[Editor's note: As part of our ongoing series in which IT leaders share the best advice they've ever been given, Ian Pitt, CIO of LogMeIn, explains the lessons he's taken from the influential leaders he's worked for.]
Leadership is a continuous process. Through new coaching and experiences, both within the business context and outside of it, leadership skills never stop developing and evolving. I like to think that my leadership style is a combination of all of my past managers and leaders, incorporating all the good and learning from their mistakes.
Back in 1989, my divisional manager at NCR Corporation led with the phrase “Everybody sells,” which, although brief, shaped the entire organizational culture of the company. My next manager and divisional honcho at Tata Consulting Services (TCS) had the leadership motto: “Don’t be afraid to keep it at 30,000 feet, but dive into details when necessary.” And last but not least, my current source of leadership advice, Bill Wagner, CEO of LogMeIn, has the inspirational commitment of making himself available to anyone in the organization at any time.
My early, mid-career, and current leadership positions at NCR, TCS, and LogMeIn have had the biggest impact on my leadership philosophy, given that they were my first real job, my largest organization to-date, and my most challenging role, respectively. I am lucky to have had inspirational managers at all these positions, whose individual leadership styles helped influence my own.
Putting the advice in action
Good leadership advice should always resonate, otherwise, it’s not good advice. One reason these instances have resonated with me is that they were from people I respected or connected to a personal experience. Management books are full of cliché advice like, “Treat people like you expect to be treated,” but these don’t come alive until you see them in action from successful leaders.
Seeing firsthand leaders of multi-thousand-person organizations providing guidance, coaching, and disciplining, all the while seamlessly traversing complex business situations and bureaucracy, is the best way to learn and witness excellence in leadership.
My early experiences have certainly been formative, but I’ve found true leadership comes from continuously learning and applying these learned behaviors. This also applies to the flip side; if you see bad leadership styles reflected in yourself, work hard to remove those.
I like to think I’ve incorporated the best parts of my experiences with admirable leadership into my own style, but only my team can be the judge of that. I look to build teams that are supportive of everyone, work for the good of the company, periodically let off steam and don't shy away from making mistakes they believe in. Mistakes are part of the learning experience and the trust that comes from knowing I have their back goes a long way. I build these types of teams through reinforcement of good leadership styles, frequent communication to keep everyone informed and in the same direction, celebration of successes to demonstrate appreciation, and addressing failures in a timely fashion to allow course correction.
And, above all, the most critical aspect for me is always being there for the team – regardless of the scenario or where I am in the world. Through investing in and empowering a team, leaders can see the results in the engagement levels and rate of skill development. Leadership is remembering the importance of teaching and maintaining a lack of fear of developing people – even if they ultimately move on. Seeing your organization and team synergies prosper, and knowing you were an integral part of it, makes the occasional trials and tribulations of leadership worth it.
[ Are you too comfortable in your role? Read In IT, beware comfort that leads to complacency. ]
