Lessons in IT Transformation: Technology Expert to Business Leader

Being Authentic

Early in my career I became fascinated with leadership. I developed a mental picture of what a great leader looked and sounded like. I envisioned a leader requiring the communication skills of Martin Luther King Jr., the motivational skills of Knute Rockne, the toughness of George Patton, and the human touch of Mother Teresa. Needless to say, with this as a benchmark I became quite concerned about my ability to ever aspire to a leadership position. Early on, I also tried to find great leaders I respected and tried to emulate them. I quickly learned that this approach was an unmitigated disaster! The truth is that I was not born with the looks and grace of President John Kennedy, the intellect of Albert Einstein, or the comedic genius of Robin Williams. However, I was fortunate enough to have a couple of decent qualities that I worked hard to fine-tune. What I quickly learned was that for me to be effective as a leader of people, I had to be . . . well . . . me! However I also learned that while I had to be myself, I had to be my best self!

Perhaps one of my earliest recollections of acting like a leader came when I was 15 years old. I had always loved music and had taken some basic lessons on how to play the guitar. I was born with a fairly good singing voice and, coupled with my new prowess (loosely speaking) on the guitar, I joined my first band—Psychotic Urge! I was in the band about four months and realized that we were going nowhere! The drummer was the leader ...