Letter to an aspiring IT Leader

I think it’s appropriate to start the new Tao of IT blog with something not CIO-related, at least not as directly as I have been writing so far in the former CIO Assistant’s Blog. The subject touches on the Leadership question but from a perspective of a young IT manager in search of fame and success in an IT organization. This is based on a true story and the post title is inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s "Letters to a Young Poet" which I have written about in an earlier post. It began with a leadership question from a young IT manager (let’s call him Dan) who just joined the company I worked for (let’s call it MyCompany). He wrote to me because we both were of the visible minority (i.e. asians in a north american company where a high-level posiiton by an asian was let’s say "unusual"). In fact, there were two questions:

"What does it take to become a Vice-president at MyCompany?"

"What are the challenges and/or obstacles that you have faced in your success of becoming a Vice-president?"

Here was the first part of my reply to him:

"Hi Dan, It’s my pleasure to provide answers to your questions on Leadership. It’s a subject close to my heart and I do share my views freely with those who have an interest. But before answering your questions, I would like to make some observations about the way the questions are framed: – Attaining the VP position at MyCompany doesn’t mean that you are a true leader, or vice versa, not attaining the position doesn’t necessarily mean that you are not a leader or do not possess "leadership material". – Likewise, becoming a VP may or may not be the ultimate goal. So yes, you can talk about "success" in the former case but it becomes less relevant in the latter. [to be continued]"

I select this episode to highlight the fact that most young people, IT people included, associate success at the workplace with high-ranking positions. The way that Dan phrased the first question was interesting in itself. He didn’t ask in a generic way "How can someone become a VP?" He didn’t ask neither in a prescriptive way "What are the critical sucess factors of becoming a VP?". Instead, he asked in the most direct way possible "What does it take …?" The question almost hinted at a pat yet fully expected answer: "Whatever it takes." I wonder if today’s aspiring IT leaders pose similar questions about Success? Or do they become less and less interested in the rat race to the top? What would be your answers to Dan’s questions? [Update] Part 2 and Part 3 are now available.

Related Posts:

1. CIO: How Do You Stay Relevant to Business?
2. Letter to an aspiring IT Leader – Part 2
3. Letter to an aspiring IT Leader – Part 3

 

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Letter to an aspiring IT Leader – Part 2