I absolutely love this article by John Parker, EVP and CIO of A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. which talks about rising the ranks in IT. Why do I love this article? As a management consultant, I find there is frequently a lot of pressure (sometimes client-driven) to always find the one right solution to a problem. The pressure stems partially from the fact that many business schools teach a lot of core theory, and when business practices in the real-world fly in the face of theory ... well there's a lot of pressure for the consultant to say "no" to a client. For example, if a client has a strategy that is a bit muddy in terms of whether they are striving to be a low-cost provider versus one that desires high-touch service, there may be inherent pressure for the consultant to recommend making a stronger choice towards one direction.

In other cases, state-of-the-art business theory may not be so clear. In many cases I have often professed something to the effect that "there are many ways to skin a cat" ... and that ultimately "leadership is what matters most and will help an organization develop the committment and resolve to win." Perhaps this is my catch-all and crutch in the business world for all of you to now know.

In any case, back to John's article ... he writes:

... Become an outstanding leader. It all starts here. There's a big difference between management and leadership. There are a lot of really smart, highly technical managers out of work right now. But for a strong leader with an IT background - particularly with business experience - opportunity not only knocks on the door, it almost rips the hinges off ...

And for my favorite paragraph from the article,

Teams voluntarily follow leaders because of their innate authority, not their formal authority, so figure out how to connect with your team on an emotional level. Be willing to tackle tough problems, make hard calls and accept stretch goals. You and your teams will occasionally fail, so be willing to accept responsibility, recover and learn from your mistakes.

Steve Shu