CIO OPINION
When recruiting for my team , curiosity to learn and develop is a key trait I look for . After all , the functional skills you have today could be rendered obsolete in just a few years . So rather than focusing on IT skill sets , I want people who can demonstrate a desire to learn the new and evolve with the times .
Mastering agility
Like emotional intelligence , agility is a necessity . Not only from a workplace perspective to help people work together more efficiently and collaboratively , but also the ability to embrace emotional agility , and deal with changes and challenges thrown your way on the daily .
As new technological developments , such as AI , enter the workforce , IT teams need to be primed to solve and overcome new challenges , learning on the spot . Learning emotional agility will help you to take a step back when faced with hard decisions . Rather than reacting based on emotion , you can gather your thoughts , assess the team ’ s values and goals , and then decide based on careful consideration as opposed to reactionary instinct .
In addition to adapting and strategising with new technology , an IT professional ’ s job is centred around preventing , and potentially , dealing with cyberattacks . Cybersecurity and data protection are both highly sensitive and business-critical issues that carry serious consequences if threatened . IT professionals are trusted in these moments of crisis to exercise emotional intelligence and agility to make quick but measured decisions in a scenario with naturally heightened emotions .
Considering your colleagues
Implementing new technologies can often have a very real impact on your colleagues . Some will be excited to trial new tech , while others will be apprehensive of its role in the business or concerned about its ability to help with the task at hand . Emotions , cultural differences and politics will affect how a colleague reacts . Emotional intelligence will help you manage the team around you and their expectations of you and the IT available to them .
Building strong relationships with colleagues will help you to listen , understand , and communicate with key stakeholders , ultimately prioritising the needs of colleagues when liaising with decision-makers on the technology required . Just garnering a strong IT functional knowledge is no longer enough .
Being open to the journey
As IT professionals face a future of learning and adapting to new technology while continuously balancing the needs of their colleagues , being open to new experiences and perspectives is imperative .
Mastering emotional intelligence , agility and curiosity , will enable you to harness new technologies quickly while considering the human and business impact – with the bonus of building your resilience and ability to handle stress , a necessity in IT too . p
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