Leadership is one of those things that we all think that we know what it is, but we are hard pressed to describe it to someone if they ask us. This makes picking the next generation of leaders that much harder. We want them to have the leadership skills that we know that they need, but how can we make sure that they have them? Some IT managers revert to using the time-tested trial-by-fire approach, but is this really the best way?

What you'll find inside:

• You can be an IT leader
• IT manager leadership: two ways to lead when you're not in charge
• Five things that an IT manager needs to know about risk
• How an IT leader can motivate their team

When we think about leaders, we envision them out in front of the team encouraging everyone onward. However, in real life it often doesn't happen this way. Sure, we may have the title of a leader, but what should we do if we have not been given the responsibility? Additionally, does a leader always have to be out in front? It just might be possible to lead from behind.

We're not always placed in charge of the team that our career may depend on. When this happens, we need to find ways to lead the team despite not having the official responsibility to do so. In these cases, we'll be considered by the team to be part of the team and this makes our leadership challenge that more difficult as we attempt to lead the team from inside.

Every time that we are placed in a leadership position, our success is not guaranteed. There will always be risk associated with what we are trying to do. This means that it's up to us to find a way to both manage and deal with that risk. We are also going to have to be aware that we won't always be successful. We will occasionally fail and when this happens, we need to have a plan to deal with it.