Empowering the People around You

I don't believe in babysitting unless the people in the room are under the age of 12. Too many leaders feel that they know best and that their answers are the right answers. I have almost 30 years of experience so hopefully I've learned a few things along the way. That doesn't mean I'm always right. It doesn't mean I have all the answers and it certainly doesn't mean that people need to do things my way every time.

I have a very simple management philosophy. It has served me very well and perhaps it may be of value to you as well. Recruit and hire talented people with great attitudes. Work with them to understand what your vision of success looks like and what needs to get accomplished. Provide them the tools, resources, and support they need to accomplish the objectives. Then—and this is the most important part—get the heck out of their way.

I have seen many leaders who take great pride in the fact that they have to bring their laptops with them on vacation because the team could never survive without them. They wear this as a badge of honor to show how important they are. I view this as an incredible sign of poor management. You hear a lot about the CIO having to develop business relationships and work with key constituents. How do you suppose a CIO is able to do that if she is spending all of her time worrying about keeping things running?

I have a very talented team. They know their jobs better than I do (by the way, if the CIO is the most technically ...

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