Managing Talent: The Adventures of an IT Leader, Teaching Note

"The Adventures of an IT Leader" invites readers to "walk in the shoes" of a new CIO, Jim Barton, as he spends a difficult year learning effective information technology leadership, sidestepping the pitfalls that make the CIO job the most volatile, high-turnover job in the business. This chapter opens discussion of the unique challenges and opportunities associated with managing highly skilled and talented technical employees. One of Barton's reports is concerned about how to manage a high-performing but problematic IT specialist. Barton explores the issue with a second colleague, who shares insights into processes of collaboration, and with a third, who helps Bartlett consider how he might reorganize the IT department to maximize the use of talent employing a "Shared Services" model.