…or perhaps it should be? Imagine receiving the resignation of your top IT executive. Would you be concerned or relieved? If you would be relieved, then it might be time to consider a change in IT leadership. But, before listing all the problems you perceive with your current IT leader, consider stepping back to see the bigger picture. Start with a macro view of how the IT function works (or doesn’t) within your company today. After all, it’s solutions you’re after…not scapegoats.
On the surface, you may appear to have a people problem. Digging deeper may reveal multiple process and product problems well beyond the scope of the person in your cross hairs. If not addressed, those same problems will likely torpedo your next IT leader. And so IT goes…
In fairness, you could be right about the need for an IT leadership change…and likely are. Your gut usually is right, but it’s also telling you that you need to be sure. It’s the right thing to do by both the person and the company. Firing/hiring key executives is risky business. Ever more so within the ethereal IT realm. You know this. If you doubt it, then try recalling the last strategic initiative wherein IT was not a critical success factor.
That’s why it’s so important to view this important decision through 3P glasses –people, process and product. Before finalizing such an important personnel decision, you may want to consider getting a third party opinion. In doing so, you should look for someone without intimate knowledge of your organization. Why? Because you already have plenty of input from insiders. What you need now is an outside expert opinion from a trusted advisor. If that advisor validates your leadership concerns, then you’re ready to make the first of two tough decisions –firing your current IT leader and hiring their replacement. Because now you know with confidence…IT’s time for a change. And that’s a big relief.
