

Developing PeopleIT Leaders Program

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Hire the Best, Develop Your People

“Recruit well—develop your people

• Exploit strengths of people

• Err on the side of delegation—everybody wins

• Match project phase and talent”

Dave Briggs Director Lincoln Lab, MIT

Give yourself an unfair advantage: develop your people.

• Establish clear expectations, measurable goals, and simple feedback systems.

• Provide opportunities for continued development.

• Create stretch assignments.

• Use coaching or mentoring within your unit.

• Change assignments from time to time.

• Offer timely feedback.

• Ask for feedback frequently.

• Acknowledge progress in visible ways.

Delegation Tips

What is Delegation?

Delegation is the work a manager does to entrust responsibility and authority to others and create new accountability for results. Delegation is a process that ensures people are empowered.

Strategic direction is designed to position your organizationto be successful in an ever changing world.

Strategic thinking focuses on ensuring we are doing the right things.

Strategic planning is“The continuous process of making present (entrepreneurial) risk-taking decisions systematically and with the greatest knowledge of the futurity; organizing systematically the efforts needed to carry out these decisions; and measuring the results of these decisions against the expectations through organized systematic feedback.”

Peter Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices

Introduction to Strategic Thinking

Introduction to Strategic ThinkingIT Leaders Program

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Introduction

Developing a strategic direction in a rapidly changing world has become an increasing challenge as the pace accelerates. Establishing a direction and selecting the strategies designed to achieve the desired results needs to be an ongoing process rather than an annual event.

Astute leaders need to:

• Draw on a broad range of inputs to maneuver in a world that rewards speed and adaptability.

• Engage numerous employees to enhance the flow of ideas and the implementation of the desired direction.

• Call on the collective intelligence of their people to enhance the quality of their strategic choices.

Strategic Planning Involves

• Understanding and accurately predictingthe future impact of trends

• Mentally operating in the future, puttingcurrent concerns on hold

• Generating innovative and unique ideas

• Developing and communicating futurerelated scenarios

• Anticipating the consequences ofproposed courses of action

• Pursuing strategies that create future viability

“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as what direction we are moving: to reach the port… we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it … but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead


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A vision is just a vision if it’s only in your head... if no one gets to hear it, it’s as good as dead. It has to come to life! Having the vision’s no solution, everything depends on execution, putting it together, that’s what counts. Bit by bit, link by link, piece by piece, part by part.

Stephen Sondheim


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Strategic Planning ScorecardThis self-assessment will give you an indication of how predisposed you are to strategic thinking. If you score on the lower side, you will want to ensure there are people on the team who have higher scores or strengths in these competencies.

Rare

ly

Som

etim

es

Ofte

n

Very

Ofte

n

Alm

ost A

lway

s

Not

App

licab

le

1 2 3 4 5 NA

I identify the important trends that will be critical to the orga-nization in the future.

c c c c c c

I accurately outline the implications of the most important trends.

c c c c c c

I stay focused on the future, putting current concerns on hold. c c c c c c

I develop future-related scenarios highlighting strategic choices.

c c c c c c

I generate innovative ideas. c c c c c c

I work well with the ambiguity inherent in future-related planning.

c c c c c c

I anticipate the consequences of proposed courses of action. c c c c c c

I translate strategic direction into realistic business plans. c c c c c c

I take action in the short term to realize necessary changes in direction.

c c c c c c

Exploring the elements of strategic planning

Step-by-step guides

Thinking about the future

The StrategicPlanning Process

Getting Started

“ The obvious answer often times is not the

right one.”

Greg JacksonCIO - University of Chicago

IT Leaders - November 9, 2004

“ I wish when we were making major deci-

sions, that I had asked more questions.”

Jim BruceFormer CIO - MIT


The Strategic Planning ProcessIT Leaders Program

88 The Strategic Planning ProcessIT Leaders Program

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Glossary

Strategic direction

is designed to position your organization to be successful in an ever changing world.

Strategic thinking

is intended to strengthen peoples strategic lens so they can analyze an issue and see the possibilities and consequences when the choice is important to the success of the enterprise.

Vision

A statement that creates a picture of the desired future state that is better in some important way than the current state.

A vision statement usually addresses:

• What kind of organization do we want to be?

• What will it be like for our customers and other stakeholders when we achieve the vision?

• What values are most important?

Mission

Refers to the business purpose of an organization.

Mission statements usually answer three questions:

• What purpose does the organization serve? What products or services do we offer?

• Who are the customers we intend to serve?

• How do we go about serving these customers? What activities, technology, etc., do we provide?

Goal

An outcome that is measurable and achievable within a specific time frame. One which is subordinate to the mission yet supports the overall business purpose by addressing an aspect of it. Most organizations need to successfully accomplish many goals to achieve their mission.

Strategy

A plan, method or series of maneuvers or strategies for obtain-ing a specific goal or result.

ScenarioAn imagined or projected sequence of events, any of sev-eral detailed plans or possibilities.

“Leadership is about doing the right things. Management is about doing those things right.”

Peter Drucker

“ Eighty percent of orga-nizations are overman-aged and underled.”

Warren Bennis



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Scan the environment

What forces or trends will influence your future?

Determine the critical implications

What is going to shape our future?

Develop the desired future state

What is our vision for where we want to be?

Formulate or update our mission.What service and/or products are we providing to

whom and what is distinctive about how we do this?

Assess the current state

Identify our strengths, values, opportunities, weaknesses and threats.

Do a gap analysis

Where do we need to be and where are the major gaps?

Develop the strategies to move forward

How will we achieve the progress needed?

Outline implementation

Outline the action plan, milestones and accountabilities.

Analyze yourcustomers’ needs

Analyze yourcompetition

Strategic Planning Model

!Key

Point

It is important in most organizations to engage various constituencies during

different phases of the process and to communicate on an ongoing basis.



