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IT Management Slideshow:
Leadership Realities You Won't Learn in Management School

By Dennis McCafferty on 2010-11-18


Whether you went to management school or not, there are many “truths” about leadership that rarely are discussed in the classroom, according to the book, Management? It's Not What You Think! (Amacom/Available now). Authors Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand and Joseph Lampel deliver hundreds of “leadership realities” that are often overlooked or undervalued in organizations these days. Whether it's the technology you depend upon, how you deliver information or the ways in which you adapt IT solutions/systems for your enterprise, it's important to know that much of what you accept as a “given” when it comes to management practices may actually be, well, wrong. The book challenges CIOs and other executives to ask tough questions. Example: can you tell the difference between effective strategic planning and planning that amounts to nothing more than time-consuming “nonsense”? Mintzberg is a professor of management studies at McGill University. Ahlstrand is a professor of management at Trent University, and Lampel is a professor of strategy at City University London. Here are selected highlights:

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All managers have flaws.


Leaders who can win over employees, superiors or customers despite their failings are the ones who succeed. First step: Identify your own faults to minimize negative impact.

Your best information is not always the result of a systemic, data-driven process.


Face-to-face conversations, phone chats, e-mail/text exchanges all provide insight needed to supplement data.

Great managers do not always have everything “under control.”


Even so, they don't fear unanticipated change, nor do they allow themselves to get rattled by it.

You don’t need a clear understanding of everything your employees do.


Jack Welch once joked, “If you're not confused, you don't know what's going on.” It's more important to know that your staffers can take ownership of their individual tasks.

Don't “present” information. Deliver it.


Long presentations, marathon conferences and the like are a time-consuming crutch. Streamline information delivery whenever possible.

You don't have to be “supreme leader.”


There are no “single leaders” really. There's only leadership. Cultivate this quality within your IT teams.

Education isn't everything.


There are all kinds of reasons why a prospective employee didn't graduate from the best college – or graduate at all. Remember, Bill Gates, Mike Dell and Steve Jobs all dropped out.

Don't populate your office with superstars.


Superstars have value. So do the middle-of-packers who are ready/willing to take on the grunt work that the stars avoid.

Talladega Nights got it wrong: If you ain't first, you're not necessarily last.


You sure don't want to be “first” to pilot a system upgrade that fails, do you? Best to adapt tools that have a proven track record.

Work and private life needn't be entirely separate.


When a senior manager and team members interact and share off-work experiences, it builds bonds that can lead to better quality of work.

Minimize your maxims.


God only needed 10. You're better off with seven if you want them to stick.

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