Developing IT pros into corporate leaders requires a special mix of mentoring, education and executive pressure.


A recent headline in the Wall Street Journal posed a question that caught my eye, as I’m sure it did many of you: “Do Techies Make Good Leaders?”

The article, by Drs. Robert M. Fulmer and Byron Hanson of Duke Corporate Education (the executive-education wing of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business), looks at leadership development practices within high-tech firms, but the key lessons resonate for all firms—and all IT leaders.

My immediate answer to the question: Sometimes.

We’ve all read the stories of the super-talented CIO who’s risen up the ranks to reach the CEO perch. A few of these books document such stories—they’re highly instructional for anyone who aspires beyond IT leadership—but overall, there haven’t been enough examples to make most CIOs think that their title doesn’t really stand for “Career Is Over.”

And on that note, we have that little problem of CIO tenure. According to various studies, the average length of CIO tenure has been rising, but it’s still shorter than most other C-level functions. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen IT leaders exit a company before they’ve reached—or been given a chance to reach—their initial objectives.

All that said, two major points in the article stood out to me. First, leadership development programs flourish when they’re formalized—and included as part of a boss’ performance review. And second, involving executives as “coaches” drives more effective results.

Those seem rather obvious, right? Unfortunately, not enough companies—or their IT leaders—recognize that.

Fulmer and Hanson offer five questions to gauge your leadership development initiatives:

1. Are you having trouble filling critical leadership jobs?
2. Are some of your key people leaving for better opportunities at other companies?
3. Does your corporate culture reward and respect technical expertise more than leadership ability?
4. Is it a struggle to get people to participate in coaching or mentoring programs?
5. Do you believe your ability to groom people for leadership roles is being hampered by the nature of the tech business? (For those not in the tech industry, substitute your industry in this question.)

If you found yourself answering yes, Fulmer and Hanson say it’s time to reevaluate your programs.

Check out the full article (and the full special report, Executive Advisor) for some helpful insights.

And tell us, how do your leadership development programs stack up? What tactics are you finding to be most effective? Sound off in the comments section below.

Back to Workforce News