Through this article, Scott Haney shares insights on leading IT teams through change. Haney reflects on the unexpected resistance to change among IT professionals and emphasizes the importance of leadership strategies that foster engagement and accountability. Key principles include clearly communicating the "why" behind changes, encouraging ownership at every level, prioritizing continuous training and involving the team in decision-making.

Before taking a leadership role, I had lived under the impression that IT professionals wanted change in the technology they worked on and looked forward to changing how their company operated and worked with technology. You can imagine my surprise every time I would excitedly talk about new technology we can bring into our environment, only to be met with resistance and a passive, almost ignoring my suggestion that they learn the latest technology. 

Then, the strangest realization hit me about three years after I took my first leadership role. IT professionals are sometimes more averse to change than non-technical users. I accept that as reality now, but I would lie if I didn’t tell you that it still puzzles me. It is supposed to be bold and help move the business forward (with proper testing and change management in place). We are supposed to be a business’s secret edge in competing in the marketplace, but not everyone wants to do that. Some people in IT want tomorrow to look a lot like today.

I have spent significant time trying to understand the best method for bringing my team on the journey with me, and I would like to share some of those thoughts with you.

1.  The why is more important than the what or the how. Your team needs to know why IT should bring change, why they matter and why their efforts are the difference in the success or failure of the business.

  ​The 'why' is more important than the 'what' or the 'how.' The team needs to understand why IT should drive change, why they matter and how their efforts directly impact the success or failure of the business.

2.  Ownership at every level is the only way to succeed. It doesn’t matter if it is your software engineer or helpdesk technician. Everyone owns everything. Everyone is invested in everyone’s success. If anyone limits what they will do, you have a training, culture or hiring problem.

3.  You must train your people, and you must train yourself. If your team and you are not training, they will accept the status quo. A trained mind is going to want to implement what it knows.

4.  Bring your team into the planning process. Put them in a position to research the best solution or plan and bring it back to you with why you should do something and why you shouldn’t. This will help them take ownership. They will also accept the better idea faster because they have either proven their objections to change correctly or dismantled their argument.

5.  Make your decisions from a place of conviction. If you don’t believe in what you are doing enough to stake your success and career on it, don’t ask your team to follow you into that decision—circling back to the ownership point. I am responsible for everything that happens with my team. If someone failed, I failed. I wasn’t clear enough with my directions, I didn’t challenge their findings or I didn’t recognize the training problem fast enough. With that in mind, I always choose from a place of conviction because there is no one else to blame. I own it.

Of course, there is much more to it than this, but these are the main high-level principles I lead my team with. As fast as technology moves, the hardest part is still getting people to work together and accomplish something great.