Guiding Principles for Technology Leaders

Mark Leech, Director, Department of Technology and Innovation, City of Albuquerque

Mark Leech, Director, Department of Technology and Innovation, City of Albuquerque

Whether it is facing the opportunities and challenges of advancing AI trends or stepping into the rollercoaster of political change, we’re working in exciting times right now!  As technology leaders, it is important to periodically pause and check in with ourselves and our teams to reflect on how we are set to encounter major transformations. What follows is taken from our initial discussion with potential employees joining the Department of Technology and Innovation (DTI) at the City of Albuquerque.

Do the Right Thing

As IT professionals, we have incredible power within our organization and have reached this point in our careers through many different paths.  Some of us are “hard-core” technologists who have done nothing else other than technology for our whole career. For others, the path was more convoluted and covered more than one career. The point is that we’re here now in a position where we can have a profound effect on the lives of our co-workers and residents.

 We need to make sure that we always use this power for good. In other words, all decisions need to be made from a point of moral correctness. Sometimes doing the right thing requires moral courage to take the first step.

Respect 

There are many kinds of respect, but let’s concentrate on two key points:

1. Everyone in our organization deserves your respect, whether they are in roles above or below you or at a peer-to-peer level. Rapid responses in a changing environment mean uncertainty about who in your organization will come up with the next solution. Our job as leaders is to ensure our teams feel free enough to be creative and that we are receptive to new ideas.

2. Respect the lives of the residents that we impact. Ultimately, they are our stakeholders. Directly or indirectly, they are also the final consumers of our product and service. We should also keep one question in mind—does the product that we create truly respect our customers?

“As technology leaders, it is important to periodically pause and check in with ourselves and our teams to reflect on how we are set to encounter major transformations.”

Excel

Being the best you can be is so much more than attending courses or leading a complex project. Here in DTI, “excelling” is a self-reflective process—I’m not telling someone else to “go and excel." Instead, it’s a mindset that you choose to apply every minute of the day. “Do I choose to turn up with my game head-on and give today the best shot I can?”

Remember the Person

It’s easy to get wrapped up in being an “Android phone expert,” a “PeopleSoft ERP Team,” or a “Windows Shop." In the end, these are false labels because they describe our value in terms of things that will change or even cease to exist. Our cell phone vendor might change, and our ERP system will be replaced eventually, even Windows, with something even better. Instead, we need to remember that behind every process in City Hall, there is a resident trying to get something done.

As you commute to and from work, take a moment to look at the ways in which local government interacts with our community. Examples include fire and rescue teams attending a scene, children playing in a park, trees lining our streets, the professional murals on our walls, the signs posted of new film productions in town, small businesses opening up shop, a family walking their dog, airplanes flying overhead or a van of seniors headed to their next destination.

Part of the reason we love and excel in our tech careers is because it is ever-evolving. Learning, discovering, and implementing innovations are why we are leaders in our teams. The employees of our organization and community residents look to us to not only keep up with technology but build on new advances. Although this needs a level of personal commitment and investment, the reward is that it also provides a solid foundation when everything else changes.

ERP

AI