Depending on the individual, when a question arises that they don’t know the answer to, some people will resort to making something up. They may even become defensive and bluster when challenged or if additional questions occur.

I believe the correct response, and in fact the hallmark of a professional, is admitting that you don’t know and indicating you will find out. Importantly you need to then deliver on that promise.

But what about the alternative response? 

Ignoring the obvious unprofessionalism of it, at some point the person will be found out. When that happens, it will call into question everything they have said, including the things they do know about.

I recently had a comment on my original post. In it the author indicated that "Competence" in their opinion was far better.

As they put it,

Capability always indicate the “possibility” that the person have to do something, but may be he can not really do it.
“I have the capability of speak in Chineese because i have all the neccesary for this, but i can not because i dont know chineese language”.

Competence is always the capability but shown in practice, This is not the ” possibility” its real, practical.

While I agree, someone who may be capable of performing a task may not really be able to do it, in the real world of IT, there are many situation where limiting yourself to just a set of competent skills may be detrimental. For example, it may mean you overlook an outstanding developer with the right development mindset but not a particular language, who would be able to take you and your business along with the changing landscape in IT.

The other problem I have with the comment is the example. I don't believe you can draw a parallel between a spoken language and a computer language. For one thing, the grammatical rules or "syntax" of a spoken language are significantly larger and more complex than a programming one. Now while I can speak, I therefore have the Capability to speak another language, I don't yet have that Competence. However, I am Competent in many computer languages, and therefore have the Capability to quickly and easily master a new one.

In the IT world, competence does play an important part, but I believe if you rely entirely on that alone in your decision to hire someone then you are selling yourself very short.

• Peter Grant, CIO of Queensland Health
• Anne-Marie Birkill, CEO of ILAB
• John Puttick, Chairman of GBST Holdings

As seen in so many other parts of this series, the common theme was the value of people and of course how to inspire them to greatness.

Peter talked about his, now departed, mentor and friend, the university lecturer who fired him with passion for IT. Not only did his mentor introduce him the world of IT, but also taught him the value of being skilled in all areas, not just those you find interesting.

Anne-Marie talked about taking a leadership role in the (ICT) community by giving something back to it. It was interesting to hear, not only from a successful woman¹ and how she got there, but from someone who is in a field not directly involved in IT.

Finally John, talked about his early years and the power of IT in business. John as part of Software Queensland is partly responsible for the creation of the ACS course.

While each presenter had some great things to say, for me, it was Peters comments that spoke to me the most. Peter struck me as a person who understands fully the value of people and providing them with the tools necessary to do great things.

After the breakfast, we convened once more for a final wrap up. This finished with everyone committing to doing something towards growing their leadership skills. For me, I've chosen to embrace the opportunity of representing Ephox at Software Queensland and to work with our local Universities in growing the numbers of students studying ICT.

Discussions with the people at my table indicated that they had all taken something valuable away from the course. It's been an interesting and insightful series, with some very useful gems of knowledge. I'm very glad to have been a part of it.

1 – We need far more women in IT.↩

Unlike the previous sessions, this session was presented as a series of exercises where Greg introduced a few simple techniques for dealing with the obvious nerves of speaking. Interestingly when you hear people say they don't get nervous when speaking, this can sometimes mean they are overconfident. This overconfidence comes across to the audience as disingenuous.

Greg also presented a few simple rules when speaking publicly. For example

• never tell the audience you're nervous, they'll focus on looking for the signs of nerves instead of the substance of your presentation
• if showing a video, tell them how long it is so they know what to expect
• if possible, see the venue before you speak so you have a sense of the layout and reduce the unexpected
• finally, be yourself, don't try to be something you aren't.

I think the point I really liked, that Greg made, regarding public speaking is

It's not life or death, it's only public speaking.

If you aren't familiar with this, consider the image on the left. For any Situation, there are known and unknown situations. Similarly there are known and unknown Problems. Our ability to deal with Known Problems in Known Situations is reflected in out Competency. When we are presented with an Unknown Problem in an Unknown Situation, it is our abilities that assist us. This is our Capability.

The problem is that Capability is both hard to define and hard to measure.

Many in industry want be able to put a "tick in the box" when it comes to a persons abilities. This usually results in competencies being essential. Like Karl, I feel Capability is under-valued due to the difficulty in measuring it.

This also fits with my long held belief that in the "People versus Process" equation, People stand out. Sure process ensures replicable results, however when the inevitable problem arises that the process doesn't address, having good people with the autonomy to make decisions will get you through. It is their Capability that delivers in the end.

Karl started out stating that "Leading Projects" is different to "Managing Projects". Project management involves activities like planning, budgeting, organising, controlling and problem solving while leadership is about vision, alignment of people, motivation and inspiration. So, where management is a Science, leadership is more of an Art and involves enabling, empowering and supporting the team.

One of the key messages I took away from this session is that Leaders helps people find the answers versus telling them. In most cases, team members know the answers, by assisting them to find the answer, you not only grow their abilities, but empower them solve problems without your involvement.

Similar to the previous session, good communication was highlighted as essential, along with negotiations skills. This time, communication with project sponsors was discussed. Identifying how the key people required to make your project succeed want to be communicated, is essential to your success.

The remainder of the course then focussed on things like governance, organisational alignment and management tools.

So when you are working on something involving high innovation, which can result in high risk, good leadership is essential to succeed. Share the vision, excite the team and ensure key stakeholders are involved, clearing the way for your team to innovate and deliver.

The first session, "What is a Leader", presented by John Ware of Dale Carnegie Training was on this month. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of skills I was already aware of and am doing as part of my role. There were however a few points that I can continue to work on. One I particularly liked was "Micro manager yourself, macro manage your team". What this essentially means is manage your own time and tasks in detail and provide guidance to your people, trusting them to do their job.

With respect to leadership however, the main point that I took away from the session was that good leaders are focussed on people. This was highlighted by the statement "Managers manage process, leaders lead people". Management is all about managing the processes that achieve results. Leadership however is about vision and hearts & minds.

The bulk of the course then focussed around techniques to balance motivation and accountability within your team and building outstanding communication skills.

So if you really want to lead your team well at all levels, focus on people management along with your other management skills. Understand what motivates your people, give them the opportunities to grow and take them where they might not go themselves.