Directors Forum on Leadership 

8 January 2008   -   9 January 2008
Cardiff

This first UCISA Directors' Leadership Programme Forum seeks to explore how you as the most senior IT manager in your organisation can begin to influence the direction that your institution takes. It starts from the premise that to be successful as a business in the 21st century your organisation will have to embrace IT even more than it does today and that for this to happen and for you to be fully effective as an IT manager you need to be an integral part of the team that makes strategic decisions for your institution. Of course this might not be possible in every institution - the CEO-CIO relationship practised in many parts of the commercial sector might take some time to get established in HE - but some institutions have taken the decision to work that way. The forum will hear from some of your colleagues who are working as CIOs, and a Vice-Chancellor and CIO who see this is the natural way to operate.

What can we learn from the way that the commercial sector operates? Gartner Research will share with us the challenges they foresee for the CIO in 2008 and also give indications on what you can do to make your role more effective.

Finally, leadership is all about people. Your role as a senior IT manager is more about people than it is about technology. Understanding yourself and understanding others and the relationships between people is perhaps the single most important aspect of your job. An ex-IT Director and now psychologist and academic will provide some insight into how knowledge of yourself and others can pay huge dividend in terms of getting your ideas accepted at the top table, motivating the senior management team, general team building and service delivery.

You'll also have the time to share your experiences with your colleagues. How can you afford to miss this event?