IT leaders have never been more essential to the success of any organisation – or had more demands heaped upon their shoulders. So how is the role changing? And what are the skills required to step up to the challenge?

*Originally published in December 2018. Updated for 2020.

Henry Ford is credited as once saying: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” Now, we’re not suggesting that ongoing training and development is some kind of elixir for youth, but it is true that you should never stop learning: professional development should be an ongoing process throughout your career.

*Originally published in December 2018. Updated for 2020.

Moving up in your career can be more difficult the higher up the career ladder you rise. At lower levels, progression is almost a given with solid effort and time, but something changes at the higher levels.

In an article in HR Magazine, I talk about how many clichés surround how we discuss the impact of technology on the world of work and on HR.

As a society, we increasingly talk about the importance of striking a work-life balance. Here at Cranfield Executive Development, we devise programmes that enable people to fit career development around their day-to-day work. But what if you want all three – a career, a life outside of work and to develop your professional capabilities? Can you have it all? And, if you can, how do you avoid burnout?

For almost two decades, Cranfield’s High Performance Leadership programme has revolutionised the way leaders achieve results within their organisations.

A generation ago when successful people reached the top of their business they were eyeing retirement. Golf and spa retreats. Now we’re working longer and reaching senior positions earlier in our lives, that’s not looking very attractive.

Standard leadership development programmes stay above the shoulders, and that’s the problem. They’re often focused primarily on the cognitive and a hard set of frameworks and matrices. People are loaded up with content and sent back into the boardroom, groggy from the weight of it.

Stepping up to being CEO, or any strategic role for that matter, is daunting and disorienting. Suddenly the organisation that looked straightforward enough when it came to running routine tasks and deliverables becomes a confusing mystery.

There are many practical reasons why we spend our working lives in offices, meeting and conference rooms, but it doesn’t mean it’s doing us any good.