"You are the deputy technology editor?" asks Microsoft's third
in command,
Kevin
Turner, as he inspects my business card. The chief operating
officer of Microsoft may have been expecting someone more senior to
conduct the interview. Given that his diary of appointments for the
day includes meetings with the government's chief information
officer John Suffolk and the IT chief of the London Stock Exchange,
this is perhaps understandable.
Along with Gates, Ballmer and five other senior executives,
Turner heads the team that sets Microsoft's strategy. When he
joined the software giant as chief operating officer in 2005,
Turner was offered a £3.5m golden handshake, £8.5m in shares and a
starting salary of £287,000 for overseeing the internal IT for
Microsoft's 78,000 employees around the world.
Before taking the Redmond helm, he worked nearly 20 years at
American retail giant
Wal-Mart, where he became chief information officer. Given his
breadth of experience, as well as the standard of CVs that float
across his desk, I ask him what makes a strong IT manager in
today's job market.
"I think it is somebody who is a good businessperson first, and
a good technologist second. Every CEO wants to know four things:
how do you save me time, how do you save me money, how do you make
me more productive, and how do you help me grow my business?"
For Turner, the IT manager who understands enough about the
business and can introduce technology in way that answers each of
those four questions will be successful. This is attributable to
Turner's belief that the role of technology in business has itself
changed from being a mere cost of operation to being something that
enables companies to work smarter than their competitors.
For those beginning their careers, particularly in smaller
companies where technology might not be as valued, does Turner
think that IT managers have to become better at shouting about
their successes? Do IT managers need better public relations skills
to advance their careers?
"I do not subscribe to being a great public relations person
internally. The best selling you can do is to create business
value, let your successes speak for themselves, make your customers
your heroes and make your developers your heroes. People will know
where it comes from."
Turner says IT managers should not feel that the weight of the
world rests on their shoulders. Nothing of significance is ever
done alone. Part of being successful is being able to get things
done with other people, he says. This is one of the qualities he
looks for when interviewing candidates for senior manager roles at
Microsoft.
The key question, though, that Turner asks when hiring is
whether would he enjoy working for the person he is interviewing?
If the answer is "no", he will say no to the hire.
If the answer is "yes", Turner works through his list of
criteria. At the moment, he is mentoring several dozen managers -
informally and formally. "There are a number that get mentoring
whether they are my student or not. There are quite a number of
those," he jokes.
What he encourages those he oversees to do is to be authentic.
"All of us need role models. All of us need mentors and people we
can learn something from. The key thing is to be authentic. Do not
try and be someone you are not. Instead, take the best [qualities]
of that person and internalise it for yourself to be the best
person you can be."
For Turner, everyone he instructs has something unique to offer
and he sees his job - and the role of the IT manager, ultimately -
as being able to trigger that spark in other people.
Giving advice is all well and good, but what is the hardest
lesson Turner has had to learn as a manager, and how does he feel
it has helped him grow in his role?
"I think the hardest lesson for me as a manager is that whatever
helped you become successful to get to one level, it generally does
not help you get to the next level."
For example, when you go from managing a team of 10 or 20 people
to managing a team of 200, what served you well in managing that
smaller team will not serve you well in managing the larger team,
he said. Learning to leave behind those traits that made you a
success before, but that do not in a new role, is difficult to do
and requires the humility to learn and revise your outlook.
"None of us have all the answers. None of us have it all figured
out. Leadership is a journey, not a destination," Turner says.