6 things a new leader must get done in year one

Closing the chapter of my 12 years long previous assignment as Head of IT (HoIT) in retail business, I took up the challenge of leading an IT department in a new company as well as industry. While the Financial sector and Payment environment is not entirely new to me, there are certain challenges every new (IT) Executive within a well-established team and company is facing.

 “Every new assignment should start with the leader to listen and understand his or her new team, role and business. Building trust and relations helps a long way while assessing the skills gap as well as evaluating and rethinking IT portfolio and priorities. Working with your team and establishing clear expectations builds foundations for delivering results. Here are mine six things a new leader must get done in year one”

1.      Find time to listen

 Accepting a new assignment often places a new HoIT into an established team, complex environment, existing or past wrongs, new industry, new challenges … or it all of that at the same time. True enough, a new leader is often hired to bring new approaches, ways of working, expertise in processes, operational excellence or innovative ideas – but to jump into a new position as a big bang, instantly starting to change things might not be the best approach.

 First you need to listen to all stakeholders: your team, your direct reports, colleagues through the whole company and / or group, executive management and external parties like customers, vendors or cooperating public entities. All those can give you invaluable insights about how the IT, the company and their employees are ticking, saying, where are their priorities and expectations. We all really welcome a chance to be listened to, so finding the time to genuinely listening while creating opportunities for open and frank discussion might go a long way here.

More insights can be found in 10 tips for finding time to listen in a new IT Executive role article here on LiN.

2.      Build trust and relations

 Transparency, consistency and trust count among the corner stones of healthy relations. Surely, very few will have confidence in your future agenda if you can not be trusted. Reaching out to non-IT department leaders is a key part of establishing proactive working relations and to be seen as an equal partner. A managerial role is to a large degree about people and relationships, and it’s particularly important for a HoIT to understand that as he or she comes often from technical backgrounds and some people still think it’s a just technical / support role.

 Transparent and consistent decision making might be seen as pure predictability but can go a long way towards building trust with colleagues across the organization and especially own team members. Just talking without acting, making empty promises and not following up on mutual agreements can seriously damage future trust and ultimately the ability to fulfill the HoIT mandate.

3.      Mind the skills gap - now and in the future

HoITs need to have the right kind of people doing the right things in expected quality at the right time, and they have to have the right skills. To ensure that, it is essential to identify skill gaps in individuals and across teams - as soon as possible. Analyzing the gap makes it possible to determine what measures are needed to develop all needed skill sets.

Going beyond the basics - required skills from today might not be the same in a couple of years. As technology is rapidly evolving, so need the technical skills of your Infra, Technology or Development teams. Grads of tomorrow will be fully digital, agile, socially responsible and looking for purpose. To motivate, lead and inspire them requires a whole new set of leadership abilities than we need today for Millennials or even Gen Zs. 

In today's fast-paced and ever-changing world, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to keep up with the latest trends and technologies in your field. One of the most critical factors in this regard is minding the skill gap. Whether you're a recent graduate or a seasoned professional, keeping your skills up to date and relevant is essential to staying competitive in the job market and remaining employable in the future.

More on minding the skill gap in a separate article.

4.      Evaluate and rethink IT portfolio and priorities

 In many cases, there is a disconnect between business needs and priorities and current IT portfolio and projects / initiatives prioritization. There is a difference between urgency and importance, between supporting business goals and current IT portfolio and procedures, between goals and priorities defined in strategy papers and efforts spend in daily business.

Changing priorities for even long-standing initiatives or renaming projects by their business value proposition should be seen as an opportunity to highlight the value those projects have to the business. Being able to identify and focus on most impactful issues and the technical projects / initiatives supporting the most critical business needs can quickly build credibility and demonstrate the value of IT across all organization.

5.      Work with your team and establish clear expectations

 Establishing clear and common understood house keeping rules seems like an easy exercise but is essential for any future success. As new leader in an established team and / or company, you often inherit a team with existing rules, decision making procedures and responsibility / accountability setup. This status should be addressed to avoid any confusion between the leader and the team about what are expectations from both sides. What levels should do what types of decision making, what kinds or information needs to be run by whom, on what KPIs will they be measured.

 Understanding motivation enhancers and inhibitors, different kinds of driving forces, ambitions and future expectations can lay grounds for successful team management and leadership acknowledged by one’s team. Naming a deputy should be a part of early stages decisions to cover several aspects … deputy concept, covering for unexpected events, business continuity plans as well as key member growth and development. Sharing a portion of HoIT responsibilities decreases the risk of operational vs. strategic blindness.

More on establishing clear expectations right here in this article of mine.

6.      Deliver results

 While the opposite might be more wished for, new leaders usually do not have the luxury to spend too long in this get-to-know-everything stage. Sooner or later, they are expected to use internal insights and information as well as their own expertise and experience to deliver results. Every new leader was hired by the Management with some expectations in mind. The more precise they are defined, deliverables and goals refined – the better.

 After the initial time period, decide and agree on a few key themes you are going to pursue and deliver. Communicate them and make sure they are understood in all applicable parts of your organization … and start to deliver.