La Fosse IT Leaders Summit

Transcription

1 La Fosse IT Leaders Summit Leadership during challenging times The global financial crisis of the past two years has created immense challenges for business leaders. It has been said that when times are good, leaders can invent their outward appearance but when times are tough, you get to see what s really inside. It is therefore the mark of true leadership to view challenging times and unexpected change as an opportunity, rather than a threat. While many businesses remain hunkered down in survival mode, some leaders are forging though the downturn with a true sense of purpose. At our recent Leadership Summit we were fortunate to be joined by two such individuals who are embracing the challenges of the current economy and seizing opportunities to drive innovation. In this Executive Summary we share their valuable insights which should offer inspiration to any business leader and has particular resonance for the Chief Information Officer. October 2009 Page 1 of 8

2 Julie Meyer, CEO, Ariadne Capital Julie Meyer is a leading Venture Capital Executive and CEO of Ariadne Capital. Julie came to prominence in the late 1990s after founding First Tuesday, a global networking forum for entrepreneurs and investors that helped shape the nascent dot com market and has had a lasting impact on the way ideas and capital connect. Julie sold the business for $50 million in 2000 and subsequently founded early-stage VC firm Ariadne Capital, which over the past nine years has been responsible for nurturing innovative start-ups such as Skype, Monitise, Zopa and SpinVox. Julie has also recently become one of the two Dragons evaluating early-stage pitches from start-up entrepreneurs in BBC s Dragon s Den Online, a spin off from the popular series. John Suffolk, HM Government Chief Information Officer Few business leaders ever encounter as big a challenge as that facing John Suffolk, the man tasked with transforming the delivery and operation of government and public services through the application of technology and business process change. Not only must he improve their quality and accessibility, but he must also do so while maximising efficiency and minimising costs, under intense public scrutiny. Yet John is far from the quivering wreck you might expect. Indeed, as Simon La Fosse pointed out in his introduction: John carries this responsibility with a certain calm composure I m deeply in awe of. John has previously worked in technology leadership roles in both the public and private sector as well as running multi-million pound businesses. He is passionate about helping technology executives become the best leaders they can be. Page 2 of 8

3 Expect the unexpected John began by pointing out the enormity of the global changes technology is bringing and the difficulty for technology leaders of understanding how things might pan out in the future. We don t know all the answers. There are some great technology start-ups all around the world doing things most people can t comprehend today. It is very hard to predict what these developments mean for your business, he said. Harnessing innovation, a symbiotic relationship between corporate and start-up businesses Julie firmly believes the important, disruptive innovations that transform business for everyone will almost always come from the hot kitchen of the start-up sector. And she also believes many corporate CIOs need to start learning lessons from, and doing business with, the kinds of successful entrepreneurs she works with. Corporates and start-ups need each other, Julie said. Businesses need to reach into the VC-backed start-up space because that s where they re going to find the talent and technology that will help them grow in the future. I really believe M&A is the new R&D. John feels that now start-ups, small businesses and open source providers can come rapidly into the market because they don t have to worry about capital set-up or infrastructure costs. That will drive prices and margins down and force the big players to change their business models, he predicted. Trends often emerge in a downturn Other changes will be even more far-reaching, John thinks. For example, I believe cloud computing represents a major shift. Lots of organisations are playing with cloud sourcing, provisionally on Amazon and a whole host of others. Many think that s only going to happen while they re under the current financial pressures, but once they see it works pretty well, I m convinced they re not going to go back to their old ways, he said. Every entrepreneur I come across says the most innovative times are when the economy is going through its toughest periods. Page 3 of 8

