I concur with your thoughts. However, as someone who has a BS in Comp Sci and has made the transition to management with the hopes of moving up to a C-level (with experience), what advice could you offer some of us who are not as fortunate to work with someone as patient, knowledgeable and willing to train their staff as you are?

I also find that with the lack of time between work, family and church (in no particular order), I no longer have time (or funds) to go back to college to obtain a masters. Are there perhaps week-long courses you could recommend or books to study in order to achieve a different perspective to complement our newly found positions?

I also look forward to the follow-up post you have spoken of regarding the steps which will help your professionals develop these skills.

Many thanks!

[Joel: First, make sure you want to move into higher levels of management. Many move up and are sad they did. Second, take on roles (official or unofficial) that allow you to flex your business muscles. Third, let your executive management know what you want and ask how best to get there. Finally, if you don't get the support you want/need then find someplace that will give it to you.]

As a specialist in Medical IT, EMR, PM, etc., my value to a client comes from being able to understand the pressures they are under – new initiatives like pay for performance from Medicare and other insurance, combined with the usual financial pressures on medical practices – demand efficiencies at every step of this very manual process.

With a ratio of fulltime staff anywhere from 2 to 5 to each physician, it is important to have a solid grasp of Human Resources issues and ergonomics.

With cash flow paramount to a medical practice (an unfortunate fact in today’s medical practice), it is just as important for IT staff to understand the financial impact of every decision relative to workflow.

As a contract Director of IT for several practices and acting Senior Systems Administrator for a major national healthcare insurance company, my ability to show improvement in processes that effect either cashflow or workflow efficiency drives my value and, ultimately, my ability to justify my salary in these organizations.

In my early days as a tech consultant, I was frustrated with what I saw as a lack of willingness to compensate professional IT staff to the level they deserveed. Now I understand it is a matter of being able to show we understand the complex nature of not just the technology, but of the business itself.
I have an Associates Degree in a technical filed (Avionics), but if I were to get the opportunity, I would lean towards Business Management, ending with an MBA. At 50, and with a 2 and 4 year old at home, I am not sure I will get the chance, but my career is already made.

Finally, I must point out I began learning many of these philosophies when I was called as Stake Technology Specialist and was assigned to deploy MLS in our Stake. Now, as Stake Clerk, I can definitely say had I not accepted the Stake Assistant Clerk calling, I don’t believe I would be where I am now. The Lord provides us each with opportunities – callings are part of our career growth as well. I am grateful for all the knowledge the Lord continues to give me.

Those of us who have “made it” owe it to others to spread the knowledge. If we are ever to fully mature as an “industry”, we need to help people think of us (IT) as they do a doctor, lawyer or CPA. In order to accomplish this, we will need to rise to the challenge. I personally have clients who have never seen me wearing anything but a suit and a tie. Many of my referrals have come from clients who appreciate that attitude. It does pay off.

Executive:
“I understand that more memory will make our software run faster, but how will it make us more money?”

Technical:
“It will allow us to handle more people faster?”

Executive:
“We just need to handle the ones we have without complaints.”

Technical:
“Right, but as we increase sales, we will need more memory.”

Executive:
“So, we will have to buy more memory every time, I hire a sales person?”

I think that each person in the company has a different perspective on what is going on and what is important. Being able to communicate is definitely what’s important when moving to higher level positions.

[Joel: I'll be talking about this in a future post.]