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Gap Analysis

Where we are now

Where we want to be

What we can do to close the gap



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Thinking Strategically “Real Time”

From Vision to Strategy

Group A - Create a compelling vision statement describing the “to be” state

Group B - Outline the actions people in this group can take to achieve “to be”

Group C - Outline the actions the leaders can use to catalyze action --> “to be”

Group D - Outline the forces for the desired future state & outline the forces working against the dfs

Group E - Look at this as a change process, what will be needed to bring the

changes to fruition? How do you keep people accountable?



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Proposed Framework for Strategic Planning

1.00 Focusing on the External World

1.10 Conduct an environmental scan. What are the forces and trends likely to be shaping our future?

1.20 Customer analysis What are our current customers telling us in regard to their needs? What are likely to be the future needs of our customers? Are there differences by market segment? Are there emerging markets we should examine?

1.30 Comparative analysis Who do we consider as our competitors? Where do our competitors have an edge? What competitive advantages do we have?

2.00 Outline the Desired Future State What’s our Vision?

2.10 In three years, what do we want the organization to be?

2.20 Outline scenarios creating different visions for the future. Assess the benefits or drawbacks of each. What values are important to our future?

2.30 Create a proposed vision as a straw. How would you know if you achieve the vision?

2.40 Refine the mission in line with the desired direction. Who are the customers you currently serve? What product and services do you provide? What is distinctive about your products/services?

3.00 Do a SWOT Analysis

3.10 Analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. What does this analysis tell us? How does this align with the desired direction? Underscore the major strengths, opportunities, and gaps

3.20 Identify the values you believe exist within the culture today.

3.30 Create a profile of the current culture - its attributes and drawbacks.



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4.00 Learn from the Past

4.10 How can we learn from our experience with prior strategic efforts? Where have we made some gains? Where have we fallen short?

4.20 The biggest wins have occurred: Because we did..... When we were..... When the.....

4.30 Other historical information

5.00 Establish Strategic Goals Designed to Achieve the Vision

5.10 Where are the major opportunities? What do we need to do to move toward the desired future state? What strategies will get us to our goals?

5.20 Explore the possibilities and narrow the list.

5.30 What values and culture will be needed to support the desired direction?

5.40 Establishing a plan What are the major initiatives that go with the goals? Rough out a one to three year plan

5.50 Assign ownership. Who should own the goal? How do we want to draft a plan complete with milestones and measures? Who should have input into this planning phase?

6.00 Moving Forward

6.10 Who else needs to buy into this plan? What additional data is needed? What is the risk proposition?

6.20 What are the success criteria for this effort? What measures will be important to track?

6.30 Communication Plan

6.40 Agree on strategic practices designed to ensure follow through and adaptability.


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Scanning the External World

What are the trends and forces that are likely to beshaping the future context for your organization?

Economy

Technology

Government

Demographics

Customers/Stakeholders

Other

“What of IT has been transformational? Email, messaging changed the nature of the intellectual community. Borders changed; modes of access changed.”

Greg JacksonCIO - University of Chicago




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External Scan (IT Leaders - October 11, 2005)

Trends and Forces on Higher Education

Globalization -- more and more is being done outside the US

Extend research out from the large campuses

Growing competition for students, for funding, ...

Impact of state contracting for services

Higher technology expectations of both faculty and students

Implications of federal regulations -- e.g., CALEA, HIPPA

Haves vs. have nots

Remedial education; impacts in border states

Not sufficient educational funding from all sources

On-line learning -- implications on learning, funding, space, ...

Kids are changing -- e.g., role of IM; new definition of community

Students are becoming a primary driver -- customer base to be served, how the fees they pay are used, ...

Graying of faculty, and integration of technology into the lives of some -- particularly the younger faculty

Faculty research computing -- application migration from the research laboratory to production.



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Trends and Forces on IT in Higher Education

Extended university -- connectivity

Technology -- e.g., VoIP, Wireless; state contracts limiting the flexibility of the university

Technology provided by external parties

Further democratization of media

Security issues; have to take more seriously in the nearer term

Virtual presence

Digital natives -- students have grown up with technology

IT more integration into some disciplines; higher needs

Research support

Bandwidth expanding to the endpoint (beyond campus) - connectivity will be shifting - implications for security, etc. - what does this enable?

Moore’s Law -- double every 12-18 months; 10 years yields about a factor of 100 in performance. What will this enable?

Devices get smaller with more functionality

Implications re interoperability, integration, end users

Paradigm shifting; not just about information retrieval

Disposable/wearable devices/capability

Web’s evolution

Outsourcing, off-shoring

Integration - interoperability

Open source

Consortiums

Developing a VisionLooking Toward the Future

Describing what the future might look like

Thinking about the way things are

Working on how to achieve a vision for the future

Developing a VisionIT Leaders Program

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Defining Vision

Vision is:

• A way to engage people in preferred futuring

• A dynamic process for the future

• A way to capture mindshare

• A way to tap into our hopes and dreams

Quotes on Vision“A vision has to ‘reframe’ the known scene, to reconceptualize the obvious, and connect the previously unconnected dream”

Charles Handy,The Age of Unreason

Vision is “a mental model of a future state of a process, a group, or an organization.”

Burt Nanus

“Leadership must tap and align the natural desire to do something new or better.”

“Leadership is about releasing the energy in the community to create what they would like to create.”

Peter Senge

“Leadership is what gives an organization its vision and its ability to translate the vision into reality.”

Warren Bennis


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Why Vision Statements are Useful

Every organization needs a vision if it wants to go somewhere and be able to know when it has arrived1. It provides a meaning-ful framework for our organizations existence: meaningful in the sense that it lends a practical scaffold on which to outline our goals, and meaningful in the sense that it brings meaning to what we do. A vision keeps us focused and increases the chance that we will find success—as we define it.

