Four secrets to becoming a rising IT star

by Diann Daniel

April 30, 2008 —

Success is not easy or simple. Even in the best of times, workplaces are fraught
with changing conditions, political jockeying and limited room for advancement.
And these are not the best times.

Yet some IT staff manage to get noticed-and in all the right ways. What are
the secrets of their success? How do some IT leaders manage to shine?

Beyond the basics-energy, enthusiasm, passion for the work-four important behaviors
can help catapult you to success, say CIOs and executive recruiters.

Be good to your end users.

First things first: If you want to get ahead, don't make people feel stupid.
This advice can be especially important for IT folks, whose technical expertise
can create a danger of doing just that.

"People outside of IT won't necessarily understand tech speak, so you
need to present information in a manner so they understand technology and what
it provides to the company," says John Murphy, CIO of Hard Rock Hotel &
Casino in Biloxi, Miss. Murphy's ability to do so has helped him in the executive
suite with other C-level colleagues. "I've been able to translate technical
information to them in the manner they can understand and assimilate and in
a way that shows the benefits to the big picture," he says.

Thinking hard about how to help someone else understand what you're saying
may seem obvious for important presentations; doing it day in and day out may
prove more challenging. But don't dismiss those small, cumulative interactions.
"You develop an opinion about people over time," says Gerard McNamara,
Managing Partner at Heidrick and Struggles, an executive recruitment firm. In
those daily interactions lie many opportunities for you to distinguish yourself
by your energy, enthusiasm, and likability. This way, when a more senior job
opens up, the support to put you in the position is there-not just from your
boss, but also from other senior leaders. "We're all human," says
McNamara. "People pick people they like."

To make sure your likability quotient is high, focus on being open-minded,
says Randy Jackson, CIO of the city of Surprise, Ariz. Make it a point to listen
when others are speaking. "Don't place an assumption on the table when
you're trying to figure out a problem." Really listen to what someone is
saying and process what you're hearing. Doing so conveys respect, and you also
are likely to develop solutions you wouldn't have otherwise.

End-user problems-large and small-are opportunities to build relationships
that can advance your career, says the Hard Rock's Murphy. It's all in how you
handle those situations that makes the difference. "Don't make an end user
feel dumb for not understanding; make them feel good about coming to you and
asking what the problem is."

Go beyond the walls of IT and learn the business.

IT leaders who want to move up must become business-savvy. Not just so you
can talk the talk. Without understanding business users' work lives, it's impossible
to deliver optimum technology solutions.

Marc Probst, CIO of Intermountain Healthcare, credits much of his own success
with understanding how IT fits into his end users' work processes. He says that
IT staff who want to climb the ladder must also "become intricately involved
in other areas of the business." To get intimate knowledge of nurses' and
doctors' challenges and how IT can solve them, he meets with the medical staff
every week, even accompanying them on rounds. He also makes it a point to educate
them on the technology. His philosophy on the subject to his staff is clear:
Get involved with business users. "Go door to door," he says. "Meet
with them and their teams."

Jackson also considers such advice crucial. "IT affects every department
within city government, so we need to understand how those departments work
and how best to deliver tech service that meets their needs." He says he
wants his team to "give the customer some tool they may not even have thought
of, that they can look at it and say, Wow, I'm glad we came to you." That's
only possible, he says, if you understand how other groups are run and the challenges
they face. Developing such a rapport also helps discourage the tendency of business
users to create a shadow IT department. "If you don't solve their problems
with good solutions, they will go around you," he says.

Understand the organization's structure and goals.

If you want to move up the ladder of success, you need to create strategic
IT. To do that, you need to know what top management values. "Every company
has a culture," says McNamara. "And those cultures reward different
things."

Key to moving ahead is knowing what to prioritize. This means, for example,
knowing which projects to volunteer for and how to promote them to those above
you. "Knowing what the business defines as valuable is increasingly important
the higher up you go," says Murphy. "So you've got to understand goals,
and how IT can be used to achieve those goals." He recommends not just
looking for ways IT can create value but also being responsive when opportunities
present themselves.

One place where this comes into play is the IT budget. "Managing IT like
a P&L is key to moving up," says Probst. IT should be adding value
and helping differentiate the business. However, that's not possible if an IT
leader's goal is simply saving money. Build into that budget what you need to
do to create value. "Of my direct reports, 80 percent do that," says
Probst.

Build trust with your boss.

Trust is the glue that binds relationships together inside and outside of work.
Without it, moving up is virtually impossible. And honest communication is a
huge part of building trust with your manager. Share the good news-and the bad.

Avoid the temptation to sweep bad news about a project or assignment under
the rug. You may think you're sparing your boss. But Probst and other CIOs say
it's better to overshare than to undershare. The trick lies in knowing when
and where to share information.

Probst says to sit down and talk to your manager about how to communicate when
problems come up. "I don't like when information feels filtered, like something
is being hidden. That will slow you down real fast," says Probst. "I
want to know what's going on."

Murphy agrees with Probst's take. "I'd better know before my CEO calls
me and tells me what's wrong," he says. "The last thing anybody wants
is to be broadsided."

Information sharing, when it comes right down to it, translates to respect.
"I think that it's very important to use chain of command in place and
not circumvent your manager. It's his or her job to make you look better to
the organization. And if you don't have that kind of trust you should look for
someone you could have that with," says Murphy.

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