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"I am a tiger, I am a tiger" - IT director assertiveness
It's no time to feel put upon...

By editorial@silicon.com

Published: Monday 20 May 2002

When asked to sum up the general feeling at the IT Directors' Forum held last week this writer came up with phrase 'low self-esteem'.

Almost 600 IT directors attended a plethora of workshops and lectures on board the cruise liner Aurora, talking about their jobs deep into three nights, surrounded by gambling chips and whisky.

It all felt a bit like a self-help weekend for stressed people as director after director spoke about being ignored and undervalued within organisations.

In the majority of cases this seemed to be caused by the culture of the IT department itself, which is sometimes reluctant to socialise and actively participate in discussions with other company departments.

This lack of social aptitude - often referred to by other directors within companies, particularly those involved in human resources - is not necessarily the IT department's fault.

It's understandable that anyone in IT doesn't fancy mingling with other departments when all they want to chat to 'IT' about are PC glitches or other IT problems. Think of being a doctor and mentioning it at a party.

IT directors on board the Aurora were largely miffed that their company role tends to be as a utility service, much like being a plumber rather than an active member of the group.

A plumber is normally someone you need around when something goes drastically wrong, yet somewhere in your psyche a little voice tells you that they are overcharging, they don't really know what they are talking about and they are not to be trusted.

Because of this attitude there were several IT directors and speakers at the event who were demoralised and made to feel inadequate.

A simple solution is to up sticks and try another employer, though this isn't always the best idea. Our advice is to be more proactive and work on reforming the roll of the IT director and even the IT department within your organisation.