Category: IT Leadership

As you know, we are increasing our focus on cybersecurity. If we need to be reminded why this is important, we can look at the University of Michigan. They started class this semester with their network cut off from the internet and none of their enterprise systems available to staff, faculty, or students.  On October […]

IT Leaders, We’d all like to think that leadership is easy, you just adopt the behaviors that Zapp! and most other books tell you to. Unfortunately, as in life, it’s not so easy. This part of the book focuses more on the how rather than the what.  We all have lots of issues that compete for our […]

Let’s continue to dig into Zapp!, a book that focuses on the importance of empowerment in the workplace and the negative consequences of a disempowering management style. The next case study illustrates common problems that develop as a result of an employee’s lack of empowerment. Author William C. Byham uses the term “Zapp” to describe empowerment, […]

I would like to give you my thoughts on a book that explores the concept of empowerment in the workplace and provides practical strategies for creating a more engaging and productive work environment. The book, written by William Byham, is called Zapp! and It’s old. I would characterize it as written at a comic book […]

Even though Good to Great is over 20 years old and many of the companies profiled have fallen from greatness, I hope that you have caught some of my enthusiasm for the concepts. I think the major challenge that we face in applying these concepts is that they were written from the perspective of a […]

A Culture of Discipline I touched on this in part 1 but I think it is so important that I want to discuss it in more depth. In Good to Great, author Jim Collins explores the concept of disciplined thought and action. He believes that great companies have a culture of discipline that is embedded […]

First Who, Then What The chapter “First Who, Then What” from Good to Great focuses on the importance of hiring the right people before developing a business strategy. Jim Collins, the author, argues that companies that prioritize hiring the right people, and then focus on getting them into the right roles, are more likely to […]

Good to Great by Jim Collins is another book that has influenced my approach to leadership. It explores why some companies are able to achieve sustained greatness over time while others fail to do so. The research led to the identification of a set of characteristics and behaviors that distinguish great companies from their good […]

Changing behaviors, such as using different leadership styles or building our emotional intelligence, takes time and effort. The boost we get from attending a leadership class has a short half-life. As we come back to our normal responsibilities, those important lessons fall by the wayside and may never make it into our default behaviors. Research […]

In Primal Leadership, Goleman et. al. describes six leadership styles. I have found this to be a good categorization. You can use others, but there are two important points about using leadership styles that are really helpful. The first point is that you should use the “resonant” leadership styles the most frequently, as they are […]