Tech Leader – Leveraging your Strength
Tech Leaders work from a blend of strong talents that make up their strength profile. This profile includes many different traits, some more prominent that others. If your leadership profile were a bulleted list, each Profile Point can propel you forward at differing rates. By working within your strongest suit, you can capitalize and move even farther in your leadership.
Working from your positive strengths is a sure way to make advancements. We will look at a few characteristics, practices or perspectives that you might bring to the table. You may not have them all, but by using these characteristics as a starting point we will look at how you can leverage them to make progress in other areas. I approach each Profile Point as if you have this strength and what you could do to use more effectively.
Profile Point – You are Dependable
Maybe one of the simplest and yet easily overlooked strengths is that of dependability. If you have this strength, you can be depended on. I think everyone understands this. The meaning is clear enough. It starts with the power to perform the duties associated with your position. You are on time. You complete your tasks. You do what you say you are going to do. People will notice that you are a dependable person. They are watching, even when you don’t think they are. They notice it because when you consistently deliver, completing tasks 100% and on time. It makes an impact. Got deadlines – you meet them (better yet, you beat them). Got meetings – you are there early. Got Action Items from those meetings – you get them done.
Leveraging this Strength: Offer to take on some tasks that are outside your area of responsibility. Your org will want to give you more because they have seen your successful deliveries in the past. This means that you may be stretched, but your boss will appreciate your willingness to take on additional duties if your main tasks do not suffer for it. The first step in moving up the ladder is to start doing some of the tasks on the next rung.
So offer to help someone prep for a meeting. Offer to lead a meeting or two. Offer to follow up on a meeting item that others are avoiding. By offering your services and being dependable on the delivery, you elevate yourself in everyone’s mind and they will seek you out for promotion.
Profile Point – You are Organized
Being organized is an extremely valuable talent. Some of us are born with it. Some of us work at it. Others obsess over it, avoid it, wish they were better at it or have given up trying. Any way you look at it, if you have this strength, you are making a valuable impact on your firm. You are scheduling tasks, working out timelines, sorting priorities and making things happen. Organizing lets you and your school have less stress, more time, do more things, have pride in your work and increase productivity.
Leveraging this Strength: Reach out to others who are not as organized and politely suggest improvements. Pass on your organizational tips and tricks to others. Pump your organizational efforts into student facing tasks. Expand your influence by moving into other areas of Ed Tech, but are not directly under your direction. This may include organizing your FTP site, the server data stores, Google Apps and more. Don’t limit yourself to just your job description.
Profile Point – You are Investigational
One of the indispensable strengths of an Ed Tech IT Leader is that of investigative talents. You know how to break down a large problem that appears overwhelming. By searching for the small bits of information that show trends, you see the large problem in smaller scope. Then when taken together these small bits show you the answer to the larger problems. You look for repeatable patterns that signal some larger distress signal for coming troubles. You keep track of who has had similar problems and trace what appear to be disconnected issues into a common thread. You know how to find new tech tools.
Leveraging this Strength: Because you are good at seeing the bigger picture and connecting smaller events to larger issues, you can see all areas of IT , education and workflow that have troubles. You can see misalignment and disjointed efforts that cause the disconnections that create slowdowns. Tactfully bring these up to others. Point out ripples in the fabric of their processes. Keep looking at areas outside of your own for problems that might be fixable. Don’t step on toes, but bring these areas up to administration as possible focused review. Don’t always act like you have the answer, even if you do, just point out the need to see if things might need to be reviewed and improved.
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