1. What We Learned MOR IT Leaders Program 2016
Dan - Introduction & Setting the Stage
Thank you Anne for making time for us on your agenda today (introduce myself and other MOR colleagues/presenters)
We’d like share a few of the leadership concepts we learned in the MOR IT Leaders program. We hope this will be one step towards sharing these concepts more broadly with the larger IT community at Harvard so we can begin to build a common vocabulary. We plan to leave some time at the end of our presentation for questions, discussion, and to get your feedback. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the MOR program, I’d like to provide a brief overview outlining the program components and structure.

2. MOR IT Leaders Program Design
Workshop Track
Applied Learning Track
Individual Development Track
Building Leadership Community Track
Dan
Workshop track
Cohorts from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Cornell participated in 2016 MOR cohort (~35 people)
Four 3-day workshops at Stanford, Yale, Princeton and Harvard; two virtual meet-ups in May and August
Applied learning - strong focus on putting our skills to work and integrating them into our everyday practices
Individual development - receiving feedback from a 360° survey process, completing a self-assessment, participating in one-on-one coaching sessions, committing to individual development plan.
Building Leadership Community - considerable emphasis on relying on each other, learning from each other, and depending on each other to make these lessons learned sustainable beyond the program end date.

3. Relationships never just happen
Initiate
Inquire
Invest
Influence
Dan
In the MOR program, one of the first maxims we learned was “Relationships are the coin of the realm”. We all need to form strong partnerships and working relationships to achieve our strategic goals. The MOR program provided the “4-Is” framework as a tool for building relationships. The 4-Is is a progression of engagement from “initiate” through “influence”. You must take the initiative to connect with people, spend the time to learn about who they are, and invest in the development these relationships before you can reach the “influence” stage.
Harvard-specific examples:
leveraging relationships with my 2016 MOR colleagues
building relationships between schools and HUIT service owners
Harvard Engagement survey: the 4 I’s may be a way to help people connect in more meaningful ways

4. Get comfortable being uncomfortable
Carolyn
Provide example that being a subject matter expert today does not automatically make you a leader
“What got you here won’t get you there” (moving from individual contributor to a leader – don’t regress to your old ways)
Confront your fears head-on
Talk about leadership versus management

5. Change is a process, not an event
Carolyn
Shift towards “change readiness” versus “change management” - setting up structures to recognize change is inevitable and should not be a herculean event to implement
- Reference – change-readiness checklist on HUIT Intranet
(Note: Carolyn - I just added this flowchart as a placeholder. Feel free to change to another image if you like! ~DH)

6. Vision without execution is a daydream.
Erica: Strategic Planning so … be focused on outcomes and use strategic planning to brainstorm ideas with your team on how to get there.
Vision without action is a day dream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

7. Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
Erica: Successful strategies draw on the strengths of the culture.
Instead of starting with the idea of changing the culture, start with the issues the organization faces.
Then consider which aspects of the culture can aid in resolving the issues.

8. The purpose of feedback is future behavior.
Feedback is gift
The purpose of feedback is future behavior.
Bill So… create opportunities to get feedback for yourself and your direct reports. And provide the gift of feedback, both positive and negative, by asking permission first. As with any gift, give it in a timely manner. Also, be precise and future-focused.
Bill: Coaching. So… coach your direct reports so they may better solve their own problems, especially in their areas of delegated responsibility.
(The purpose of coaching is to encourage improved effectiveness in others.)
Conclude with “+/delta” exercise

9. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
2015 Cohort
Bill Bradley HUIT
Beth Clark HBS
Ellen Gulachenski HUIT
Tammie Lombardo HLS
Kristin Sullivan HKS
Alan Wolf HUIT
2016 Cohort
Dave Aznavoorian HBS
Erica Bradshaw HUIT
Carolyn Brzezinski HUIT
Maria Curcio HUIT
Dan Hawkins HDS
David Morgan HMS
2017 Cohort
Deane Eastwood Chan School
Dave Goodrich HBS
Katie Kilroy HUIT
Steve Martino HUIT
Chris Pringle HBS
Dianne Stronach HUIT
Bill:
In our MOR training, we have learned the parts of leadership, taking with us specific tools and applying them to specific needs, and we have worked to synthesize those parts into a more effective whole. Leadership is not only about drawing upon these concepts and tools, but it is about who you are, what you do, and your ability to inspire others to realize the organization’s vision.
But beyond our improvements as individual people, we have also built a network of incredible colleagues, whom we’ve called upon to share ideas, find solutions, advise and care. We have learned from MOR and we’ve learned from each other.
Continued meeting of the Harvard MOR Cohorts; looking for additional opportunities to apply what we’ve learned; continuing with peer coaching