I’ve read many books on Leadership and have developed a style that works for me. That’s not to say it is for everybody, or that I am the be all end all Leader in network administration. I find my Leadership style to be centered on a coaching approach that created intensely loyal staff working toward our common goal. There are many different styles of Leadership and you will need to find the style that best suits you. I can give some advice on things that have worked for me as a Teacher, Network Admin, and General Manager of three different companies. Here are some guiding principals to keep in mind.
1. PEOPLE. Surround yourself with smart people who have a desire to learn. The people you choose for your team are a reflection of YOU. You want people who will give their word, and keep it. People who can play nicely with others. People who follow through on their projects or tasks assigned. There a many people who have technical skills already, but I would take a reliable staff member who needs a bit of training who will provide follow through over a know it all tech any day. You want people who are not afraid to ask questions, but will also stay with a task until the bitter end. Technology is a wonderful place to be, but it isn’t a place for people who give up under adversity.
2. ORGANIZATION. The better organized you can be about your daily routines the better. I am, at heart, NOT an organized person but due to my chosen profession I’ve needed to be. Documentation is everything in this field and unless you can reliably provide oversight into your organization people will not respond to your needs. There are a million tech tools out there to help you with organization. I’ve met dozens of people who move from tech tool to tech tool never fully settling into any one. Find the tools you need then MOVE ON. The more you focus on the tools, the less you focus on the mission. I ran my tech department using a basic Access Database for workorders for YEARS. Yes, there were far better Work Order database management systems out there, but the Access Database was our heart and soul for over 5 years. The solution WAS the organization. I used a work order system to track our daily work. The tool was moot, I chose one and stuck with it. Yes, later when the district moved to a more complete solution my department was a part of the migration, but we “made do” with the Access Database for a long time because it worked and was sufficient to the task.
3. DEMEANOR. Be Friendly and Polite. Yes, to everyone. A network administrator has an important job, and oftentimes we are involved in the investigation of staff, or have to notify superiors of misdeeds. We are called upon frequently for tasks that can at times be onerous and time-consuming. If we get caught up in the daily negativity, it will undermine our positions and staff. By being friendly and polite people will be more amenable to working with us. I can’t tell you how important this seemingly small principal is. I used to tell my staff “Vent INSIDE our walls, but be friendly and polite OUTSIDE. Allow your staff to express their negative feelings as needed with you and amongst themselves but to our clients, customers, or the rest of the staff we present a friendly and polite face.
4. PRACTICES. Let Best Practices be your guide. By having your department follow best practices, you can ensure your approach is research-based and generally in the best interest of your enterprise or business. There are a million places on the internet that discuss best practices for everything so get familiar with those places and the practices. They change from year to year so be a thought leader regarding what works best for your enterprise may not be what works best for ALL best practices but you can make a strategic intentional decision to adhere to Best Practices as one of your core principals.
5. Have fun! You are in a remarkable ever-changing field. If you are the network administrator you have the ability to guide your enterprise in amazing directions. You get to play with all the latest toys first, get to try the best software, experiment, lab test, explore! You are lucky to be in this field so have fun doing it!
There you go, 5 principles. Surround yourself with good people. Be Organized. Be friendly and Polite. Let Best Practices be your Guide.
Have fun doing the things you do everyday. Whew, my job is done!
Recent Comments