A featured contribution from Leadership Perspectives, a curated forum for enterprise technology leaders, nominated by our subscribers and vetted by the CIOApplications Editorial Board.

Florida State University

Culture Is The Key To Technology Leadership

Whether you realize it or not, we are living through a renaissance of technology leadership. The unique challenges faced during the pandemic birthed renewed support for our technology investments required to solve the most complex problems across the enterprise. Organizations shifted from questioning purchases within our portfolios to asking how quickly a solution could be implemented to meet the business needs. As the workloads increased, so too did the need to motivate teams and avoid individuals from the proverbial burnout. While many leaders experienced this sudden shift over the course of the pandemic, very few took the time to develop a leadership style focused on culture, which is required to ensure organizational success.

So how do you go about focusing more on culture? What are some simple steps you can take as a leader to motivate others and create meaningful change? As someone who has spent over 20 years leading diverse technology teams, I wanted to share some simple tips you can use to create a better culture in record time. The following examples are not just easy to understand but things you can start doing today.

Tip #1: Thankfully Start Your Day

One of the most important aspects of changing your current culture and motivating your teams is to recognize the behaviors you want to see more of each day. I often cite this well-known phrase, “Behaviors that get recognized get repeated.” The first part of your workday should always start with sending one individual recognition to a person in your organization. It does not have to be a long-worded email or handwritten novel of appreciation. Focus on a few sentences specific to the behaviors you see and would like to see more of in others.

This could be how they spoke up in a meeting, something about their day-to-day job that makes a difference, or even a design they implemented to improve a process. Give thanks and be clear about how the behaviors demonstrated a positive outcome. This small step will begin to cascade and create a culture of recognizing and repeating positive behaviors that matter. It will also force you to begin each day thinking of others over yourself.

Tip #2: Be Positive &Authentic

A shortfall I often see in both new and experienced leaders is their inability to be themselves while also setting the right tone for the organization. Many leaders mimic a person from a book or lead like a colleague they admire down the hall. People in your organization see through the façade if you are not genuine or have ulterior motives. The simple tip here is to be the best of yourself in every situation. Always be intentional about demonstrating the best of who you are. In every interaction, from emails you send to the opening or closing remarks at a meeting, you demonstrate both who you are and what truly matters in the workplace. Simply put, to create a great culture, you must focus on being a positive and authentic leader.

To create a culture where you and your teams can thrive, especially in today’s new environment, you must begin to implement these ideas within your daily leadership practice


Tip #3: Build Accountability

My last piece of advice is to get accountable for the changes you want to make. These changes could be some of the suggestions I have mentioned, or other opportunities for growth you know are important to your specific situation. Those we work around should help us become greater today than we were yesterday. Look for ways to help others hold you and themselves to a higher standard. A wonderful example of this in my career involved a team who displayed a sign on their doors and office spaces. The sign simply read:

[Team Name]
Where we believe the best IN each other
Where we want the best FOR each other
Where we expect the best FROM each other

Teams often associate accountability with disciplinary type action. Yet, accountability viewed through this type of lens becomes a tool to make everyone better. This is where leaders must change the narrative. Begin to introduce a better concept of accountability within your leadership, and you will soon see an organization focused on success.

To create a culture where you and your teams can thrive, especially in today’s new environment, you must begin to implement these ideas within your daily leadership practice. The three examples above are obviously not difficult to understand, but they do require you to lead by example. Changing culture as an IT leader is not easy, but it begins with you. Start today and begin to realize the benefits and positive impact on culture in the months and years to come.

The articles from these contributors are based on their personal expertise and viewpoints, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of their employers or affiliated organizations.