Strategy

I’ve learned that as a leader you must always look to establish, build, and repair relationships. We never know when the moment will present itself, but we must always be ready, and take advantage of those wonderful opportunities!

When this is all over and we're cleaning the dust from our desks, let's remember to not sink into our old comfort zone. Let's ask ourselves now, how are our adaptations going to influence the ways that we lead our teams and lead up to our leaders? How do we hold on to our heightened sense of empathy to springboard our relationship management? Most importantly, what changes should we lead so that we are better prepared for next time? In fact, what changes can we start putting into place now?

After the first MOR session, with help from Peggy at our follow up coaching session, I set my goals and action items. One of my action items is shifting to intentional response to urgent matters. In order to apply that in my practice, I stopped taking phone calls when I am having a one-on-one. Even though I am not meeting my direct reports in person during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are plenty of distractions on my computer screen.

I’m going to join in with Libby and share my reflection on the same topic: leadership in the midst of crisis. I agree with Libby’s point about the difficulties we’re all dealing with, and the gaps and vulnerabilities that may have exposed in IT architecture. We’re certainly not alone in that (I’m looking at you, Zoom). Like Libby, I’ve also been thinking of the leadership principles we’ve discussed, and how increasingly relevant they’ve become during this crisis. One topic in particular keeps coming up for me: managing stress.

I’ve struggled over the last few days to think about what seemed valuable to reflect upon. (There are soooo many things!) Even though we’re all going through this pandemic together, each of us have and/or are having very different experiences, and those experiences are shaping how we respond to all things that are rapidly evolving, sometimes on a daily basis.

As I write this I hope that you and all your families are safe and well during this worldwide pandemic.  Many of us are now sheltering in place, working from home, and helping our institutions successfully do distance learning.  This is something most of our schools have never done before.  It’s a challenge, but we as IT leaders are an integral part of its success.