GET TO KNOW overseas colleagues for many years , it ’ s great to see the massive leaps in collaboration tools and functionality that these efforts support .
If you could go back and change one career decision , what would it be ? the wider picture and making all teams feel valued leads to a far better end-result .
What behaviour or personality trait do you most attribute your success to , and why ?
IT ’ S REALLY IMPORTANT TO CONSISTENTLY LISTEN TO PEOPLE ’ S CONCERNS AND FEEDBACK – NOT FOR KNEE-JERK REACTIONS BUT SO THAT ANY ISSUES IN TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY CAN BE STEERED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION .
I should have taken more risks earlier on – the quote ‘ perfection is the enemy of progress ’ now really resonates with me . Part of the challenge , and fun , of the role is knowing when to hold back and when to take the risk .
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain a C-level position in your industry ?
Collaboration is key . It ’ s very easy to only consider what your team requires rather than how a choice could benefit multiple teams simultaneously .
This quickly leads to a disconnected set of systems and a loss of productivity . Understanding
It ’ s really important to consistently listen to people ’ s concerns and feedback – not for kneejerk reactions but so that any issues in technology strategy can be steered in the right direction .
What ’ s your go-to productivity trick ?
My strategy is to regularly review and re-prioritise my to do list into manageable items of work based upon the urgency and difficulty of the tasks . I then focus on one task at a time to avoid having to context switch .
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months ?
Technology usage is only going to grow and with that the CTO ’ s role will undoubtedly become more complex to ensure that it aligns with business goals . To keep up , I think that it will be more common to see multiple CTO roles with alignment to key areas . x
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