Executive Education Survey 2002: Discovering the Leader Within

Computerworld - During her 20-year rise through the IT ranks, Atefeh Riazi had always credited much of her success to what she considered her greatest strength: her diplomacy.

But when Riazi headed to Hartford, Conn., four years ago for an executive education program run by Rensselaer Learning Institute, she had to throw that assumption out the window.

After the course instructor reviewed about 30 questionnaires filled out earlier by Riazi, her boss and her subordinates, she was told that her self-described greatest strength was, in fact, her greatest weakness.

"My problem was I was too frank. I was too honest. And that was not a strength—that was a weakness," says Riazi, CIO at Ogilvy & Mather, a New York-based marketing firm.

The experience was life-changing for Riazi. But finding executive education programs with that kind of powerful payback can be as challenging for IT leaders as clearing time from their schedules to attend.

Rather than teaching new skills, executive education programs seek to motivate and inspire leaders to think and act in new ways. As a result, the benefits can be as hazy as the subject matter. And in this economy, many IT managers are finding that executive education, for all its benefits, is a tough line to justify in their bare-bones budgets.

To identify what makes an executive education program worth the investment, Computerworld asked 82 IT executives who have selected programs for themselves and their staffs to tell us about their experiences. Based on their responses and interviews with IT managers, we assembled the following tips for picking the best programs.

Find Networking Opportunities

When asked about the most beneficial elements of executive education programs, IT leaders immediately talked about networking. The key is finding conferences that draw big crowds of high-level IT executives who are given time to share ideas.

"It's invaluable," says Tim Ferrarell, senior vice president of enterprise systems at W.W. Grainger Inc., a Chicago-based distributor of business maintenance products. "Many people are facing the same problems." Ferrarell says he looks for conferences that allow plenty of time to talk with other attendees. He sets a goal of meeting five people at each conference and then follows up with them to develop long-term connections.

Such relationship-building is critical, says Sue Goldberg, president of Northeast Training Group Inc., an IT training services firm in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Online training can be helpful, but meeting and brainstorming with peers outside your company is key, she says.

"Executives need to be in touch with other executives," says Goldberg. "Understanding where people are going, where the world is going. You can't be abreast of everything."