14 - Chris McCoy: Chief Information Officer on Leadership in Higher Education

Chris McCoy, Chief Information Officer at the University of Arkansas, joins the A Desire to Inspire with Manny Patrick show to discuss his journey in landing a top leadership position with a prestigious and acclaimed university. He says he knew what he was going to do once he was honored the duties and started with a focus on people. He adds, "it's about healing the team and bringing their ideas together to gather information and execute a new strategy based on collaborative efforts." He believes in culture and stays in touch with people as often as possible through all communication avenues. He focuses on collaboration, teamwork, and strives to let his team members know that they have valuable input. He uses a great analogy about coaching in the real world and how it can affect the organization. For anyone interested in discovering additional tools to use for ones leadership arsenal. Chris outlines his process of leading a team, and how he empowers his people to complete specific tasks. He loves to bring the attention to the power of working with like minded people who have the same goals. Figuring out what is most important and keeping your people close, he says, are critical to driving a team forward. In This Episode You Will Learn About: -What led Chris to the University of Arkansas -How long he has been in higher education -What other major universities he has worked with -Who opened his eyes to the position at the University of Arkansas -Where he noticed an opportunity in the school -What five things he was told needed to happen once he took the CIO job -Who challenged him to be a leader -What is a common thread among higher education -What three things Chris says it boils down to with creating a reliable system -What he focuses on with his team -Where he learned his people skills -What kind of leadership he prides himself on -What he is currently teaches his team -How he continues to learn -What he looks for in people -What trends the schools need to be aware of in technology