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Building a Team From Scratch
When the NCAA moved from Kansas City to Indianapolis, many of the organization’s employees chose to stay behind -- including the entire IT staff. Thus, after physically moving IT to a new facility in a new city (unpacking and sleeping in sleeping bags), Winter, then the managing director of IT, turned her focus to building a new team, hire by hire.
In one sense, Winter says now, starting with a clean slate was liberating. “You lose that ‘it’s the way we’ve always done it’ argument,” she explains. The conflict that often arises from resistance to change wasn’t there. It also offered opportunities to introduce new technologies, such as building the NCAA’s Web presence.
Neither, however, was any reference point for team cohesion. By definition there was no cohesion, no team culture, no traditions. Winter had to create that culture in addition to the team itself, which is tricky given the individual nature of hiring. “I just gambled that I’d hired the right set of personality matches,” she says. “It’s a delicate balance between hiring people who are different from you but who also fit within the team.”
A sensible leader knows when a project is too huge and too critical for one person. In her case, Winter called in leadership consultant Lou Russell to help her make a team out of the individuals she hired.
Russell is an enthusiastic proponent of DISC, a Jungian-based behavioral assessment method that considers an individual’s levels of dominance; influence or inducement; steadiness or stability; and compliance, conscientiousness, or caution. Russell’s approach employs the DISC assessment, after a prerequisite 360-degree or other type of assessment, paired with PIAV (personal interests, attitudes, and values). According to this method, the results should provide individuals clarity on their preferred behaviors or views, including their concern for tasks, people, urgency, and diligence; adapted behaviors as they differ from preferred behaviors; and motivators.
Winter credits Russell’s contributions with helping her map out her team members’ areas of compatibility along with their individual strengths, to achieve that critical balance in the team makeup. After a brief shakeout period, Winter’s IT department coalesced within a year.
CIO as Visionary
Three jobs and two CIO positions later, Winter is again at the helm of ambitious new technology plans for a renowned sports organization. The IMS is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and not only is it home to the Indy 500 among other racing events, but it hosted Formula One (the second-most popular sport in the world) during the United States Grand Prix from 2000 to 2007. The first year drew 225,000, a Formula One attendance record. And the organization never had a CIO until last month, when Winter arrived.
The newly created New Media & Consumer Strategies department will consolidate the new-media activities of IMS and the Indy Racing League, including public and internal Web sites, online retail operations and ticketing, the Indy Downforce fan club, and media Web sites and credentials. Under the CIO’s territory, it’s an example of how smart IT decisions can enlarge an organization’s value and growth opportunities -- what originally drew the business-trained Winter to IT. For the most successful execution, the plan needs a vision driving it.
Indeed, IMS President and CEO Jeff Belskus noted the need for an IT visionary. “Providing clear focus and vision for the ever-growing role of information technology is a priority for this company,” he said in announcing Winter’s appointment.
For Winter, who reports to Belskus, there couldn’t be better auspices for her new job. “CIOs,” she believes, “are most successful when reporting to the CEO. The CIO has to have an understanding of the CEO’s vision” in order to form an appropriate, compatible vision for IT.
Having been hired by IMS to be a visionary CIO, what exactly is Winter’s definition of a visionary CIO? It extends well beyond being proactive. Anticipating problems is not enough; adding value through IT is not enough. “Visionary,” to Winter, occupies a different, higher echelon of leadership. “A visionary CIO,” says Winter, “is one who can see the next generation of the business and imagine the possibilities that picture might include.”
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