Like you, I’ve learned a lot about leadership over the years. Why then does it still seem counterintuitive — and maybe a little uncomfortable — to read that we can achieve better results without a top-down, command-and-control strategy? I thought about this as I read Charlene Li’s insightful blog post this week.

Many years ago, as a newly appointed manager with more than a dozen direct reports — some of them in remote bureaus — I was super-diligent about staying in touch, tracking performance and staying on top of the work.

In my defense, we didn’t have IM or tweets or smartphones to connect us, and I thought my primary job was to be hands-on and to keep the momentum going. I also worked hard and thought that if I led by example, the rest would follow.

The results were mixed. We produced great products to the highest standards, but people got burnt out, including me. We weren’t enjoying the work as much as we could have, and there was a “creative tension” most of the time. Of course, the corporate culture promoted and encouraged this approach, and I was merely carrying out orders. But in fact, they weren’t the right orders for people who were already motivated, creative and talented.

Charlene’s advocacy of open leadership may have helped somewhat, but without the technology and the urgency that’s present at most enterprises today — what Peter Hinssen in his animated video calls The Era of Now — there would probably still be a disconnect between executives and workers.

Many thought leaders — such as Don Tapscott — have promoted transparency over the years, and the archives (and business schools) are full of books, courses and white papers that espouse formulas and theories about effective team management.

What’s really different right now, however, is IT. Social media really does change everything. Because it’s disruptive, old lessons don’t apply; yet new solutions—even among younger managers-- are still evolving. What does management look like when collaboration is a mantra, crowdsourcing is acceptable and customers have their say? Where do CIOs fit in when, as Alistair Croll wrote last year, the democratization of IT and the enterprise are the direct result of consumer technologies? How do you get out of the way and still be an effective leader? Do we need new strategies or new leaders?

Smart Enterprise Exchange is continuing to offer many perspectives about social media and leadership to help you answer these questions and adapt to the rapid-fire pace of change. Nathan Clevenger, author of the recent book, iPad in the Enterprise, offers four concrete steps you can take to adopt a mobile strategy. When I spoke to Nathan recently, he suggested many practical tips based on his interviews with global CIOs for the book. As you would expect, the first step is to accept, rather than resist, the notion of shared leadership — exactly what consumer technologies support.

Executive coach Dina Lichtman also addresses this topic in a recent blog and in an upcoming one where she asked Elizabeth Osder for her perspective on social media’s organizational impact.

Apparently, there’s still a lot to learn about leadership. And while you may not find a one-size-fits-all solution, as IT executives leading teams of technologists, business partners and social media-savvy customers, you must leave your comfort zone, try out the options and see what works best (then, share your experiences on the Exchange). The stakes couldn’t be higher, and there’s no time to waste.

Paula  Klein

Editor and Community Manager

Smart Enterprise Exchange

You will find several new blog posts from global thought leaders and articles around the topic of reinvigorating IT and the CIO role this month. It's not an entirely new topic, but there does seem to be renewed pressure and urgency to get it right this time. IT has value to the enterprise, that's not disputed. But demonstrating that value and making smart investments that will pay short and long-term dividends for the business, are now at stake.

I was intrigued by consultant Pete DeLisi's premise that Strategic CIOs are still hard to find--even after decades of data and reports saying how critical big-picture thinking is for IT executives. How can that be? Do you agree that long-term planning and goal-setting are still key parameters?

My own feeling is that the pace of business today requires new definitions of strategy and new metrics to assess IT success. Three- and even two-year plans are nearly impossible to follow anymore; flexibility trumps goal-setting in nearly every situation, in my view. CIOs must jump in with both feet.

Cranfield School of Management professor Joe Peppard also tackles IT performance issues in his blog where he concludes that, "At the fundamental level, we seem to have a “knowing-doing”  gap. We know what needs to be done to improve success levels, but the doing just doesn’t happen." That seems clear, however, he too, suggests a traditional approach to solving the problem: better business cases. My sense again is that following better processes alone won't close the gap.

