Content area
Full text
When a civil engineering company went through layoffs during tough economic times, its 28-year-old project manager suddenly found himself promoted to the company’s top IT role. Just a few years after doing desktop support at the same firm, he was thrust into the position of IT manager, meeting with the CEO and running the show for everything tech.
“At 28, there were a lot of things I didn’t have experience with,” says Chris Cantrell. “At that point I was at the top of the food chain when it came to IT. I used to be the guy who fixed their printer and now they needed to see me in a different light. They needed to see me as a business executive, not as an IT technician.”
So, like a lot of IT people who find themselves taking on corporate leadership roles, Cantrell needed help communicating differently, understanding business needs, building and managing teams, and fostering confidence in his own abilities.
To do all of that, he sought help from an executive coach. And today, he’s not only still at Orlando-based civil engineering and surveying firm DRMP, but he helped it grow out of economic turmoil and is now a member of the company’s C-suite in the role of CIO.
“I learned how to connect with executives,” says Cantrell of his experience enlisting a coach. “Often in IT, you can get stuck focusing on what matters to IT but doesn’t matter to the business. Once I saw those variances, I could reframe the way I talked and thought about business needs. Instead of talking about routers, I talk about what they will do to help our business objectives.”
Cantrell, though, didn’t just learn to talk about business. He learned how to become an executive who helps propel the business with technology — a vital skill for succeeding in the role of CIO today.
The coaching difference
Executive coaching is a professional development tool that utilizes one-on-one sessions in which the coach guides and supports clients to resolve professional issues, cultivate leadership development, and boost areas where they’re lacking. Often lasting three to six months, coaching generally focuses on helping leaders who are in new roles or companies, or are nurturing growth potential.
Executives coaches can aid...