Technology Leadership - Insights

7/22/23, 2:52 PM (16) Technology Leadership - Insights | LinkedIn
16
Get 50% Of
Home My Network Jobs Messaging Notifications Me For Business Nav
Edit article
View stats
View post
Technology Leadership
- Insights
Ketan Palicha
3 articles
CIO at AGC Automotive Americas
May 30, 2022
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to share practical insights

with peers and organizations in their journey to create high
performing and lean IT organizations.
Personal Perspective
“Experience is The Best Teacher”: Sharing insights from

over three (3) decades of experience in technology
leadership positions in different industry verticals. The goal
is to share my experiences to supplement your experiential
learning to avoid common pitfalls and not recreating the
wheel. I am going to share facts based on my experience
without sugar-coating to make them more attractive or
palatable.
Practical Insights
1. Vision
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/technology-leadership-insights-ketan-palicha/?trackingId=elfAWrAPTr%2BIDMpQdF6lkA%3D%3D 1/5
Great technology leaders see beyond day-to-day demands

and set their sights on improving processes, workflows,
and optimizing the business by recommending adoption of
appropriate technology advancements. They have a solid
grasp of organization’s business goals, business
environment and where improvements need to be made.
They are up to speed on technology advancements,
solutions and trends that can be successfully adopted
within the organization (not Hype Cycle) to define a clear
and compelling IT Vision. A common mistake leader’s make
is being lured away from their objectives by trendy
technologies, without being able to measure what those
technologies’ real business value might be or how they will
support the mission. IT Vision is communicated clearly via
Enterprise Architecture components – Organization
Architecture, Business Architecture, Application
Architecture, Information Architecture and Technology
Architecture. A rolling 2-3 years IT Vision communicated via
Enterprise Architecture at an appropriate level (concise) is
mandatory to provide essential clarity.
2. Promoting, Attracting and Retaining Talent
The best workers do the best and the most work. Most
companies do a poor job of finding and keeping them. It’s
remarkable how much more productivity an organization
gets from top talent in complex occupations like
information technology. High performers are an astounding
125% to 800% more productive (Source: McKinsey Global
Survey: War for Talent”). A small team of A+ players can run
circles around a giant team of B and C players. It is critical
to have right leadership for each of the key pillars of
Enterprise Architecture implementation (Business Process,
Application, Information and Technology). These must be
hands-on leaders with solid expertise in each of these
domains, quick learners with ability to grow and have the
necessary soft skills. These A+ players need to be
competitively compensated along with empowerment and
opportunities for growth & advancement. IT organization
structure and compensation packages must be setup
appropriately. Unfortunately, for most organizations, it is far
easier to get additional head-counts approved than it is to
change established compensation levels. However, for

complex knowledge work this is counter-productive. #1
reason why organization does not have right leadership in
key positions is because bold decisions to promote the
right and best people cannot be made by insecure leaders.
Insecure leaders see the smartest and highest-achieving
people around them as threats. An insecure leader can
effectively stunt the growth of an entire organization within
its responsibility area. Also, bold decisions necessary to
effect organizational changes require altering the status-
quo that has been in place for several years within the
organization.
3. Trust
Trust is a two-way street, and the ability to build trust within

a team is vital for any leader. When workers feel like their
work is important and their opinions valued, they work
harder and a bond of mutual trust is developed between
employer and employee. As a leader, you need to be able to
delegate effectively, and giving your team the trust and
support they need to make their own decisions will
engender feelings of appreciation and recognition, which
has been shown to inspire increased productivity.
Trust is the cornerstone of any successful team. It takes

time to build it effectively, but it’s worth investing that time
in getting to know your team members so you can help
them play to their strengths. Technology employees not
only need to be trusted, they also need to feel that they can
trust their managers. They are motivated by leaders who
serve the best interests of the company, its employees and
its customers. IT professionals want to feel that their
leaders are concerned less about being right than about
doing the right thing. As a leader, you will be judged by your
actions rather than by your words. Enthusiasm is
infectious. Leaders who are genuinely positive can’t help
but motivate others.
4. Outsourcing
Your Enterprise Architecture will enable identifying key

capabilities and skills necessary. One of the most critical
decision is to decide which key capabilities and skills will

be built internally as well as skills that can be effectively
outsourced. This needs to be clearly defined and formally
communicated at all levels within the IT organization. This
ensures that IT associates have a clear understanding of
capabilities and skills they need to develop in alignment
with IT outsourcing strategy.
5. Leverage human skills at all levels of the

organization
Another mistake is failing to map the skills in the

organization and not ensuring that teams have the right
skills in place. For example, it can be a mistake to have too
many skills in one area and not enough in others, creating
unnecessary bottlenecks.
Leaders need to ensure that there is good balance of skills

and employees across different areas. If they are not able
to find the right skills directly, they need to establish where
they can source them from in the market.
Published by
Ketan Palicha 3 articles
Published • 1y
#technology #informationtechnology #itleadership #leadership
Like Comment Share Babu Venugopal and 15 others

16
Reactions
+4
0 Comments
Add a comment…
Ketan Palicha
More from Ketan Palicha
SAP S/4HANA Deployment SAP S/4HANA and

Options – Practical Insights BI/Analytics - Practical
Insights
Ketan Palicha on LinkedIn
Ketan Palicha on LinkedIn

Technology Leadership - Insights

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Technology Leadership - Insights

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Technology Leadership - Insights

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

7/22/23, 2:52 PM (16) Technology Leadership - Insights | LinkedIn

May 30, 2022

The purpose of this article is to share practical insights

“Experience is The Best Teacher”: Sharing insights from

Great technology leaders see beyond day-to-day demands

2. Promoting, Attracting and Retaining Talent

change established compensation levels. However, for

Trust is a two-way street, and the ability to build trust within

Trust is the cornerstone of any successful team. It takes

Your Enterprise Architecture will enable identifying key

decision is to decide which key capabilities and skills will

5. Leverage human skills at all levels of the

Another mistake is failing to map the skills in the

Leaders need to ensure that there is good balance of skills

#technology #informationtechnology #itleadership #leadership

Like Comment Share Babu Venugopal and 15 others

More from Ketan Palicha

SAP S/4HANA Deployment SAP S/4HANA and

You might also like