Laura McCain Patterson is no stranger to transformational change in higher education. As the associate vice president and chief information officer at the University of Michigan from 2009 to 2016, Patterson led the university’s NextGen Michigan initiative, a massive project to transform Michigan’s operations and IT infrastructure. Since she retired, she’s mentored and coached higher education technology leaders nationwide through MOR Associates programs.
On Tuesday, Patterson shared some of the hard-earned wisdom she’s gained from decades of experience leading large institutions through times of change with hundreds of online and in-person attendees at UW–Madison’s 2024 Information & Technology Leadership Conference in the Discovery Building.
“No amount of money can make you successful. It’s leadership,” Patterson said. “You can spend all the money in the world, and without technology leadership, you may not be successful. And I’m not talking about the CIO or senior directors; I’m talking about each of you in this room.”
Patterson cited UW–Madison’s “breathtaking” and “audacious” plans in the Wisconsin RISE Initiative and Administrative Transformation Program as examples of transformational change requiring strong IT leadership in the coming years. “If you are successful, when people look back on the history of the university, this will be a point in time that people will see significant advancements were made here, driven by technology.”
Drawing from her experience leading initiatives like NextGen Michigan, Patterson outlined 4 “critical capabilities” that technology leaders need to be successful:
Strategic thinking: Stay focused on the big picture
“Leaders set the direction. And to set the direction, you need to get above the day-to-day fray,” Patterson said.
She encouraged leaders to begin every meeting with a reminder of their broader mission. “It’s important for you to be a strategic leader in your department, understand the big goals, and then bring your department along.”
Keeping people focused on the big picture will help minimize disagreements about details that can delay projects and encourage finding common solutions, she said.
Collaboration: ‘It’s all about relationships’
“Research shows that productive collaboration occurs when: 1) there is trust and respect among participants, 2) there is a shared goal, and 3) conflict gets resolved,” Patterson said.
“You can’t collaborate with people you don’t know. Because you need to trust and respect them,” she explains. “It’s more than coming together to share ideas. It’s coming together to actually achieve results.”
Noting that UW–Madison already has a strong foundation through the community-building efforts of IT Connects, Patterson urges IT professionals to continue making new connections and expanding their professional networks.
Leading change: ‘Be more than a technology leader’
“Technology is emerging faster than humans can understand and absorb it,” Patterson observes. “And so it’s up to us as the technology leaders to be the leaders of change.”
Good IT leaders help people understand “the why and the how” when change is coming. “People need to buy in both intellectually and emotionally” — to understand why change is necessary and how it will affect them.
Patterson emphasizes the importance of understanding how to look at change from different perspectives. That means trying to understand how the change will impact people throughout the organization and evaluating the change through strategic, political, and cultural lenses to anticipate problems that could derail your project.
Take care of yourself and others: ‘Develop a strategy for remaining resilient’
Many folks in IT pride themselves on having “grit” an ability to push through when things get tough. “But grit without a strategy for resilience can lead to burnout,” Patterson said. “So make an intentional effort to hang on to the things that bring you joy.”
She advises IT leaders to make intentional efforts to regularly “take your change temperature” and the temperature of the people you work with. Monitor yourself and others for signs of fatigue and stress and take action early if you start spotting the signs of burnout.
“No matter how busy you are, no matter the deadlines coming at you, carve out time to continue to do those things that make you tick. That’s how you become resilient. And that’s how you can stay strong for yourself and the others that you are working with.”
Patterson concluded by sharing her ongoing commitment to higher education: “I believe so strongly, now more than ever, in the value that universities bring. I believe in education. I believe in the importance of it for individuals, the importance for democracy, the importance for society.”