With some guidance, new managers will thrive. And so will their coworkers. Finding the rare person who can wear a technical, business and management hat is a tough job for the CIO. New managers need training but rarely get it. “Some companies have HR courses or will pay for outside training; but in general it’s hit or miss, not required or not oriented to the [right] issues,” says Rory LaGrotta, a senior IT executive at a major California company who has worked in senior IT spots at companies like GTE and Clorox. LaGrotta, who spoke under the condition her employer remained nameless, advocates assigning “guidance counselors” for new managers. They should be experienced managers from the same field and should be available to answer questions and offer advice. LaGrotta also recommends moving managers frequently between different projects and teams so they get breadth of experience. “It teaches them to work with different types of people, but you will take a hit on productivity as a result,” she warns.Another way to help ease the transition—and minimize risk—is partial job rotation, suggests John Sullivan, chief talent officer at Agilent Technologies. An up-and-coming manager could sit in the CIO’s desk one day a week. If the manager likes it and shows she can handle the job, she’ll move into it when the time comes.The first step into management may be the most painful, but with the right mentor it’s where managers learn the lessons that propel them into leadership. “I remember myself as a cocky technician who thought the world revolved around the technician as opposed to the customer,” says John Lochow, executive vice president of worldwide systems and logistics for Tech Data Corp. in Clearwater, Fla., recalling his first management job. His boss, a second-level manager named Barbara, urged him to develop communication skills if he wanted to get anywhere in his career. He did and has held several executive positions at large companies since. Without Barbara’s help, he’s sure he wouldn’t be a CIO today. “I suspect I would have been a very good technical resource somewhere that people used but only tolerated,” he says. Related content BrandPost How Infosys and Tennis Australia are harnessing technology for good By Veronica Lew Mar 26, 2023 6 mins Infosys BrandPost Retail innovation playbook: Fast, economical transformation on Microsoft Cloud For retailers, tight integration of data and systems is the antidote to a challenging economy. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 24, 2023 3 mins Retail Industry Digital Transformation BrandPost How retailers are empowering business transformation with TCS and Microsoft Cloud AI-powered omnichannel integration and a strong, secure digital core lets retailers innovate across four primary areas while staying compliant, maintaining security and preventing fraud. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 24, 2023 4 mins Retail Industry Cloud Computing BrandPost How to Build ROI from Cloud Migration This whitepaper and webcast can help you calculate the ROI and create a business case for modernizing your legacy applications to the Microsoft Cloud. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 24, 2023 1 min Retail Industry Cloud Computing 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