Some visions are personal, some are borne from the struggle to survive. Some visions save countries while others find new ways of improving our daily lives. But the most important aspect of a vision is the person, or people, who raise it up for others to see. While “envisioners” are characterized as the seekers and wonder-ers, the vision itself must be grounded on the knowledge that all goals are attainable, if only one can muster the focus in their lives to seek them out.2

We are a new era that calls for collaboration as well as individual actions. Again, it is a time of pathfinding; for a quest for new visions and inspiration. It is also a time of tremendous oppor-tunities and potential. We must remember that every journey is but a series of single steps into the unknown. As Einstein once said, the greater our circle of knowledge; the greater the cir-cumference of what is left unexplored. Through our individual actions, whether they are conscious or unconscious, we are con-tributing to the condition and character of our future, increasing or decreasing the sum of our community and businesses now and forever. As a community of innovators, inventors and envi-sioners, our efforts have been ripened by all who preceded us. As our own present is inexorably bound to our past, so too is our future rooted in this time we call the present.2,3

1. Anatomy of a Vision Statement, James R. Lucas, American Management Association International, February 1998

2. Ray Wyman, www.heavypen.com/vision/

3. Excerpt from a speech given by William Shatner. Edited by Ray Wyman and vision training strategist Leland Russell


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The Desired Future State

Projecting ahead three years, outline the futureyou would like to come about for your organization.

What kind of organization do we want to be?

What will it be like for our customers and other stakeholders when we achieve our vision?

What values are most important?

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SWOT Analysis

What strengths do you associate with your organization? (Internally focused)

What weaknesses or challenges do you believe are major ones for your organization? (Internally focused)

What are some opportunities you believe your organization can pursue? (Externally focused)

What are some threats you see on the horizon for your organization? (Externally focused)



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SWOT Summary

Use the boxes below to fill in your own take on what you think are the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities facing your organization today.

ThreatsWeaknesses

OpportunitiesStrengths

So how can your organization leverage the strengths, address the critical weaknesses, capitalize on the best opportunities and minimize the threats?



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Identifying the Current State

What Is a SWOT Analysis?

A SWOT analysis looks at an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This is one means for sketching out the current state of an organization, a group, a project or a particular effort. The outcomes from SWOT analyses enable people and organizations to focus on leveraging strengths, minimizing weaknesses, addressing real or potential threats, and taking the greatest possible advantage of opportunities. If conducted as an interactive forum, SWOTs can also help build cohesion within a group or an organization as people share and develop a collective perspective.

The SWOT analysis tool is a useful methodology for constructively identifying the upside (strengths & opportunities) and the downside (weaknesses and threats) of an organization. Because participants are explicitly invited to offer feedback, this allows individuals during the process to avoid being seen as too critical; they are also less likely to withhold concerns that might be politically incorrect to state under differ-ent circumstances.

Why Is It Useful?

SWOT analyses are often employed as part of more extensive strategic planning processes, but they can also be used independently as a way of gathering what might best be described as an organizational inventory. For this reason, engaging in this process can be particularly beneficial for a leader or manager who is facilitat-ing a strategic process or when someone is taking on a new position or role. By their nature, SWOT analyses actively engage people in strategic thinking –a plus for all and a necessity for leaders and managers.

What Next?

Once you have the results of the SWOT, then in a subsequent meeting or even in advance of the next session, consider asking subgroups to work on the following:

1. Prioritize the issues in each topic area so you identify the top 3 to 5 strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

2. Have the subgroups then come up with straw proposals to:

• Leverage the top strengths

• Minimize the impact of the top weaknesses

• Capitalize on the top opportunities

• Minimize the threats from materializing

Encourage staff to look at these proposals in an integrated way and then put the emphasis on what is action-able.



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Conducting a SWOT Analysis

While the SWOT Analysis is typically conducted in a group setting, it can also be undertaken in other forums, such as electronic forums, individual interviews, paper or electronic, surveys, etc. Regardless of the means, the process involves asking specific questions about each facet. While the questions under each category are offered as examples and could be asked in a different order, the real value is in eliciting multiple inputs to obtain a more complete assessment.

Sample SWOT Questions

Strengths

What do we do exceptionally well?

What might be our core competencies or competitive advantage?

What valuable assets or resources do we have?

What do members/customers identify as our strengths?

Weaknesses

What are our weaknesses?

What should we be doing better?

What are we criticized for or get complaints on?

Opportunities

Are there emerging trends on which we can capitalize?

Are there some ways to build on, extend or be innovative?

What opportunities do we know about, but have not addressed?

Threats

What external events could jeopardize our progress?

Are our competitors doing anything that gives them an advantage?

Is technology dramatically changing how things are done?



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Process Tips

As you go about conducting a SWOT analysis and following through, you might think about a methodology that runs through much of organizational development: the concept of open-narrow-close. We open a topic for discussion, creating an opportunity for everyone to have input and to contribute to a body of common knowledge; we narrow what’s been said and by asking people to select two or three things most worthy of focusing on; and we close by synthesizing what we’ve agreed to and explicitly asking for the group’s agreement on next steps. This open-narrow-close cycle can transpire in a single meeting or it can take place over multiple meetings.

Open -> Divergent Thinking -> Narrow -> Convergent Thinking -> Close



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Sample SWOT

Threats• Reduced state budget contributions• System/state control• Security/disaster recovery• Vendor/ERP reliance• Student/faculty dissatisfaction with IT• Retirements• Fragmentation of IT efforts• Regulations• Hayward fault• Changing executive leadership• Cynicism• Regulation• UT System-level ERP pressure• Lack of funding• Individual decisions that outlast the individual• Relevance/value (external competition)• Leakage of customers to non-central services

Weaknesses• Large/slow moving organization• Internal, more than externally, focused• Weak project management• Slow response• Silos• Leadership, internal to IT• Resistance to change• Lack of architecture• Unagile and inflexible• Lack of partnerships (customers, industry, internal)• Financially unsavvy• Spread too thin• Distributed nature• Let perfection get in the way of the greater good• Differing and often unfocused missions (through out campus and ITS)• Sun-setting• IT physical infrastructure • Governance• Lack of priorities and direction from leadership• Lack of focus on students• Don’t communicate initiatives well either internally or to the campus

Opportunities• Showcasing/broking of needs and services• Decreasing department and campus dollars• Increasing student demands• Staff retirements• Retirements• Proactive response to trends• Early collaboration• Private/public partnerships• Academic strategic IT plan• IU/MIP: Democratization of knowledge• Changing executive leadership• Chancellor’s focus on IT security• Governance• Communications• Better central services for economies of scale• Change in executive management• Higher education collaboration (open source, security, identity management)

Strengths• Strong staff• Expertise/Credibility• Funding• Assertive, effective CIO• Size• Structure• Leadership relationships to university outside IT• Data center and network• Staff• CIO on Chancellor’s cabinet• Campus desire for us to succeed• Some key core applications• Scaling• Core infrastructure/tools• Knowledegable, competent staff• Distributed nature• Innovations encouraged

Taking a Strategic ViewIT Leaders Program

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Taking a Strategic View

In the 1980s, the primary philosophy was “if we build it, they will come”; if we put a new technology platform in place, users will build applications for it. We often did not ask the strategic questions of where the technology would lead; what the implications would be. We were too enamored with the technology.

