Deck 18: Building Better It Leaders From the Bottom up

Question 1

Few IT leadership teams are well equipped for the challenge of strong IT leadership.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A key expectation of strategic vision in IT is enterprise transformation.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Since the dot-com bust, there has been renewed emphasis on how IT can help the organization achieve competitive differentiation and top-line growth.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Leadership qualities should be explicitly recognized, reinforced, and rewarded only at the management level of the IT organization.

Question 5

Accountability has too often been lacking from IT cultures, and this has negatively affected the perceptions of IT leadership in the rest of the organization.

Question 6

Hierarchical structures with command-and-control leadership are not only effective,
but they can actually become a catalyst to the development of a high-performance IT group.

Question 7

The death of the traditional hierarchical organization structure and top-down command-
and-control leader has never been predicted and is a fallacy.

Question 8

Individuals within IT have more opportunities to affect an organization, both positively and negatively, than others at similar levels in the business.

Question 9

A climate where accountabilities are clear is an important aspect of a leadership development culture.

Question 10

While the ability to lead business transformation and to gain and maintain executive attention, these issues are not central to establishing and maintaining IT credibility in an organization.

Question 11

Because IT people come from a technical background and are more analytic in their thinking, they typically do not have strong soft skills.

Question 12

The dot-com boom and bust soured many companies on the top-line potential of IT.

Question 13

Because of the importance of IT, IT leadership initiatives within the business will be accepted even if IT is consistently unable to deliver results.

Question 14

New technologies change how information is acquired and disseminated but not how people are influenced or make decisions.

Question 15

Distinguishing between leadership and management leads to a dysfunctional IT organization.

Question 16

Formal leadership training may be one of the least effective and most expensive aspects of building better IT leaders.

Question 17

IT accountability is established by setting expectations and delivering results that meet or exceed those expectations.

Question 18

Fostering leadership skills throughout all levels of IT is important to IT's future effectiveness, however, leadership development is very hit and miss in most IT organizations.

Question 19

A strong value system is crucial to bringing together and motivating a large, diverse workforce and helping staff act in ways that support the company's brand and values.

Question 20

A large component of IT leadership is not focused on the internal IT organization, but outward toward all parts of the business.

Question 21

Using job assignments and budgets to enhance people's capabilities, identifying and developing emergent leaders, and using reward and recognition programs to motivate and encourage staff is an example of which soft skill?

A) Business understanding
B) Strategic understanding
C) Organizational understanding
D) Creating a supportive environment
E) Effective use of resources

Question 22

While traditional hierarchies will likely remain in place to define authority, ________ is likely to become increasingly situational.

A) leadership
B) accountability
C) management
D) vision
E) All the above

Question 23

But being able to drive transformation forward, involves a number of additional skills such as:

A) political savvy.
B) organizational problem solving.
C) effective use of governance structures.
D) governance design.
E) All the above.

Question 24

Most IT organizations include some form of ________ assessment and development as part of their management training programs.

A) mentoring
B) leadership
C) personal mastery
D) organizational understanding
E) personal integrity

Question 25

Understanding how one relates to others, how they respond to you, is referred to as:

A) Mentoring skills
B) Leadership skills
C) Personal Mastery skills
D) Organization understanding

Question 26

Which of the following is a key component of leadership?

A) Acceptance of accountability
B) Clear and frequent communication
C) Empowerment
D) A climate of trust
E) Well-articulated and instantiated values

Question 27

An increasingly important component of leadership for IT staff is:

A) mentoring skills.
B) personal Mastery skills.
C) personal integrity.
D) Organizational understanding.
E) All the above

Question 28

Which of the following is the hallmark of modern leadership?

A) Acceptance of accountability
B) Clear and frequent communication
C) Empowerment
D) A climate of trust
E) Well-articulated and instantiated values

Question 29

Which of the following creates a management system that frees staff up to make appropriate decisions?

A) Acceptance of accountability
B) Clear and frequent communication
C) Empowerment
D) A climate of trust
E) Well-articulated and instantiated values

Question 30

Generating insights into how technology and processes can be utilized to create new products and services or help the organization work more effectively is an example of which soft skill?

A) Business understanding
B) Strategic understanding
C) Organizational understanding
D) Creating a supportive environment
E) Effective use of resources

Question 31

Which of the following are new challenges facing IT organizations today?

A) Achieving business growth goals and enterprise transformation.
B) Coping with technical and relationship complexity.
C) Facilitating innovation and knowledge development.
D) Managing an increasingly mobile and virtual workforce.
E) All the above

Question 32

Motivation, team building, collaboration, communication, risk assessment, problem solving, and coaching, are all examples of:

A) Mentoring skills
B) Leadership skills
C) Personal Mastery skills
D) Organization understanding

Question 33

The ability to know when and where particular behaviors/skills are required and how they should be deployed is an example of which soft skill?

A) Business understanding
B) Ability to gain business attention
C) Flexibility of approach
D) Creating a supportive environment
E) Effective use of resources

Question 34

Having a solid understanding of the organization's current operations and future direction is an example of which soft skill?

A) Business understanding
B) Strategic understanding
C) Organizational understanding
D) Creating a supportive environment
E) Effective use of resources

Question 35

Which of the following is established by setting expectations and delivering results that meet or exceed expectations?

A) Accountability
B) Empowerment
C) A climate of trust
D) Well-articulated and instantiated values
E) All the above

Question 36

Motivating and inspiring one's colleagues to do their best, and to make decisions that are consistent with the overall goals of the organization is an example of which soft skill?

A) Business understanding
B) Strategic understanding
C) Organizational understanding
D) Creating a supportive environment
E) Effective use of resources

Question 37

Leadership development programs should have:

A) short-term goals.
B) long-term goals.
C) both long- and short-term benefits.
D) long-term goals and empowerment.
E) short-term goals and empowerment.

Question 38

Which of the following cultural norms thrives in a climate of trust?

A) Accountability
B) Values
C) Empowerment
D) Clear communication
E) All the above

Question 39

The ability to motivate business executives to lead business transformation is an example of which soft skill?

A) Business understanding
B) Ability to gain business attention
C) Flexibility of approach
D) Creating a supportive environment
E) Organizational understanding

Question 40

Good IT leaders are required to have a further set of skills that could be collectively called:

A) mentoring
B) leadership
C) strategic vision
D) organizational understanding
E) personal integrity

Question 41

Explain how leadership in IT can be a rapidly shifting target.

Question 42

Is the traditional hierarchical organization structure and top-down command-
and-control leader on the decline? List (3) reasons this may or may not be true.

Question 43

What (2) categories can the qualities that make a good leader be broken down into?

Question 44

What is meant by the phrase "A climate of trust"?

Question 45

Why is it important for an organization to develop well-articulated and instantiated values?

Question 46

How does an organization realize value from implementing a leadership development program?

Question 47

List and describe (3) reasons why IT staff are now expected to act as leaders, regardless of their official job titles.

Question 48

List (4) "soft skills" good IT leaders should have.

Question 49

List and describe (3) cultural norms that nurture and help build talented managers and IT leaders.