John Trainor of Aaron’s, Inc.

March 11, 2013 By 2 Comments

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Most conversations with top executives from large corporations are fast-paced and fun.  Our conversation with John Trainor, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Aaron’s, Inc. was certainly no expectation.  The whole studio just plain buzzed with his energy.

trainorHis views on a day-in-the-life of a CIO centered on creating a great team, or more accurately a set of great teams.  Groups that not only work well together but are also aligned with customers and the other functional experts inside Aaron’s.  For John, agile methodologies are also key.  He’s a big advocate of working with the philosophy of The Agile Manifesto, focusing on “the person, not the process, not the paperwork.”

The notion that, “Teamwork, if you do it right, is not pretty” really rounded out the perspective.  Theory is one thing, making things work in the real world is quite another.  Constantly asking about what is going well, what is not going well and what will be done to correct it is essential

What does he look for in someone he’ll hire?  Obviously, intelligence is key.  But the #1 attribute this CIO seeks is happiness.  A person that is continuously positive and moving forward gets things done and gets tough problems solved.  John also wants to see folks who have sought out and gotten practical experience in a field – any field – that they are passionate about.  It’s not all about the technology!

The #1 mistake that will derail an IT career?  Stop learning.  It was fascinating to hear this guy – already at the CIO level – enthusing about all the podcasts he consumes.  About programming, about network design about becoming a better CIO…

Simply way too much covered in this interview to list it all here.  Tune in and get the full picture!  And for sure, you need to hear the end as Trainor talks about the future for Aaron’s.  Big, exciting things coming!

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Filed Under: IT Career Planning

Amy Woszczynski of Kennesaw State University

February 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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Dr. Amy B. Woszczynski, Ph.D.

Dr. Amy B. Woszczynski, Ph.D.

If anybody needs any more proof that amazing things are happening at Kennesaw State University, this interview will do the trick.  Dr. Amy B. Woszczynski, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Information Systems, Michael J. Coles College of Business at KSU is living proof of the fresh, pragmatic approach they’re taking to IS education.

In addition to the laundry list of IS undergraduate and graduate degree programs, the 700 students in the IS Department can also choose from a wide range of certificate programs.  And the offerings are anything but same old same old.  For example, since Information Security is hot topic for employers, KSU has responded with a robust set of Information Security courses.

Responsiveness to the needs of industry is also reflected by the high degree of focus on creating student co-op and internship opportunities.  These “real world” stints are not only invaluable for the students, but also give prospective employers an up close and personal view of the intelligence, creativity and work habits of candidates.

Looking for a high energy, young person with a Bachelors degree?  Check out KSU.  Need a seasoned individual with a decade or so experience and the chutzpa to go back and earn a Masters while balancing a job and a family?  Check out KSU.

It was also interesting to hear Dr. Amy’s perspective on how students have changed.  Of course, there’s the expected right-from-high school cohort, but there’s also a rich mix of “non-traditional” folks.  The wide diversity of backgrounds adds to the educational experience.  In addition, everything is online; from the course content to the students’ work.  Everything therefore, moves at warp speed and incorporates text, audio, video, live chat and all the other emerging elements of the IS field.  It all contributes to producing a new hire that can hit the ground not only running, but also able to apply hands-on experience with the latest and greatest technologies.

Yes, communication skills are part of the curriculum!

To complete the course requirements, both verbal and written communications skills must be demonstrated.  Yet another example of the pragmatism that pervades the KSU IS Department.

You’ll need to listen to the whole interview to pick up the rest of the story.  If you’re looking to hire someone with strong IS skills, why would you not look to KSU?  If you’re looking to bolster your IS resume, why would you not look to KSU?  Seems like a no-brainer to me!

 

Filed Under: IT Education

Hank Edwards of Sylvan Advisory

June 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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Hank Edwards

“There is no IT solution in a business, it’s always a business problem that’s solved by IT.”  This was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to fantastic insights into IT careers that we gained through our conversation with Hank Edwards, Partner at Slyvan Advisory, LLC.

The more in-depth we spoke with Hank, the more it became readily apparent that throughout his entire 30 year career Hank has never been afraid of taking risks.  From moving his entire family to Europe to being the first to launch an SAP ERP system, the risks that Hank have taken have paid off with the privilege of a successful career in the IT industry.

For Hank, knowing the business first has always been his key to developing appropriate IT solutions.  He feels that gaining a complete understanding of the business and its requirements is the only way to properly direct the IT agenda.

It is this passion for total business understanding that has allowed Hank’s various risks to have such positive results throughout his career.  “Risk can be mitigated with good research and careful due diligence,” he stated when we questioned him on advice for future IT professionals.

Hank also believes that the most important factor for building one’s own IT career path is to always be networking.  He claims, “Networking is the number one thing to grow both opportunities and personal connections.”  This is followed second by having a good relationship with a mentor.  This is supported by his own work as a mentor with students from Georgia State University. He says that it is important that the relationship focus more on the business side than the IT side of things.