As more computing applications were built, creating an imbedded base of both applications and ap-plication builders, it became harder to put new platforms in place. The effort and cost to move the older applications to the new environments were too high.

But, new technology -- new hardware, new operating platforms, new applications -- continued to arrive with great regularity. And, sometimes these new platforms -- e.g., the cell phone, wireless networks, “Blackberries” -- “tip” creating over a very short period of time significant unanticipated demand that must be addressed.

Since many of the technology changes that will be prominent in the next decadeare already here, we need to be asking questions about them now, looking at these technologies as potential strategic options. Asking questions of “what,” “what’s so,” “so what,” and “how” will help us be alert to, and more prepared for the future.

Jim Bruce, Former VP of Information SystemsMassachusetts Institute of Technology

“One thing I wish I had done more so, was ask more questions, to probe further, to require us to analyze the technology choices we were making and project bet-ter where this was leading us.”


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Scenario Planning

Scenarios allow people to play out various alternative futures in a way that creates a picture or pictures of what might happen should the path in front of us unfold in one way versus another.

Scenarios are helpful as a tool in strategic thinking. Developing scenarios can follow one of the early stages of strategic planning when you identify the forces and trends shaping the future. As a group explores the trends likely to influence the future, developing competing scenarios is one way to envision what may or may not happen depending on how a trend develops and how the organization decides to respond.

As new developments occurred such as the horse drawn carriage or the internal combustion engine or the beginning of the railroad or the invention of the airplane, there were significant implications associated with these events. If you were in a field related to these developments in transportation, it would have been benefi-cial to engage in scenario planning to speculate on the likely implications of these innovations.

Scenario planning in its simplest form can be recognized when someone says, “what if ….” This provocative question invites those in attendance to entertain variations on the possibility before them.

When a group or organization is engaged in a strategic thinking, entertaining scenarios is way to expand on how external trends may impact the future. Scenarios can be used to develop different versions of the desired future state.

“Scenarios enable new ideas about the future to take root and spread across an organization, helping to overcome the inertia and denial that can so easily make the future a dangerous place.” - Eamonn Kelly, CEO of Global Business Network

Scenario planning can also be useful when faced with an external threat or a potential disruption that will likely cause an upset. It can help prevent the organization from getting blindsided by external events or devel-opments.

Scenario planning involves using a process for outlining various views on how the future may turn out. In the best of cases, there is sufficient data on hand to inform people so they are building off the same foundation of knowledge even though we may be constructing competing pictures of what the data may mean. Engaging in scenario thinking will invite people to exchange their views on what might come to fruition and through this process people may begin developing a common stake in one alternative perspective. This can evolve into the preferred future that can help people become invested in bringing about this desired direction.

Peter Schwartz, author of the Art of the Long View described scenario planning:

“as a discipline for encouraging creative and entrepreneurial thinking and action in contexts of change, complex-ity & uncertainty.”


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Scenario Planning

There are numerous ways to approach scenario planning that can help trigger different vantage points on the future. Common approaches used include the following:

Preferred Future involves sketching out our desired future state. In this approach, it is useful to look at how we would like things to evolve if we could envision and bring to fruition the future we want to see material-ize.

Best Case versus Worst Case scenarios-simply setting up this juxtaposition can help outline the different ends of the continuum.

Winners and Losers is another familiar plot line that gets played out when faced with different situations. It is useful to ask, who is likely to come out ahead? And who or what groups are likely to come up short?

Evolutionary Change versus the Quantum Leap can invite people to look at an incremental approach to a pending change or to entertain what might happen if this led to a major jump forward. Comparisons between these two strategies can provoke people to tease out choices that may not be even recognized by some.

Crisis and Response is also used frequently to anticipate what will be needed if this event turns out to be a category 3 or a category 5 development. In analyzing the weather, it is important to anticipate the strength of the hurricane and to plan accordingly. What would we need to do if this turns out to be a category 3 or category 5 situation?

Multiple Perspectives can also be a productive way to outline different views of how things may develop. Using three lenses from John Van Maanen’s work allows a group to think about how this change may play out if we take a strategic view or a political view or a cultural view.


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Mission

How would you define customer?

Who do you consider to be the customers of this group?

What products or services do you provide to your customers?

What do your customers expect from you?

Mission Statement:

What goals might be important to fulfill this mission?

Developing Long Term GoalsIT Leaders Program

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Developing Long Term Goals

What are the overriding areas where you need to makesignificant progress in the next one to three years?

Reflecting back, what are the key trends you should take into consideration as you set your strategic goals?

Keeping in mind the desired future state, what are the “right things” to focus on accomplishing?

What time frames are important to agree on in this planning cycle?



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Gap Analysis

Where we are now

Where we want to be

What we can do to close the gap



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Gap Analysis

Fill in the columns, begining with the desired future state, followed by the current state, and finishing with the gaps.

Current State

Gaps

Desired Future State

(Can draw on SWOT)

(Can draw on Vision)



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Sample Gap Analysis

Current State

Gaps

Desired Future State

There isn’t a consistent environment.

Calls go to anyone.

No single focus within BITS - constantly changing priorities.

Inconsistent and frag-mented communications.

Still working to understand the values.

