Lessons in Leadership

The second cohort of the UCIT Leadership Academy is currently in session. 21 members of the IT@UC community have been selected to participate in this academy, which will cover topics such as servant leadership, transitions management, service management, diversity & inclusion, etc.

One of the participants, Greg Lloyd, agreed to share his hopes and expectations for the leadership academy. As a computer systems administrator team lead, he is responsible for maintaining enterprise applications that are critical to the University. In the team lead position; he is responsible for a team of four. He enjoys working and learning with people as well as implementing new technologies. The following reflection is his experience of leadership, he notes the strengths and accomplishments of his mentors and shares the goals he is working towards in order to become a great leader himself.

I am looking to learn what truly makes a great leader a great leader. I have noticed that great leaders know how to properly facilitate communication. They are able to handle different personalities and facilitate proper communication between the two. This is extremely important, because with an organization of 180 full-time Information Technology employees, there are a lot of unique personalities. Some people are very shy and would prefer not to leave their workspace all day. At the same time, another person in the organization prefers constantly working with others in open-area workspaces. When leaders facilitate conversation, they are also able to defuse tension and bring both parties back to level ground.

I would like to learn how to create a proper work and personal life balance. Great leaders seem to be highly dedicated individuals who spend a lot of time with their employees. I am interested in how to properly separate my work life from my personal life without negatively impacting either.

That leads to the question: “How close do great leaders become with their employees”? From the outside looking in, it seems that leaders would like to know basics about their employees but not a lot more. I would imagine when tough decisions, such as layoffs, are involved, you do not want emotions to play a factor in the decision making process. This leads to an even larger question: “How do you leave emotion out of making overall business decisions”? For example, when you are deciding on contract bids and you know it is a make or break bid for a company, even though the bid for that company is not as good as others, how do you ensure the correct company is chosen for the job.

The biggest lessons I hope to learn are those previously learned by other leaders. I love listening to leaders discuss past situations they were in and how they met the challenge: whether they succeeded or failed. I also look forward to hearing their reflection; would they have done something differently knowing what they know now? This will help me gain perspective on business decisions and help me make more informed decisions when I am challenged. It will help me look at situations from perspectives I may not have initially thought of. I do, however, believe that lessons learned only go so far. You have to make your own mistakes and be able to identify and learn from them.

I look forward to learning how leaders properly motivate their employees to do great work. I hope to learn motivational strategies that will encourage my employees to be creative and produce the best possible work. This will also hinge on my ability to read people and understand what truly motivates them. I have already learned that ‘one-size fits all’ is not the case when it comes to employee motivation.

I am also curious what the number one value a great leader looks for within their employees during the hiring process. I expect leaders to have a different opinion on this subject, but I imagine a majority of leaders would say honesty is the number one value they look for. If this is truly the case, how do great leaders recognize honesty from one or two interviews? I am curious of the process of building trust with employees. Is it better to build trust with employees, which will lead to honesty, or vise versa? That being said, how do leaders build trust with their employees?

I hate having to give people bad news, especially people who rely on me. I do not think that it is an easy process for any leader, but how do leaders handle having the tough conversations, such as layoffs or other setbacks? How do they prepare themselves to have the conversation and still show strength and leadership when circumstances make that difficult? From my perspective, it seems like something all leaders have to do but likely hate.

M E Clarke Consulting thanks Greg Lloyd for taking the time to capture what he hopes to learn at the Leadership Academy. Please share your responses to Greg’s thoughtful questions!