4 Keep up with the market Such fundamental technology-driven changes mean risk management is becoming an evermore critical skill for IT leaders. John asked the audience how many were keeping up with developments in technologies that could potentially have a major impact on their businesses. Very few hands went up. If you re not keeping up, your Boards certainly won t be. This is a role you absolutely need to grasp, he said. Of course, it s too complex to keep up with everything personally, but if you can t give your boss the answer then you need to be able to say I know a man who can. Risk Management must be systemic John feels that Risk Management is one of the most critical factors in large businesses successfully adopting the innovation found in the agile start-ups of Julie s world. A competent risk management policy no longer automatically means sticking with tried-and-tested, big-name suppliers. You re going to have to make bets about who you want to do business with. There s only one organisation still in the Dow that was there at its inception (General Electric). I don t know who s going to be in the FTSE, NASDAQ or Dow in 10 years, but I d bet there will be a whole host of different players. Whether you like it or not, the pressure is not going to go away. The world will be turned upside down. Suppliers you ve never heard of will start to take significant market share. With risk management as a core competence, you will have to advise your boards and colleagues on what decisions to take, said John. Page 4 of 8

5 Effective marketing of Technology and yourself In the fast-moving start-up world, Julie states the best marketing trumps the best technology time and again, a maxim she believes holds valuable lessons for CIOs who want to ensure their businesses, partners and customers adopt innovative technology-driven services. The technology itself should be invisible to people, and increasingly will be. What s important is promoting the services that innovative technology enables, she said. John noted that a significant number of CIOs still worried more about whether the business loves them. There will be no place for such navelgazing in future, thinks John. Rather, CIOs need take pride at being part of one of the most critical professions on the planet, and start communicating accordingly. Julie said that marketing trumps technology, and that s absolutely true because as an industry we re utterly rubbish at communicating what we do. Very few people understand that we fundamentally underpin the economy and almost every organisation. He urged those present to start putting out well-written case studies to illustrate the value IT brings to their business. If everyone here was putting out case studies about the way they are fundamentally changing their industry or organisation, people would have a different perspective in terms of the value we create. Page 5 of 8

6 Positivity and optimism Another universal quality of successful entrepreneurs, she said, is their unbounded positivity and optimism. Against all available information, they believe completely that they are going to change the world. The most successful companies in our portfolio have all had moments where the most rational, sane person would have given up. But they found their optimism and kept going. As Margaret Mead said: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it s the only thing that ever has. And as Winston Churchill put it with rather more resignation: I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else. Leaders who create trust and acceptance of failure Julie said the best definition of leadership I ve ever come across was from Colin Powell, who said at a meeting of the World Economic Forum shortly after 9/11 that leaders were those people who create the conditions of trust so that great things can happen. In the hot kitchen of a start-up, you need someone who knows how to create a safe environment so people feel they can innovate, can fail and learn, can push things ever faster. When a start-up fails, most often that s because someone s breached trust or created an environment where it s not okay to have ups and downs. And you re always going to have those ups and downs when you re going for rapid growth, said Julie. It is about learning from your mistakes and applying that learning but not be scared to innovate. Page 6 of 8

7 Enjoying the journey You also need to be motivated by something other than money, said Julie. I ve seen a lot of very smart entrepreneurs who ve failed just because they ve had bad luck. So you have to be doing this as much for the journey as the destination. And I ve been fortunate to work with some great entrepreneurs who ve failed several times and then succeeded, as well as those who ve had early successes then a number of flops. But they ve all kept going because they love the journey, she said. The same can be said when operating as a leader within a business, your team and stakeholders will be successful because they believe in you and your vision and the environment created makes them fundamentally enjoy the journey. Conclusion: it is an amazing time to be a CIO Given the right leadership skills and applying the principles above, the current environment is an amazing time to be a CIO. John asserts the view that if CIOs and technology leaders don t step forward, who will? Maturity curves are shrinking and timing is everything. Who else understands how to package up products and services from 20, 30 or 40 different vendors to reach a desired outcome in the shortest possible time? It s certainly not the marketing director and it s unlikely to be the CEO, if you re in IT, you re probably going to live through the most exciting time the industry has ever seen over the next 10 years. We will look back at this period as a complete paradigm shift. And that s why I say there s an open door for those who want to walk through it. Page 7 of 8

8 La Fosse Associates is a fast growing and energetic IT recruitment company. Founded by some of the most experienced and well respected figures in the IT search industry, it has rapidly gained an enviable and loyal blue chip client base who speak highly of the results achieved and the value they are able to add across their organisations. For more information please visit La Fosse Associates Ltd 33 Glasshouse Street, London, W1B 5DG tel: +44 (0) Sponsored by: Page 8 of 8