Open positive environment /BITS

One face to the customer

• Single point of contact

Clear goals and priorities

• Project management

Communications is an ongoing process

Leadership demonstrates the value in daily activities

Views can’t be expressed freely and be respected

Many processes exist today

• No standard within unit for requesting resources

• No complete resource allocation within BITS

Mechanisms do not exist, don’t get the right infor-mation to the right people at the right time

Acceptance not complete


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Strategic Thinking Worksheet

Where are there some issues or opportunities for you to be more strategic?

What are some practices that will help you get up on the balcony and be more strategic?

What are some actions you might take within your work or work group?

Session One/Day Three IntroductionIT Leaders Program

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Session One/Day Three


Day Three: Individual Development PlanningFebruary 11, 2010 – Stanford UniversityMeeting Location: Sheraton Palo Alto, Cypress BallroomContinental Breakfast 7:30 am

I Opening Comments 8:00 am Outline of this session Reflections on yesterday’s session Leadership journeys Overview on the University of Chicago

II IT Leader Alums: Nancy Ware and Jim Knox

III Perspectives on Leadership Randy Livingston, Vice President for Business Affairs and CFO

IV Creating Your Development Plan Revisit the 360° survey Share examples of goals appropriate to this opportunity Peer-to-peer coaching conversations to refine goals Next steps for completing your development plan • Finalize and submit your goals

V Coaching for Performance Provide a demonstration of coaching Skills needed to be a coach

Lunch 12:30 pm

VI Developing Practices to Accomplish GoalsHow practices make the difference between good intentions and sustainable improvement

VIII Where from Here Applied learning suggestions Feedback on the workshop Outline of the next session at MIT and assignments

Adjourn by 2:00 pm


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Reflections Practice

What are the take-aways you have from yesterday?

Name one on-the-job application of what you listed.


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Reflections on Leadership IT Leaders Alums: Nancy Ware and Jim Knox

Notes:


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Notes:


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Reflections on Leadership Randy Livingston, Vice President for Business Affairs and CFO

Notes:


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Notes:

Creating an IndividualDevelopment Plan

Selecting Growth Opportunities

Components to Consider When Selecting Goals

Initial Development Goals

The simple fact of yourself ... there it is ... just you ... no excitement about it ... a very simple fact ... the only thing you have ... keep it as clear as you can.

Georgia O’Keefe

Outlining a Development PlanIT Leaders Program

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Premises

This program provides numerous opportunities: It’s a place to take risks, to test out your ideas

or new behaviors, and to solicit feedback.

The classroom is a learning lab. This is a practice field. Stepping up or stepping out of the familiar requires

many of us to operate outside our comfort zone.

Dialogue and real-time feedback are great sources of insight, though they require us to acclimate to being vulnerable.

You haven’t learned anything unless you have demonstrated your ability to do something at an increased capability.

Learning takes place more readily when the learner is at the center of the process.



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Development Plan Components

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Components To Consider When Selecting Goals

Leadership Development

On becoming a leader: who you are, how you show up, and what you do. Are there developmental opportunities that pertain to your evolution as a leader?

Strengths

What are your primary strengths? Are there strengths you want to build on?What did the 360° survey tell you about your strengths?



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Growth Areas

Are there aspirations you have that this leadership program would support your pursuing in the year ahead? Are there gaps in your knowledge or exposure to the organization that you would like to fill?Are there opportunities you are aware of that are important for you to tackle this year?

360° Feedback

What areas from your survey stand out as improvement opportunities?



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Strategic Thinking/Planning

Increase my read of the strategic landscape so I see the strategic issues first and focus on the long-term rather than the tactical.

Develop strategic thinking competency: effort-lessly step back and actively focus on the bigger picture, defining the needs of the department and company rather than the situation/issue encountered.

More Leading, Less Managing

Expand the time I spend focusing on the future by setting the bar higher for performance and by delegating

Develop my organization and myself so I can devote more time to being strategic and man-aging the business, rather than doing the work itself.

Improving Communications, Developing Communication Skills

Become a more effective communicator in the context of the different constituencies within the organization

Improve on effectiveness of communication, distilling ideas into focused messages that inspire support or action from others

Learning the Culture

Develop an understanding and sensitivity to the organization’s culture that increases my awareness and my effectiveness as a change agent

Developing Relationships

Develop better working relationships in several areas throughout the organization that can offer useful perspectives to advance and sup-port our mission.

Work on Self

Develop a clear focus that enables me to iden-tify the important few from the many competing tasks and to create practices that will ensure progress on these priorities

Consciously take time at the end of each day to reflect on the learning moments that took place and what I might take away from them

To listen first and speak last

Sample Leadership Goals



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Potential Development Goals

Take-Aways From Coaching Conversation

Input From Discussions With Your Manager



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Only 3% of people in the United States have written goals, and according to research, these people accomplish 80% more than those that don’t.

Please select 4 goals.

Areas you might consider when setting goals are: work/life balance, building relation-ships, networking, strategic planning, developing people or self, communication skills, organizational skills, creating a leaderful environment, etc.

We encourage you to make your goals “SMART” goals:

Specific

The more specific a goal is the greater the chance that it will be accomplished. Include in your goal statement:

What: Clearly define the outcome you want to create. Be very specific.

Why: Why is it important to you? What is the benefit to accomplishing this goal?

Measurable

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. What are the specific criteria you will use to mea-sure your progress towards accomplishing your goal? How will you know when you have reached your goal? Measurable include time, frequency or duration and measure the process of your performance.

Attainable

Your goals should require a commitment on your part and stretch you slightly, yet are attainable. Once a goal is identified you might see opportunities that were previously missed.

Realistic

Is this goal really do-able? Set the bar high and devise a plan to achieve your goal, but make sure that it is realistic and achievable. This does not mean “easy”!

Timely and Tangible

A time frame gives you a clear target to work towards and creates accountability. When you can experience it with one of your senses (tangible) you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable.

The following page shows an example of a goal that follows these precepts.



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Sample GoalGoal: Delegate higher-level work to people in my group to enhance their development while freeing up time for me to be more strategic.

