And I have carefully observed the good, the bad and the ugly of IT management for 20 years.
Leadership is never more important than in increasingly uncertain economic times - like today.
The eyes of the masses turn to the boss for confidence, solace, direction and support. When a job well done by the network administrator gets rewarded with a personal note or a gift certificate from the CFO or division president, it's an amazing morale booster. The CIO can and should regularly advocate for such extradepartmental kudos. Over the holidays, my nephew, a network administrator, showed me a video he made at work as part of an office contest. It was a comedy featuring the IT department and help desk.