When it comes to continuing education Hank had a very strong opinion on how to focus one’s learning.  He  believes that continuing education should be focused on the business issues that one is facing at hand.  He says that one should never stop learning and that there is no education like getting one’s own hands dirty in the sandbox.

Our discussion covered these topics and so many more.  Hank has a simply fantastic way of stating things that you must listen to in his own words.  This interview is so chock full of great career advice that it is a must listen!

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Grey Cleveland of Crawford and Company

May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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“Manage your own career.  Don’t let somebody else make the decision about what the next best job for you is going to be.”

Grey Cleveland

During our whole conversation, it was quite clear that Grey Cleveland, Vice President of Technology Infrastructure for Crawford and Company is a take-charge sort of guy.  From his B.S. in Economics, through a series of jobs including stints as CIO and an independent consultant, he’s kept control of the reins steering his career.

Like a lot of senior IT executives, Grey sees himself as business guy who happens to be responsible for an IT organization.  He feels his background in economics has been a huge help in his ability to articulate the ROI and Total Cost of Ownership of IT projects.  He cautioned about loving technology for its own sake and losing sight of what it can accomplish for the business.

He was particularly passionate about the need to continuously learn.  “I’m fortunate in that I like to read a lot,” he says.  That includes lots and lots of business and technology periodicals and books.  he supplements the reading with networking and attending a mix of seminars.  The learning can never stop!

Although Cleveland didn’t come right out and say it, it’s clear that intelligent risk-taking is part of his own career strategy.  After 18-36 months in a job, he is looking for his next challenge or opportunity.  Mostly he has found those challenges by progressing within the companies he has been a part of.  Not being certain about consulting as the right path, he gave it try.  Having learned he’s more invigorated by the “corporate ecosystem” and doing big things for big organizations, he jumped back into the executive role.  I kept waiting for him to say, “Just do it!”

His perspectives on leadership, relationships and compromise  hit home too.  He stressed the need to  consider all the stakeholders and not making decisions in a vacuum.  And coaching?  It works both ways – coach and be coached.

You really need to listen not only to all the things he had to say, but how he said them.  Lots of great tips in this discussion!

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Nick Farsi of NexxLinx

April 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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“A technologist with a business background.”  Ask Nick Farsi, CIO for NexxLinx, to describe himself and that’s what you’ll hear.  NexxLinx provides an innovative technology solution for the call center industry, and he sees the core of his role in terms of making sure the technology infrastructure is in place to support call center best practices.

One of the things about this interview most fascinating to me was Farsi’s first action in his current role.  Follow the logic – it’s quite instructive.  He quickly concluded  that recruiting and retaining highly qualified call center agents were the key success factors.  Given that, he reached out to the HR VP, then collaborated to implement a system to do just that.  While the wisdom of that focus is obvious after the fact, seeing the need up front – quickly – was anything but.

To paraphrase Nick, assess the current situation in terms of business goals, then build systems and solutions to exploit the strengths and address the weaknesses.  He also emphasized the importance of meeting with clients.  They pay the bills, so who could possibly understand the current situation and most pressing requirements better?

Although Farsi sees himself as a technologist at heart, he never steps an inch away from his belief that a CIO must be a good business person first – a business person that happens to know a lot about technology.  That thought led to another…  If technology is your true love stick with it!  Don’t deprive your organization of a great technologist and instead give it a lousy manager.

A few key tidbits for those who aspire to be CIO?

  • Become a great business person
  • Read a lot.  Attend technical conferences.  (Remember, you’re a business person who happens to know a lot about technology.)
  • Hire people who already know the technologies key to your business
  • Train your team constantly!
  • Take risks

Don’t miss listening to this one.  There’s a lot more insight to be heard!

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Keith Cooley of Oversight Systems

April 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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Keith Cooley, EVP of Engineering for Oversight Systems loves that fact that he’s been able to invest an entire career in IT and software companies.  He notes that early in his work life, he never had to convince the CEO that IT was important.  That freed up his time to focus on making the technology work.

Obviously, it’s different today.  All CEO’s are familiar with not only the technology, but how it can be – must be – applied.  That said, technology is constantly and rapidly changing, and someone pursuing an IT career needs to account for that.  Keith advises against “getting pigeon-holed” in a specific arena.  He warns against being the only one with “the deep knowledge,” thereby getting stuck.  …unless of course, that’s what you want.

He also believes that for the most part, IT career planning has not changed all that much.  It’s always been a matter of figuring out how to apply the latest technological advances to solving ever more complex and challenging business issues.  His spin on the evolution of DP Manager – fairly low in the organization – to CIO – at the table with the senior management team is instructive.

