It's been over a month now since I started my new role as an IT leader. In that time, I've focused on meeting people, learning about the institution and its expectations of IT, and understanding what we do and how we've gone about doing it. It's provided me with key insights when considering both immediate next steps and the overall path forward.
Organizations of all sizes and shapes tend to figure out a way of getting things done and stick with that path, largely out of famiilarity. While this can help to improve the precision of task completion (i.e. the same task is done the same way each time), it also can close the door to different practices and methods. I've long thought that once a group of smart and curious people start really considering their options, they tend to arrive at a new and interesting way to get things done. Getting started with those first rounds of consideration, then, are key.
Like anything else, the leader's role is to motivate others and create the right situation for the team to succeed. This is not an overnight activity - it takes significant time and effort (proportional to the size of the organization) to both communicate a vision and get everyone actively excited about the possibilities of participating in that vision. Moreover, the leader must be consistent in the message and continually find concrete examples that support the vision.
The primary positive effect of this is momentum - the team gets excited about the opportunities to grow and renews its commitment to its mission. You may also find, as I have, that you get excited as well - having these conversations and getting positive responses is motivation to keep working toward creating the situation for continuous improvement and high performance. A motivated group is probably the most important part of what comes next.
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