Teaching Johnny How to Lead - Friday, December 05 2008
Summary - It’s easy to talk about developing leaders. Turning that talk into action is hard. Here’s how you can do it. Compared with number five, the other items on a typical CIO’s to-do list are easy. But turn Johnny - who’s a terrific programmer but also a guy who mumbles, forgets to say hello to his coworkers and has only the vaguest notion of what the company actually does - into a leader? Now that’s a tough one.
Can leadership be learned? Can it be taught? And is it important enough for busy IT managers to place high on their list of priorities?
Apparently, the answers are yes, yes and you betcha. In a recent CIO Web site survey of more than 300 information executives, 78 percent said that inculcating leadership in their staffs was their most important job. Sadly, more than half of those who recognized its importance said they didn’t spend enough time on it.
Summary - It’s easy to talk about developing leaders. Turning that talk into action is hard. Here’s how you can do it.