CIOs on Leadership Development

Start Early Randy Mott, CIO, Dell

CIOs need to develop their employees’ business and leadership skills right out of college, not 10 years down the road. Also, IT leaders should move staffers to new areas regularly so that they are challenged and energized. He admits, “I’ve been guilty of not rotating people in the past.”

Study Chemistry Steve Matheys, CIO, Schneider National

Underestimating the chemistry of a team can be critical. “So when thinking about building talent, you have to find talented individuals [who are] capable of working well on teams.”

Mind Your Mentoring Tim Stanley, CIO, Harrah’s Entertainment

If you’re going to implement a mentoring program, you’d better do it well. Stanley began one for IT junior staffers about a year and a half ago, but it’s now on hold. “We didn’t think we had a system in place to make it work well or the time for the mentor and mentee built in or the best approach to selecting people.”

R-e-s-p-e-c-t Wei-Tih Cheng, CIO, Aetna

Treat your staff with dignity. “I believe the fundamental Golden Rule applies very well to leadership training: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

Seek Out and Challenge Paul Donovan, CIO, ING U.S.

Institute a method of identifying high-potential leaders. “Those leaders typically will be leaders someplace else—if they’re not being challenged here, then there’s the potential to lose them to another company.”

Push the Envelope—With Diplomacy John Carrow, CIO, Unisys “I think the major lesson is to stretch people beyond what they think they can do and take some risk in terms of what you allow them to do. Give them the opportunity to make a mistake.” Carrow also preaches caution when identifying future leaders. “There are obviously a lot more not identified, so you have to be careful you don’t disrupt the rest of the workforce.”