8 skills you need to be a successful IT executive
The skills that helped you become an IT pro and climb the ladder aren't the same skills you need to succeed in the c-suite.
The skills that helped you become an IT pro and climb the ladder aren't the same skills you need to succeed in the c-suite.
If you follow the news you can find a litany of examples of poor leadership. People are distrustful or cynical of today's leadership and many times with good reason. That's why being an authentic leader is so important.
If you follow the news you can find a litany of examples of poor leadership. People are distrustful or cynical of today's leadership and many times with good reason. That's why being an authentic leader is so important. Getting all your people onboard and moving in the same direction is paramount to success in the fast-paced environment of IT.
Even some of the most talented IT professionals have found themselves the victim of a downsizing or reorganization. You can never feel too safe regardless of how stable the environment seems. If you find yourself in your worst-case scenario, these tips will help you work your way out of it.
Deciding whether to train and promote your current staff or bring in new blood is a choice many IT leaders face on a regular basis. The best decision, of course, depends on many variables. The first step is answering these six questions.
There is an old business adage attributed to Peter Drucker that says: "You can't manage what you don't measure." This means if you don't have real metrics in place and you aren't measuring performance, you'll never know whether you're doing better or worse. This adage is relative to many of things we do in IT and careers, because if you don't know where you are going, then you won't know the skills necessary to get you there.
To be a leader and manager you need to have a solid understanding of things such as project management, organizational skills, managing employees and monitoring their performance, but even masters of these skills aren't necessarily transformational leaders. These skills are simply the foundation on which a transformational leader is most effective.
In a recent TekSystems survey, 1,500 IT leaders and 2,400 IT pros were polled on the importance of onboarding. When IT leaders were asked about onboarding's importance, the majority agreed that it's necessary but that many aren't doing it well.
Millennials aren't so different. That isn't to say that they don't come from a different place than previous generations and that there aren't significant differences in their perspective, but when you get down to the core principles of what millennials want in the workplace, they want what any good employee would want from his or her employer.
Gamification is the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to solve problems and engage users, according to Gabe Zichermann, author of the upcoming book "The Gamification Revolution" and founder of Dopamine, a consulting agency focused on gamified campaigns for employees and consumers.
Whether you work in IT or any competitive field, a résumé that doesn't quickly illustrate who you are, what you do and why an employer needs you will be summarily dismissed.
Competition in the tech jobs industry is fierce, so how do you differentiate yourself from the pack? Whether you're a job seeker or just looking to grow professionally, creating an impressive and meaningful brand is the best place to start.
Healthcare IT is becoming one of the fastest growing areas in the job market as health service providers rush to get compliant and adopt new technologies.
Finding and retaining top talent is a never-ending battle in a market as competitive as IT, which according to BLS stats boasts a 3.5 percent unemployment rate compared to the national average of 7.5 percent. A well-planned recruitment and retention program is the difference between success and failure. "Always be recruiting," says Ron Lichty, co-author of Managing the Unmanageable, "We consider recruiting and hiring to be the most important tasks a manager has."
Recognizing where you fall short in your management style and then developing a plan to strengthen those areas can mean the difference between being a boss and being a leader. It can also make a difference in how far you advance in your IT management career.