A prime example of a CIO who has revitalized IT and restored credibility and leadership to his role is Steven Elefant, at Heartland Payments. Heartland's experience is as real-world as it gets in today's IT/ business environment. Steven was hired in 2009 after a series of highly publicized major data breaches rocked Heartland’s business and its credibility. His mission was to revamp the organization’s approach to end-to-end encryption — a game-changer for the company. As Steven told our writer, Karen Schwartz, the opportunity “was about taking security to the next level, both in the company and in the industry.”

The story goes on to say that Elefant’s accomplishments are what many CIOs aspire to — using technology as a tool to move the company forward. The most successful CIOs, says Scott Archibald, a Managing Director at Bender Consulting, run their departments like business units and “can navigate the political battles in the boardroom [and] leverage technology for the business,” he says. For many CIOs, “it’s a difficult transition to make,” he says, “and it’s still fairly uncommon.” Nevertheless, that’s “what sets apart the top-notch CIOs from the others.”

Increasingly, there's no playbook for CIOs to follow; each is on their own to match available IT to the business' needs. Some may rely on 'strategic planning,' others fluidly tackle one major issue at a time--either way, results are what matter.

What's your game plan to revitalize your role in 2011? Please share your thoughts and experiences with your peers.

The pressure is on for CIOs to ride out the difficult economy with keen leadership. For the U.S. Department of Transportation and The New York Times Company, smaller, less-costly deployments such as wikis and cloud computing are demonstrating quick results. For others, like Bechtel Corp., business process improvement is the best approach to follow. Still other IT leaders will use the current economic and business conditions as motivation for long-term innovation. In fact, there is no single elixir for success — each strategy has to make sense for that particular enterprise.

Maybe that's why I'm troubled when I read that some analysts and business leaders want to set strict deadlines on how long IT has to prove its business value. It's certainly true that business economics are at a critical inflection point; however, flexibility is needed too. One quarter might be too long to wait for ROI on a small project, but is two weeks too short? Do budget cuts have to be a uniform 20 percent across the board, or can each project be evaluated on its merits? These are all topics that will be discussed at our upcoming Smart Enterprise Exchange events. On February 17 in Seattle, Gartner Vice President Ken McGee will offer his recommendations and research. Other North American CIO discussions are set for Northern Virginia on February 11, Dallas on February 19, and in New York on March 5. Executive exchanges in Europe are planned for the spring.

In addition to these events, this month we feature several CIOs who are already demonstrating innovation and leadership. In our Smart Practices article, we describe how the U.S. Department of Transportation uses a virtual environment to train its repair people. The federal agency also is testing a wiki that encourages better collaboration with research universities. The merits of cloud computing at The New York Times and process innovation at Bechtel Corp. are also presented.

Is there a common thread among the leaders at these diverse enterprises? Fiona Packman, who co-leads Egon Zehnder's Technology Media and Telco Practice Group in London, writes in her Insights column that outstanding CIOs — those ranked in the top 15th percentile — scored highest in "results orientation, strategic orientation, change leadership and customer focus." Taken together, these executives are "strategic, client-based change leaders." In fact, Packman found that the CIO and CEO resemble each other far more than they differ — which may surprise many executives who hold these titles.

Certainly, the intense pressure on CIOs will continue unabated for these coming months. One global survey commissioned in January by the IT Governance Institute (ITGI), an independent research organization, found that there is much unrealized opportunity for IT to increase its value as a strategic partner and innovator. But imposing strict deadlines probably won't achieve the goals. Instead, as John Thorp, a member of ITGI's IT Governance Committee, concludes: "Given the current economic climate, enterprises should strengthen their governance of IT to ensure that expenditures are delivering real value, reduce or curtail those that aren't, and pursue innovative uses of IT that can sustain and increase value."

That sounds like a much more balanced strategy to me. Please "exchange" your views and experiences with us.

Paula Klein
Editor
Smart Enterprise Exchange
editor@smartenterpriseexchange.com