Actions & Timeframe:

Action Timeframe1. Learn about best practices related to successful

delegation and create a checklist which I will refer to and maintain to track my performance. Share with ITLP coach.

Begin immediately. Expected completion by _______.

2. Create a list of all the tasks I currently reserve for myself and consider which could be done reason-ably well by others in my group.

Begin immediately. Expected completion by ________.

3. Delegate writing of at least one project plan and one project definition document to each project manager.

After Item 2 is completed. No later than __________. Make a practice by _____.

4. Delegate estimating for at least one project to each project manager and each senior technical staff member.

After Item 2 is completed. No later than __________. Make a practice by _____.

5. Communicate weekly with all staff to check in on their work and ensure appropriate support of their efforts, including, but not limited, to delegated work. Refer to my best practices checklist to maintain my focus.

Schedule weekly meetings beginning _________.

6. Regularly scan for new challenging opportunities for staff.

Begin immediately and scan weekly

7. Create a list of all the tasks I currently reserve for myself and consider which of these could be done reasonably well by others in my group. Compare this list with that created in Item 2.

______________ (Six months after Item2 complet-ed.)

Support/Resource:Project Managers in my groupSenior technical staffMy bossMy ITLP coach



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Please select a goal that pertains to enhancing something about yourself. Work on self is one of the most important things you will undertake this year, so identify one change you’d like to make in yourself that can serve as a developmental goal.

Goal 1 (Self):

Actions:

Timeframe:

Support/Resource:

Please select a goal based on your 360˚ review.

Goal 2 (360˚):

Actions:

Timeframe:

Support/Resource:



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Please select a professional or workplace goal you want to pursue this year.

Goal 3 (Professional):

Actions:

Timeframe:

Support/Resource:

Please select a second professional or workplace goal that you want to pursue this year.

Goal 4 (Professional):

Actions:

Timeframe:

Support/Resource:


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Leaving Your Comfort Zone by Brian McDonald

“The relief is palpable when we stand on the other side knowing, that we did something even though it was hard or we didn’t want to do it. On the other hand, when we cling to our comfort zone, never addressing the things we don’t know or are reluctant to face, we cut ourselves off from flow and growth.”

Learning new skills or adopting new practices or experimenting with new behaviors requires you to let go of your current way of doing things. Yet, people tend to find comfort in the predictabil-ity of the habits and routines we develop. In some cases these habits or routines are the function of conscious choices we have made, or in other cases simply the result of repeated behaviors. Our brain assimilates these habits and routines into patterns that influence its functioning, simplifying daily decisions and behavior.

Hence, when you get up in the morning, you need not spend mental energy working through decisions about whether to brush your teeth first or wash your face. You can get through the first hour of the day in many cases on autopilot. You can drive to work some days, and notice you arrived at the parking lot won-dering exactly how you got there, given you were thinking about something else during the drive.

These long-standing patterns sometimes serve us well and other times, they can be described as “falling into a rut.”

When you sign up to embark on a new venture, you usually recognize the initiative may require you to change some routines or possibly require you to cover some unfamiliar ground. Other times you may be on the brink of making some fundamental changes. At these times, some level of apprehension is usually present. After all, you will be leaving the comfort of the familiar.

Learning new behaviors requires us to get used to being outside our “comfort zone.” The old routines and predictable behaviors that served us well for so long, may now actually hinder our ability to behave in new ways. Our brain may resist moving away from these familiar patterns that guide our daily actions. These “familiar ways” have become scripts that can be followed with minimal mental effort being expended by our brain.


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Writing new scripts and having these inform our behavior will take practice. To grow, no matter the context, you must be willing to step out of your comfort zone, to approach the future with a sense of adventure and anticipation about the discover-ies you can make. If you stay in your comfort zone, it is unlikely you will try out new behaviors. So, step out, experiment with new practices. Who knows what kind of leader you are capable of being? What tools you will learn to use in your daily life? How much you will add to your repertoire this year?

Get used to being uncomfortable and you will open up the path toward becoming a continuous learner.

Chapter TitleCoaching“To coach is to facilitate, to “make easy”, not less demanding, less intense, or less interesting, but less discouraging.”

Tom PetersPassion for Excellence

Why We Coach?

Coaching Worksheet

Coaching Definitions

Coaching Cycle

Coaching Role Play

Coaching Practice

CoachingIT Leaders Program

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Why We Coach?

The person being coached develops a commitment to their goals.

The person being coached develops his/her own ideas, goals and actions.

The person being coached has a greater investment in following through to reach their goals if it is her/his decision or declaration

As a coach, you are helping develop the person’s thinking which will enhance this ability in the future.

As the coach, you could be instrumental in supporting the person as he or she works

toward fulfilling the commitments s/he makes.

Learning Objectives – Session I:

• Understand the importance of coaching as a development tool

• Be able to frame open-ended questions while listening to a coaching partner

• Accept that change is difficult and good coaches are willing to stretch and challenge their partners as a means to facilitate positive, sustainable change

Context Converge Commit Continue



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Coaching Worksheet

Have you ever had anyone coach you either in your work life or personal life?

What did this person do that was helpful?

What does it take to be an effective coach?



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Coaching Definitions

coach (koch), v.t. to tutor; someone who assists students by helping them improve their ability; a teacher; someone who prepares people through training.

To coach is to facilitate, “to make easy,” not less demanding, less intense, or less interesting but less discourag-ing.

Tom PetersPassion for Excellence

“Coaching is a process designed to develop a new level of performance, an increased com-petency or a personal quality.” Leading Thru Coaching

So, what is coaching?



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A Good Coach ...

... Seeks to understand the partner’s challenges to form a context for the conversation.

“Tell me what’s going on…”

“What’s happened since the last time we met?”

“Why does that feel important to you?”

... Builds clarity so the conversation can converge on spe-cific themes and ideas that can become actionable

“What else might you try?”

“Have you thought about…..?”

“What might stand in the way?”

“What has changed to cause this to happen?”

“How might this look if you are successful?”

… Enables commitments to take place so the partner is willing to act

“So, what might you be willing to try differently?”

“When might you start?”

“Have you about the resources you will need?”

