Managing & Developing Your Employees

Howard Dean tells the story of an instructor on his staff that had been explaining leadership to a class of police recruits. Calling a man to the front of the class, he handed him a piece of paper on which was written: "You are in charge. Get everyone out of the room without causing a panic." The recruit was at a loss for words and returned to his seat. The second man summoned tried: "Everybody outside. Go!" No one moved. A third man (when given the chance) glanced at the instructions, smiled, and said: "All right, men. Break for lunch." The room emptied in seconds.

Sports franchises, sales teams, and IT Departments all desire to assemble the best set of talent possible. How does one assemble such talent? Much like the story in the introduction, the best “talent” is creative and successful. And if you assemble such talent, how do you ensure that you develop them? Many sports franchises have assembled talented teams only to see a less-talented team take the title. And if you develop them, how do you retain them?

I would like to take a stab at answering these questions. For I believe that the key to managing and developing your “team” as a CIO, is to embrace three inviolable (or sacrosanct if you prefer) principles:
o Don’t settle when hiring employees
o Never stop coaching employees
o Do everything you can to retain great employees

Let us consider each of these inviolable principles.

TO BE CONTINUED