LFCE White Paper Gets an "A" From Business Community and the Press
LFCE’s white paper, "Unleash the Business Potential of Your Technical Experts," is getting a warm reception from the business press. Content and excerpts are scheduled to appear in CIO Magazine online, the Academic Sourcebook published by R&D Magazine, and HR Executive Magazine.
IT expert Bill Ferreria, President & Publisher, National Highway Carriers Directory — and a member of the LFGSM Business Advisory Council — maintains that LFCE’s white paper is right on target for business today. “I was very impressed with LFCE’s research. It validates the experiences I’ve had in my own business career. This white paper is a valuable resource for any IT organization.”
In creating the white paper, the LFCE team interviewed more than 35 senior-level executives in IT, engineering, and science from companies such as Abbott, Allstate, Grainger, Hospira, Motorola, PepsiCo, Schick, Sun Microsystems, and Zebra Technologies. These executives' perspectives on the transition from functional expert to high-level business leader include insights into the demands placed upon technical professionals, new skills needed, and how companies are adapting to ensure that individuals gain these new skills.
In today’s global economy, functional experts must learn to be business people, too. Doing so will lead them not only to greater personal career success, but to greater success for their organizations. From the research findings, LFCE created the highly successful Business Leadership Certificate Program for IT Professionals.
The following are excerpts from the white paper:
Different times, different skills, different successes. To compete more effectively in today’s business environment, companies must eliminate costs, think globally, move more quickly to market, and operate more efficiently. In doing so, businesses must rely more heavily on functional specialists with strong business acumen. Unfortunately, this combination of talent is hard to find.
Greg Young, CEO of CorePharma, LLC, observes, “Technical functions tend to attract people who are not extroverted. You have a lot of people who are linear thinkers who understand what they are doing but not how that fits into the rest of the world.”
What skill areas should businesses focus on? Five competency areas are critical to business success:
- Interpersonal and communication
- Negotiation
- Financial
- Strategic thinking
- Project management skills
"A whole host of skills merit focus and attention, even something like negotiation skills,” explains Brian Svenkeson, VP and Release Team Lead for Enterprise Processes and Systems, PepsiCo, Inc. “You need to be able to talk to and negotiate with people in other functions.”
What’s the best way to develop your technical talent? LFCE’s research recommends several options for developing functional professionals:
- Hands-on experience: Nothing beats experience; challenge your comfort level by taking on new responsibilities
- Coaching and mentoring: Get guidance from a knowledgeable, objective mentor while you pursue specific performance goals.
- Professional development and training: Gain critical business skills through formal programs designed to raise your competency, fast.
- Pursuing an MBA: Get the business credentials your business counterparts already have.
Catherine S. Brune, Senior VP and CIO, Allstate Insurance Company, explains her strong support of mentoring. “The beauty of it is candor. I try to mentor people outside my department or even outside my company. By setting up the relationship this way, we can have a conversation that’s ‘safe’ and work through any issues openly.”
Leading the charge: It’s everyone’s business. The ultimate responsibility for creating a successful career path must come from the individual. But a smart organization—from managers to human resources and up through the “C-Level”—will motivate and support technical talent development for improved business results.
To download a copy of this white paper, go here.