“Tell me again what you are committing to.”

… Creates continuity so that follow-up is planned and for-ward progress is maintained

“When do you want to meet to review how you have done?”

“How do we want to check in case of a breakdown?”

Listening With CareListening requires you to manage your mental process

Concentrate• Eliminate noise and distractions• Decide to listen• Stay tuned in

Ask questions• Inquire• Draw out

Recap• Paraphrase• Gather information

Express interest• Non-verbal body language and gestures

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

ADVICE

AUTOBIOGRAPHYAUTOBIOGRAPHYAUTOBIOGRAPHYAUTOBIOGRAPHY

ADVICE ADVICE




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Coaching Role Play

Pay attention to your thought processes as you are observing. How well are you able to focus? What dis-tracting thoughts are intruding?

What types of questions are being asked? List examples of:

Questions creating a good context for the conversation:

Questions that shape the conversation so it converges on one or two ideas:

Questions that help the partner reach a commitment for action:

Questions that build continuity so partner feels both empowered and obligated to practice their commitments:


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Coaching Practice

With a peer coach you will practice the skills of purposeful listening, managing the conversation and asking open-ended questions.

Meet with your partner and exchange one goal.

My partner’s goal is:

Spend two or three minutes of I-time to write down a few questions that you might ask:

Have the coaching conversation. If necessary, jot a few notes so that you can capture your partner’s thoughts without bogging down.

Debrief. List 2 or 3 things that you did well (+’s) and 2 or 3 opportunities (deltas).

+’s Delta’ s

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

Knowing Oneself

Using Feedback

Gaining an Accurate Self-Assessment

Knowing Oneself IT Leaders Program

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Knowing Oneself IT Leaders Program

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Jo-Hari’s Window

A model for learning more about myself and helping others learn about me. (Rationale for Feedback)

Myself

My Subconscious Self

• Things about me I don’t know and they don’t know.

• There are some things about me which I, or anyone else, may never know.

My Secret or Hidden Self

• I know things about me which they don’t.

• In order for others to learn things about me that they don’t know, which I would like for them to know, I must take RISKS and tell them.

My Blind Self

• They know things about me which I don’t.

• In order to learn what others know about me that I would like to know, I must ask for and receive feedback.

Free and Open Areas

• I know and they know.

Things others know about me that I know also

Things I know about myself which others do not know

!Objective

To strive to make the “Free and Open Areas”part of the window larger

Leadership and Practices

Most goals are simply good intentions unless you adopt the practices need-ed to build a new habit/capability.

This is no different than the child who wants to play a musical instrument but doesn’t want to practice.

Leadership and PracticesIT Leaders Program

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Practices DefinitionsPractice

• to study, exercise one’s skill regularly or fre-quently so as to win greater command (e.g., to practice the act before the performance or to practice the violin, or practice your serve in tennis)

• a customary action or customary code of behavior (e.g., it is their custom to dine early; it is their custom to defer to the authority figure, it is their custom to meet each morning as a team...)

• observable and actionable steps that can be repeated for the purpose of learning or acquiring

proficiency (e.g., the practice of a profession)

Best Practice

• a deliberate pattern of activity that accom-plishes its objective with outstanding efficiency and effectiveness, contributing to exceptional performance

Developing Practices

“If I miss one day’s practice, I notice it.

If I miss two days, the critics notice it.

If I miss three days, the audience notices it.”

Ignacy Paderewski. Polish concert pianist

Practices Facilitate Learning

If an individual has a commitment to develop a new competence, then practices can facilitate the learning needed to achieve the desired proficiency.

Coaches Need to be Competent at Designing Practices

Managers, who often fulfill the role of coach in team-based work systems, need to become com-petent in designing practices. It is also important that coaches makes sure the practices are imple-mented. During the early stages, teams may need some reinforcement for carrying through on the practices.


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PRACTICES

If you look in the dictionary you will find practices defined as:

* Performing an act or exercising a skill repeatedly in order to achieve greater command.

* A customary act or code of behavior.

* A repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of learning or acquiring proficiency.

All of these are accurate of course, but in the work environments that many of us find ourselves in today, what practices are we talking about and how can prac-tices actually be used to improve individual and team performance?

Anyone who has ever attempted to acquire or develop a particular skill knows that it is not what you intend to do but what you actually do that makes the difference. Practices are the specific actions that turns an inten-tion into actuality. A person can intend to become a better listener but unless they develop a practice, such as asking more questions, an old habit of interrupting people may take over and they will respond before the other person has finished speaking. The person who dominates meetings needs to develop a practice regard-ing the frequency and duration of their participation. Developing practices are critical to any improvement effort because, in most instances, people are trying to overcome long term patterns of behavior which create habits that are difficult to change.

People first need to be aware that change is needed or could be a benefit. This can happen either

through self reflection or more typically through the observations or feedback from others. At this point the person chooses to accept this feedback and the reason for change or to reject it, in which case nothing happens. If the person accepts the need or rationale for change and sees the benefits of making this change, then they can identify specific actions or results they intend to achieve. For these intended actions to become actuality, practices need to be developed that will drive the intended changes.



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Step 1 - AwarenessAwareness can be raised by noting that specific tasks and goals set each week are not being achieved. It seems that more effort is going into accomplishing less. A typical day finds that whatever plan was in place has been scrapped by 10 am and the manager becomes a firefighter, attending to the numerous blazes that come up each day.

Step 2 - AcceptanceAcceptance of the need to change must happen next. While one might think this would be a foregone conclusion in this situa-tion, that may not be the case. Many supervi-sors and managers see the problem solving and crisis management associated with the role of firefighter as of value. The recognition associated with solving problems and helping others deal with crisis situations is rewarding for many and in some organizations has led to promotional opportunities.

Step 3 - Action To ChangeAt this point the manager identifies those actions they intend to take that will address the issue and improve the situation, in this case, for staff to take more responsibility for resolving their own issues, and also, to focus more attention and time on the important issues. But will it actually happen? Not unless practices are implemented that will create more constructive habits, replacing the ineffi-

cient ones. Hindering the manager from using limited time more efficiently.

