From Donald Welch, NYU's VP for Information Technology and Global University CIO
Bi-weekly email send to IT leaders and key partners across NYU
Since the end of September, I’ve been writing to you about The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, based on Patrick Lencioni’s book. Today, I’d like to look at the fourth dysfunction: failure to hold each other accountable. Holding our peers accountable is not easy. Most of us don’t like confrontation and giving negative feedback. In […]
Continuing to look at the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, I’d like to discuss the third dysfunction of a team: lack of commitment. Lack of commitment is a little less obvious. One of the ways this dysfunction manifests itself is through ambiguity and a lack of clarity. You might notice this type of dysfunction when […]
I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled notes on the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team for some thoughts on communicating. As I’ve said many times, leadership is both art and science. Today is science. When we communicate we have to know our audience and tailor our message to the audience. We have to be careful of jargon […]
Continuing my notes on the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team ~ the second dysfunction is fear of conflict. Teamwork is the key to our success. In our world, we need teams to accomplish anything of significance. Very few of us enjoy conflict, but the right kind of conflict is necessary for a team to thrive. […]
IT Leaders, A very popular book about leadership is The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, written by Lencioni and Stransky. If you haven’t read it, I think it is one of the best leadership books currently out there. It is also short. It really could be just an article. Over the next […]
Classes are in full swing, the University is alive with students and faculty, and many of us have been figuring out over the past couple of weeks how to get back into the rhythm of being in the office for three days a week (to those of you who have been in the office all […]
A new semester is a chance to think about what lies ahead, get organized, and commit to what you want to accomplish. Remember, we all have two critical functions ~ leadership and management. Strategic planning, defining tasks, and marshaling resources are critical to accomplishing our goals. Remember to be agile and adaptable. No plan survives […]
Traditionally, IT’s primary focus has been system stability and reliability—if we don’t keep things running, then the entire University suffers. However, one of the by-products of a technology-powered world is an abundance of data that can be analyzed to better understand how we can improve our services and evolve the IT landscape at NYU. As […]
I’ve been at NYU for nine months. In some ways it feels longer, and in others not very long at all. As we look forward to the next academic year, I’d like to share my priorities. Please note that these are not SMART goals by design. At this point, specific and measurable goals would be […]
John Maxwell defines a leadership framework with five levels (Five Levels of Leadership). The first or lowest level is Position and relies on the authority your position provides. I have always felt that I had failed as a leader when I resorted to my authority. He says that for many, leadership evolutions stops at level […]