Management

Four Secrets to Leading a Team

Expert counsels CIOs to apply these strategies to inspire others.

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Amy has worked on StateTech since May 2007. As managing editor, she shapes editorial content for print and online. Before that, she spent 10 years at Network World as senior managing editor of features and managing editor of features. Amy began her IT publishing career at PC Week. While out of the office, she enjoys traveling and rooting for the Red Sox.

IT executives seeking to inspire their teams should take a page from Paul Vitale’s playbook.

“It’s not where you’ve been and what you’ve traveled through; it’s where you’re going and how many lives you’ll touch along the way,” Vitale recently told attendees at the NASCIO 2013 Midyear Conference. Being inspired is a matter of choice and perspective.

Vitale shared his four leadership strategies:

Dare to dream courageously.

Dreaming means envisioning what may become. “Throughout history, every organization and social movement grew from the seed of a dream,” Vitale said. “We achieve to the degree that we overcome the negative,” he said about the value of optimism, which he defines as sharing a belief that things will turn out well.

Establish a course of action.

To set a dream or idea into motion, a leader must be very clear about the course of action. Are you satisfied with how you’re spending your time?

Vitale showed the video of Jason Mcelwain, an autistic basketball team manager. Coach Johnson gave Mcelwain the chance to suit up for the last game of the season. Entering the game with only four minutes to go, Mcelwain scored an amazing 20 points. “When Jason’s name was called, he was ready,” Vitale said.

Empower others to imagine.

“Leaders are learners who welcome collaboration, teamwork and ideas from others,” Vitale said. Allowing others to share their ideas with the team fosters a sense of ownership.

Sharing an example of the power of one, Vitale described a time when one individual at the airport chose to stand and applaud veterans. Soon the entire concourse joined in because it was the right thing to do.