CIO legend Chris Hjelm on developing future-ready IT leaders

In the seminar, we also spend time on expectations of management and what good managers do. We’re there to win; we’re not there to come in second. So set a high bar, hold people accountable, and put goals and objectives in place. I’m a big advocate of you can’t improve what you can’t measure, which helps align teams and makes success and failure clear.

I always say the best leaders are also teachers, and you’re certainly an example of that. How do you instill that in other leaders?

I can’t tell you how many leaders came to me over the years to tell me that they were applying for this job, that they were ready for it. And I would say, ‘Alright, who’s taking yours?’

I would explain, ‘Your opportunities are gated by the readiness of your successors.’ In one-on-ones with people and in mentoring sessions, I’d say, ‘I care about your development plan, but I care as much about the development plans of the people that are coming behind you, because you won’t go anywhere if your successor isn’t ready.’

Now, some jobs are harder to build successors for, but at least present options for finding good candidates. At least tell me, for example, who you met at a conference or know through your network who could do your job.

That’s also part of prioritizing talent as a key pillar of your strategy.

I always hammered home the importance of talent through an early Kroger experience. I remember someone who came in to me for an exit interview after I’d been at Kroger for about 18 months. He was really good — he’s someone who would have been on my future leader watch list — so when he came in and told me he was leaving, I wanted to know why. I thought things were good. He told me, ‘Well, I wasn’t seeing any opportunity and I wanted to get into management.’

I got the VPs and directors together, the top two levels of management, and I said this person is leaving and asked what they thought about him. They all said, ‘Oh, he’s great, we really love him.’ So I said, ‘How many of you would trade one of your existing managers for this guy?’ Every hand went up. So my next question was, ‘Why didn’t that happen?’

I said, ‘This is a deal I’m going to cut with all of you. If I do another exit interview for a high-performing person in your organization that’s leaving, I will do your exit interview next. High-performing talent doesn’t come along very often, and when they do, our job as a cross-functional team is to take care of them, to allow them to punch their tickets and be successful.’ We put in other processes to manage top talent, and I am confident that my leadership team didn’t forget that exchange.

You’re known for being a storyteller. How does that play a role in your leadership and your development of the next generation of leaders?

Developing leadership skills is a lifetime journey, and we all have stories of our respective journeys. As a leader, I would tell the stories because people remember them, and I expected the stories to cascade throughout the halls of the organization. I wanted to change the culture, and you change the culture by telling impactful stories that align with your mission.

I have a lot of storytelling examples I go through in the seminars, because there’s a theme to each of them and I want people to think about what leadership traits were exhibited in that story. I use stories to teach governance, to teach who you really work for — the shareholders. I use them to teach servant leadership.

I share stories from my own experience to show that it’s okay to take risks and to fail. To get leaders to understand that if there’s a misalignment in values, you need to go somewhere else. I try and give people the confidence to do the right thing, live their values, and if they’re ever in a situation where they shouldn’t be there, then don’t compromise who you are and what you value for a job. It’s not worth it personally nor does it create followership in an organization.

In the seminar, the stories are a way to reinforce what leadership is all about and to help give people confidence that, yeah, you can survive this issue — to stand in front of the board and tell them that management doesn’t really get technology, but they are learning. If you’re telling the truth and doing the right thing for the shareholders, nine times out of 10 things are going to go fine. But you have to take the risk that one out of 10 times you might be a casualty.

When I think about developing people and reflect on what’s worked and what hasn’t, I can’t stress enough how valuable telling the story is. When I talk about leadership, I say, ‘It’s tough but rewarding. It’s not a popularity contest. Trust me, if you’re doing the right things, you’re not always going to be popular, but you will be respected.’

The stories show them what that means. For example, firing people is no fun. It’s never easy. But I’ll give them some examples of when I’ve done it. We also talk about what’s good about being a leader. You broaden your impact. You get to see people like Annette and Ryan and Leon go off and be successful on their own. You get to make big decisions. You get to make more money. There are lots of positives. But make no mistake, it’s no walk in the park.