Young Nerds at the Helm
On the plus side, IT managers generally set high standards and are creative, bright, decisive and know how to get results.
On the downside, they don't "fully leverage their available resources," says Hagberg. That's consultant speak for not understanding people enough to build the cohesion that can lead to great results. Everyone has difficulty supervising others for the first time. And, since most companies don't train their employees to be leaders, it's a skill learned on the job. Yet, IT people have special problems managing people, Hagberg asserts.
What are they? According to Hagberg, newly promoted technical managers have difficulty in the following three areas:
- Being a visionary evangelist.
- Building alignment, consensus and teamwork.
- Management execution.
"They really get into trouble when it comes to building alignment," he explains. "They are often promoted, because they are analytical and independent." But they tend to have a hard time working closely with people.
