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The Higher You Go

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The higher you go, the cooler it becomes. Really? Let us begin from first principles. This is a maxim we learnt in geography about the weather. Having come a long way in our professions and careers, can we really say it has been cooler over the years as we ascended the corporate ladder? Even at that,, how can we sensibly apply the Higher You Go principle in the way we work, and the way we live?

Has it certainly been cooler for you over the years as you climbed higher? The higher the cooler may work in geography or in atmospheric conditions, but certainly not in conditions of work, the professions, vocations, family and relationships. It is so because of mounting responsibilities, challenges, economic and social problems.

Maybe it has certainly not been cooler for you. If it has been, then you are a superstar. While there may be some consistency in geographical conditions, it is not necessarily so in economic and social conditions. In geography, it may just be true that the higher you go, the cooler. In the professions, you may be up today, and down tomorrow. Either way it gets hotter.

And so to remain cool, should you stagnate? No. You need to be upwardly mobile to improve your fortunes and the quality of life for you and your family. But you need to consistently do a number of things to make it cooler as you go higher. You just have to do so because the challenges of leadership and the hassles of remaining competitive in the marketplace are becoming overwhelming in Nigeria now. The higher you go..

Everything has an atmosphere. For your personality, it is called aura or charisma. This personal atmosphere can pull or repel using interplay of forces with other persons or objects. Metallic objects that do so are called magnets.

Atmospheric conditions such as hot, cold, harsh, winter or summer are real for tangibles and intangibles. Growing up and making progress in life, business and work also have atmosphere. And so the challenge for you as a manager is to emulate nature and make your atmosphere and others, cooler as you go higher in life and your profession.

You need to chill your atmosphere of going higher so that you can live long and be more productive. For professionals, businessmen and women, it is certainly getting hotter. And many are dying or getting terminally ill in their 30s, 40s, and 50s largely because of high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, kidney failure, automobile accidents, assassinations and others. Check out the obituary pages of newspapers, you will see a familiar caption: Gone too soon. Then a tribute, followed by names of Committee of Friends. Then the pay off- barrangements as announced by the family. Who wants to die young? Certainly not me. The higher you go...

You don’t want to be a victim, then chill your atmosphere. The critical question for you now is: How cool or hot is your present state of working and living? Cool. Congratulations. Please maintain the status quo so that you may live long and it shall be well with you. Hot. You must act fast and begin to chill your atmosphere as nature does...

So how can you chill your working condition? Adopt what I call the Compressor Strategy. If possible, be a compressor. Doing so enables you to increase and multiply using considerable less space, time and energy to achieve more.

To understand this better, take a look at all the electrical appliances in your home that chill, your refrigerator, air conditioners and others. They all have one thing in common, a gadget called a compressor. What does it do? Powered by electricity, it compresses a special gas that circulates, causing condensation which transforms the gas to liquid droplets. When that happens, temperature drops, heat is reduced, and the atmosphere becomes cooler. That is essentially what the air conditioner does. It circulates and chills the air simultaneously.

So why don’t you begin to compress all your circulating thoughts, ways, methods, and actions. The way you work and live, why don’t you simplify and compress them, chill your atmosphere and make life easier for yourself, your business and your family?

See how technology makes working and living easier with new developments. Any improvement in that field shortens, space, volume, improves speed and productivity, and simplifies work. The coming of the computer has achieved this. Tons of data that were once stored in huge volumes of files, shelves and cabinets are now conveniently stored and retrieved in diskettes, CD ROMs, and flash discs.

What started as mainframe computers have been reduced to laptops? That is compression and simplicity. So how simple is your lifestyle, your work, and the way you run your business. How simple are your products and services, work process, even production process? Are they cumbersome, or has everything been compressed, reduced in time, length, and volume? How simple are your brands for consumers to understand and use? For instance, insurance companies operating with complex wordings of their policies written in very tiny prints, are you listening? Do your policies make buying of insurance policies simpler or more difficult? What about your communication lines, chain of authority and command in your organization, are they compressed or simplified or they are circuitous, of many layers?

If you are a CEO, General Manager or Senior Manager, have you compressed your work processes and the way you communicate with junior staff? Are you one of those bosses that believe so much in line management: You must relate to me through your boss?

Every Monday morning, you hold endless management meetings to stem the dwindling fortunes of your organization in the market place. The business temperature is rising, heating up the atmosphere for your company. The higher you go, the cooler it becomes- that is if you are a leader and not a boss. There is a difference. Leaders command respect and have disciples whom they groom, care for, and give a future. When they do so, the corporate atmosphere is cool. Not so for bosses. They shout and heat up the system with rigidity and arm twisting tactics. They demand loyalty, and are grudgingly followed by unrepentant and complaining workers.

Nothing heats up a system like complaining workers. They poison the atmosphere. Even almighty God does not tolerate complaining followers. That was why he chose Moses, a man with a large heart, tested by age and experience, to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt through the desert to their promised land. And it is also why, when God wants to use you for any great work, he first of all crushes and compresses you in the school of wilderness experience, because He knows that without humility, you will make things hotter for your followers as you go higher.

