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June 17, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM U.S./ET (GMT-4)
Larry Bonfante, CIO of the U.S. Tennis Association, will discuss the skills and approaches that your rising IT leaders must learn to be effective in an executive capacity.
How to Handle Your New CEO: Managing Turnover at the Top
June 18, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM U.S./Eastern (GMT-4)
Turbulent times have increased turnover at the top. Find out what Council CIOs have done to "break in" new CEOs—build relationships, set expectations, educate on the role of IT.
Mid-Market CIO Panel: Tips and Techniques for Improving Vendor Relationships
July 15, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM U.S./Eastern (GMT-4)
We'll highlight relationship priorities and best practices identified in a Council study, and we'll interact with a CIO panel on the approaches they've used to improve strategic vendor partnerships.
Executive Competencies Assessment Tool
Assess Your Business Leadership Skills with the Council's new benchmarking tool. Rate yourself in change leadership, strategy, customer focus and more.
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August 15, 2005 — CIO —
Frequently in this column, I have voiced my concerns about the disappearing science, technology, engineering and math skills that the American workforce needs in order to be productive in the 21st-century economy.
A 2004 report from the National Commission on Writing suggests that writing skills should be added to that critical skill set. The commission, which reports annually to Congress on the proficiency of writing in America, partnered with Business Roundtable to produce its second report, "Writing: A Ticket to Work...Or a Ticket Out," about a year ago, and it has just released a similar report for the government.
The findings of these reports are as follows:
What is "writing" in terms of 21st-century American business? Formal reports, memos, letters and technical reports would come to the top of most lists. But in this electronics-dominated world of ours, the commission reports rank e-mail as the number-one form of writing in America, followed closely by presentation/ visual writing.
One respondent to the "Ticket to Work" report wrote, "We’re inundated daily with e-mail, and people have to learn to think in ’core points.’ We need presentation skills on the same basis. Most of us have experienced ’death by PowerPoint.’" And often, I find, by the dreaded "reply to all" button!
What’s the writing proficiency of the American workforce? Approximately 34 percent of businesses claim that less than a third of their current workforce has adequate writing skills.
If you would like a copy of the report, write me a short note!