Step 4 - Build Practices

Practices that would support the actions iden-tified at Step 3 could include:

• Monthly skills assessments of staff to ensure their ability to resolve issues

• Create individual action plans to address gaps in abilities

• Schedule a set amount of time each day for staff issues

• Use a coaching approach to help staff resolve issues, ask questions to encourage staff to develop solutions

• Block out time in the calendar dedicated to the most important priorities

• Identify important tasks and goals for each week, set priorities and allocate 75%-80% of time to these issues, and delegate tasks that can and should be performed by others

Examples of specific practices can be found in the next section, but be creative

in looking at alternatives to customize your approach to a given situation. A practice needs to meet two criteria; first, it’s a specific action one takes, and second, it can be observed by others. For example, it would not be a practice to “keep more focused in meetings,” but it would be a practice to “raise only two points when commenting.” Or it is not a practice to be “less argumentative with others,” but it is a practice to “acknowledge the benefits of another’s point before raising any concerns.” In both examples, the first point is not a specific action one would take that could be observed by someone else but rather it is more the intended result one hopes to achieve. The practice is what makes the intention an actuality.



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Action Items WorksheetCapturing key meeting agreements

WHATWhat will be done?

WHOWho will do it?

WHENWhen will it be done?



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Being Strategic vs. Tactical

* Scan the environment on a quarterly basis, ask what trends or forces might shape the future.

* Dedicate a periodic meeting to the question, “What are the right things we need to do?”

* Create a view of where you need to be two years from now. Answer the question: What is the desired future state?

* Set performance goals with targets at least 20% over current performance.

* Evaluate the systems, resources, and constraints that influence performance on a quarterly basis and select one to work on in the succeeding quarter.

* Focus on weekly or monthly performance trends rather than day-to-day concerns.• What are the patterns?• What are the underlying causes?

* Plan more, problem-solve less. Block out two hours at the end of the month to do a review of the past 30-60 days and set targets for the next 30-60 days.

* Regularly engage in both short and long-term planning:

What are the most important issues to address six months to one year out?

* Look beyond specific problems to larger systems and focus any improvement effort on the system, e.g., developing an employee’s thinking capability rather than answering a question, improving employee training rather than correcting an employees mistake.

* Get into the habit of asking “what if” questions about your market and other topics.

Leadership Practices MenuIn each of the following examples, an improvement opportunity is identified and specific, actionable,

observable, and repeatable practices are outlined.



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Accountability: Getting People to Make Commitments and Develop Action Steps

* Make specific requests. Clarify what will be done and by when.

* Follow up with specifics when you hear non-committal language, e.g., “I’ll try,” “We’ll see,” “I should.,” with, “Help me to understand what will happen when I...”

* Have people identify the action plan that will support the commitment, e.g., “Let’s put down the next steps (1,2).”

* Hold people accountable for their commitments by following up on time lines.

* Meet and discuss the project scope and the expected outcomes and make sure the specific deliverables are clear.

* Request a project road map outlining specific tasks with milestone commitments.

* Maintain a running roster of pending action items; use this as a tickler file to triggerfollow up inquiries.

* Maintain a daily whiteboard posting of what needs to get done by when.

* Maintain a performance chart listing goals, targets, and results (update daily or weekly).

Managing Performance, Establishing Clear Measures of Progress

* Set S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Agreed to, Realistic, Time-based) and make them visible.

* Agree with those involved on how and when to measure performance.

* Meet weekly or monthly to review performance and compare results against goals.

* Select continuous improvement projects to work on once a quarter.(Teams and individuals should always have a concentrated focus on improving one aspect of performance).



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Continuous Improvement in Your Personal Development

Regularly perform a personal inventory:

1. Make a list of things that you want to learn or do, current strengths and potential growth areas.

2. Prioritize the list of things that you want to learn or do.

3. Allocate time for your most important objective and carve out the time with short term (month-ly) milestones. 4. Set specific goals to pursue.

Becoming a better listener

* Focus, tune in, take out a note pad and jot down key points.

* Accurately restate the opinions of others if you disagree.

* Count to three before you say something so you don’t interrupt.

* Ask a follow up question or two.

* Apply active listening skills:

* Eye contact

* Acknowledge points.

* Use more non-verbals to show interest.

* Turn down the volume of your own thoughts by repeating the key points the other person is making.

Being better at giving feedback

* Follow S.O.R.T. guidelines (when giving feedback be Specific, Objective, Respectful, Timely). Start by giving positive feedback at least once a day.

* Always be constructively motivated, i.e., focused on bringing about improvement. Use language such as, “Can I offer a suggestion?”

* Maintain a balanced perspective, offer one or two positives for each improvement opportunity.

* Make it a practice to address a concern at the earliest opportunity (the same day).

* Write out the feedback ensuring that it is not accusatory, but descriptive and specific.(This will help you practice languaging the feedback.)

Let people know you took action (when appropriate).


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Receiving and acting on feedback

* Make it a habit to ask for feedback X times per week

* Listen and take notes when people share their feedback.

* Say “Thank you.”

* Avoid explaining why you did something; instead, ask a question to find out how thisaffected the other person.

* Never respond emotionally (defensively, judgementally, or appreciatively), cut yourself off if you notice this is an automatic response.

* Validate the feedback; never take action based on an initial reaction. Always sort it out before committing to next steps.

* Select one or two practices to support the desired improvements;

Managing time more effectively

Perform a time/task review on a regular basis:

1. Maintain a list of all the tasks you regularly perform and prioritize them monthly by how important they are in terms of providing the greatest value to the organization.

2. Select one or more days and record how your time is spent and compare the results against the importance of the activities (do once a month).

3. Set both short-term (two to three weeks) and long-term (six or more months) goals.

* Allocate 60%-70% of your time to tasks that support those goals, block out time in your calendar to write project plans, conduct meetings on important priorities, do research, etc.

* Develop an action plan to develop others’ capabilities so you can delegate less important activities to them.

4. Delegate tasks to others and keep a running list of these items

“learning is defined as a change in behavior. you haven’t...

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