This is a longish story from CIO Magazine, but
a valuable one as it lives at the intersection of two topics
readers repeatedly express great interest in: IT and
leadership.
Essentially a profile of John Hummel, CIO of Northern California-based
Sutter Health (41,000 employees, 28 hospitals, on track to
spend $1.5-billion on IT in the next ten years), it explains
with sympathy and insight how Hummel came to the realization
that his job was not about keeping systems running, but about
"managing the process" (barfy phrase, but a rare ‘ouch’
in the article) of getting physicians and executives to adopt
new IT initiatives.
Most
importantly, it provides a window into how Hummel emphasizes
communication above all else. Because IT by its nature
tends to generate projects that are long and drawn-out, with
hair-raising price tags and no conspicuous short-term payoff,
part of a CIO’s job is to communicate with great consistency
(and this goes for your team members as well) about why the
project is justified. As Hummel puts it, with less
than subtle analogies to politics:
“I liken what I do to passing a bill in Congress,” Hummel says. “By the time the senators and congressmen make their formal arguments on the floor, they’ve already visited all the people, done all the arm-twisting and made all the concessions they need to get that bill passed.”
Beyond the (dirty word??) "politics" of the job is that Hummel
has learned the lessons of being a true leader:
- earn trust over time
- under-promise
- meet deadlines
- demonstrate genuine flexibility
- listen carefully; and, my personal favorite:
- "Joyous, fun people attract you to their way of thinking."