For me, the most interesting part of the conversation revolved around the nature of the problems one likes to solve and how personal interests affect your chances of making it to the C-Suite.  According to Keith, you have to like problems that are both bigger than you and also too hard to solve alone.  That is, problems that require a whole team of people to solve.

We touched on a host of other issues as well.  Stick with one company?  Focus on one to two year projects?  Be a specialist or generalist?  Listen and learn!

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Doug Engle: “It’s the opportunities that you present yourself with.”

March 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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The career path of Doug Engle, CIO of the GA Department of Juvenile Justice, is testament to the effectiveness of his “find opportunity” philosophy.  It’s also reflected in the fact that he got a degree in business at a time when IT folks didn’t often do that.  Doug’s perspective on the need for a business mind, a strong foundation in finance and most importantly a focus on customer service, is clearly right on target.

The path an aspiring CIO needs go through to make it?  Engle believes almost any path will do.  He feels one should get deep in one specific skill first, and then as a manager, to surround yourself with the right people.  Being able to identify those willing to “get into the sandbox and play with the whole team” is key.  He also feels it’s important to urge your team to be creative, while at the same time letting them know what the expectations are and holding them accountable.

Doug’s views on communications skills, setting realistic expectations and his perspective on his own career turning point on a project for the Navy Reserve are great food for thought.  Finally, you don’t want to miss his thoughts about technology that’s coming down the pike and the unusual requirements and challenges posed by the juvenile justice environment.

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It’s all about shareholder impact

March 23, 2012 By 1 Comment

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Throughout this entire interview, Peter Appleyard kept referencing the obvious key to his success.  It’s all about creating a positive impact on shareholder value.

To make that happen, people skills are most important.  Peter suggests a focus on learning how things operate in your organization – how things get done.  How do different parts of the organization inter-operate?  Observe!  Then match your style appropriately.  If decisions are made via formal presentations, make formal presentations.   If they’re made using a white board, get skilled at using a white board.  Fit the culture.

“Schools don’t teach you people skills.”

Now, there’s something to keep in mind early in a career!  Identifying skill gaps and mentoring are important from the start and remain so.  Appleyard also suggests gaining a deep understanding of Situational Leadership.  He notes how powerful it can be in establishing yourself in a new organization.

How do you decide what your career end-goal is?  First recognize that not everybody can or should even aspire to be a CIO.  If politics and gamesmanship put you off, why put yourself through the “antics and agony” of the boardroom?

On the upside?  There is tremendous satisfaction in taking an idea, selling it, delivering it and having it be a success with significant impact on shareholder value.

Bottom line advice:  Hone your people and leadership skills (including labor laws), become adept at project management, understand how the executive mind works, know all the details and nuances of the finances and never, ever lose sight of the value you add to your organization.

Peter Appleyard, now retired, was CIO of Crowncrafts in Atlanta, Senior Partner for Executive Solution Providers and held a wide variety of executive and management positions in IT.

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Maureen Waindle: Executive Search 101

March 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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Sooner or later, as you move up in an IT career, you’re going to need to interact with executive search firms.   Knowing how they operate, what they’re looking for and what they consider to be “red flags” is therefore essential.

Enter Maureen Waindle to get you started.  Hear about her background, and it becomes immediately obvious that she has been very successful managing her own career and has the work experience to help others do the same.  How to get on the radar of an exec search firm?  Get your resume out there, and “become known.”  As Maureen put it, “You’re going to need a referral” to get yourself established with an executive search firm.  To accomplish that, “You need to be mature in your career.”

Did you know that hiring companies expect to have 6-8 ready-to-be-evaluated, vetted candidates in two weeks?  Think about that…  With competition that intense, you better have all your ducks in a row; and probably be ready to relocate.

What does an executive search firm look for?  Start with executive presence, deep industry knowledge, a strong technical background and people skills.  Respect of superiors, colleagues and subordinates is essential.  And there’s more!

Listen to the full interview to learn more about politics, “chemistry,” other essential competencies indispensable to successful IT career management.

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A “Digital Mentor” for the IT Professional

March 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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It’s no secret that virtually all C-level executives attribute a good bit of their personal success to great mentors; people who provided ongoing advice and career planning counsel.  The problem for many IT professionals though, is the almost total lack of legitimate career planning resources.

There is no book about IT Career Planning.

Enter Jim Biles, Vice President of Recruiting for The Proven Method.  IT Career Path Radio is his brainchild, and he’s determined to “write that book.”  Based on lessons learned as a recruiter for the US Marine Corps, Jim has built a process for “helping Lieutenants become Generals.”  The show is specifically designed for on-the-rise IT professionals and managers, and will grow into an easy-to-listen-to collection of valuable, career enhancing insight.  As Jim puts it, “Each episode will feature people who have actually done it.”

Subscribe now, and learn about the common patterns of work experience and traits that make a CIO.

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