And so dear professional, how large is your heart? How humble are you? Do you serve to lead (servant hood), or do you lead to rob (robbing hood)? Call any leader today, a server, oh, he will quarrel with you Yet watch every IT installation, without the server, nothing works. What managers need now is not leader-ship training, but servant-ship training?

As a professional, leader, CEO, manager, supervisor, stop heating up the system. You have a responsibility to make it cooler, not just for you, but for others as well. My charge to you is this: be a compressor, humble yourself, have a large heart that has no room for pettiness, serve, motivate, simplify, and put your trust in God.

Do these and you can confidently harmonize your ways and means with geography which tell us that, The Higher You Go, The Cooler It Becomes.

Guest post written by Stuart Ngai, Director of Technology Solutions, VERAX

Having worked in software development in the engineering and financial sectors through several technology eras, one thing strikes me the most is how often top notch IT professionals just get burned out by the fast pace of technology advances. As an educator, development manager, and technology driver for many years, it has been my passion to help our IT staff to keep up in light of global competition. On the previous episode of the AlignIT Manager Tech Talk, I shared with the audience my advice on how IT managers can play an important role in their team’s training. I would like to summarize a few important aspects to keep in mind when it comes to planning and managing training for your staff. 

It’s an investment that pays off

Sure, everyone is very busy these days. And most IT managers have long days in addition to the constant bombardment of mobile messages. However, if you neglect to put a good effort to nurture your IT staff, it will come back to bite you in the form of low employee morale, low productivity, high turnover, and lack of innovation to name a few. Thus, preventive steps on a consistent basis is essential to keep a healthy workforce working for you. So take the time to nurture your valuable IT staff.

Upper management buy-in is a must

Now that you’ve been reminded of the importance of nurturing your staff, is that enough? My experience tells me that unless you also get your boss to recognize and help drive this important aspect of being a manager, it might be an uphill battle you’ll be taking all on your own shoulders. So do spend time to keep the benefits of training front and center with your boss amongst many “must do’s�. Having well trained IT staff will not only benefit both you and your boss in achieving and exceeding your deliverable objectives while creating a great work environment for all.

The 10% allocation rule

So you and your boss are persuaded. But how much should be set aside for investing in people without affecting your capacity to deliver? Well, many IT businesses tend to be cyclical and you should definitely take advantage of the downtime for training. But by default, use the 10% time allocation rule over the course of the year to ensure reasonable time is dedicated for your IT staff to up keep their skills. Now, that doesn’t directly translate to a 10% reduction in productivity. There are a number of ways you can afford to keep with the 10% rule without breaking your bank. So read on.

Know strategic directions for your company and industry

Great, your boss is on board and you’ve set a budget aside. What’s next? Well, just like you don’t get on a highway before deciding where you are going, you need to know the strategic focus of your company and trends in your industry before you start planning with your staff. As an example, I recently purchased a state of the art, air-thin laptop for my son for his university study away from home even though I know it doesn’t run all the fancy shooting games that he loves on his desktop at home. As a result, he now has a sleek laptop that’s the envy of his friends while he’s getting top marks because he doesn’t waste hours shooting at colourful pixels. Mean dad you say; may be. But he ends up ahead with his leading edge gadget while happy getting top marks in university – just have to borrow his friends’ clunky desktops for the occasional thrills. Likewise, as an IT manager, you need to know what’s good for your company and where the industry is heading before entertaining any training requests.

Listen to your staff

Now you are aware of the direction of your company and industry. Time to sit down with your staff to listen. Knowing everyone’s different, you definitely need to spend time listening carefully to the areas that they feel they need to beef up while you let them know the direction that’s important for your company and what you see as the important trends in your industry. Help them focus on some concrete and measureable goals so as to keep a focus on the objectives. Do encourage creativity from your staff in terms of learning style so to maximize the benefits based on your budget.

To be continued next Monday.

Share Your Thoughts

How do you go about planning and managing training for your staff? Do you have any pointers or advice for others? Join the conversation in the AlignIT for Infrastructure and Development Managers group on LinkedIn.

Stuart Ngai

Stuart Ngai, Director of Technology Solutions at VERAX, is an IT professional with over 25 years of experience. As a development manager, lead enterprise architect, and a Senior Leadership Member, Stuart has led the delivery of many leading edge systems through several technology eras and guided many IT professionals in enriching and re-energizing their careers. With 7 years teaching software courses at Seneca College of Applied Sciences followed by another 7 years teaching software engineering courses for the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto, personal development through perpetual training has been a theme in which Stuart helped many IT professionals to achieve and sustain their career growth. Stuart is a certified P. Eng. and PMP with a Masters degree in Engineering from McGill University and a management degree from McGill's School of Management. He has been with the software consulting firm VERAX Solutions Corporation in Toronto since 1993 focusing on building strong delivery teams and delivering results to their customers in the financial sector.

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