George H.W. Bush (a.k.a. the president’s father) is a content man, happy to watch his grandchildren grow and his sons try to quell political firestorms (besides his namesake the president, son Jeb is Florida’s Republican governor). So when addressing 1,000 attendees at the recent GigaWorld IT Forum in Las Vegas, the elder Bush wasn’t afraid to acknowledge he knows little about IT.“I didn’t understand a word,” Bush said?to great laughter?describing his meeting with analysts from Giga Information Group, which sponsored the event. “The subject at hand is e-business, and I’m no expert. I just learned how to forward Monica Lewinsky jokes to someone else.”The former president did assert that he knows something about leadership and managing projects. Speaking in his familiar lilt, Bush emphasized important phrases like “mission creep.” His advice sounded familiar too: Hire quality people. Define your mission. And stick to it. Bush said he took this tack with his White House decisions concerning Panama, Kuwait and Somalia, but he stressed that the lessons apply in the halls of business. “Strong leaders are not afraid to surround themselves with a team that’s not afraid to tell them the truth,” Bush said. Leaders in any organization are successful when they inspire a commitment to excellence for every member of the team, he added. Related content Opinion 5 hard questions every IT leader must answer Strong leadership is vital to IT success — and shouldn’t be taken for granted. Continual self-reflection is essential for knowing whether it’s time to restructure your approach to leading IT. By Thornton May Mar 28, 2023 5 mins Business IT Alignment IT Leadership Feature CIOs address the impact of hybrid work Assessing how some of the most progressive CIOs strive to provide both technological and emotional support for a dispersed workforce. By Pat Brans Mar 28, 2023 8 mins CIO Remote Work Employee Experience BrandPost Smart UPS Connectivity: what it is and why you need it By Veronica Lew Mar 27, 2023 4 mins Remote Access BrandPost Huawei’s F5G rollout plan signals new wave of green technology and digital transformation At MWC, Gu Yunbo, President of Huawei’s Enterprise Optical Business Domain, sat down with CIO to discuss a raft of new F5G launches, and what they mean for enterprise computing. By Peter Kirwan Mar 27, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe