Nolan Garrett on Turning Leadership Development Into Results

Right now, I'm leading a team that's building AI solutions for different business processes. One of our projects is focused on making data and reporting much easier to access. The idea is that people should be able to compile data and create reports themselves without having to learn specialized software.

I also evaluate new technologies and help determine what the company should adopt.
That involves balancing the potential value against the cost, and cost isn't always about money. Sometimes it's the time needed to build something or train people to use it.

There are situations where adopting new technology makes sense, but there are also times when improving what we already have is the better decision. The leadership challenge becomes especially interesting when we're trying to change processes across the organization.

If I know a process well, it's usually easier to identify improvements. But when a process crosses multiple departments, and there isn't a clear owner, you have to bring people together before you can make meaningful progress. That's one of the more difficult parts of my job, but it's also one of the most rewarding.

I wanted to give myself the best possible foundation for becoming a strong leader.

I could have learned everything through trial and error over the course of my career. But I didn't want to wait years to discover lessons that I could start applying now. The Emerging Leader Development Program offered an opportunity to learn from experienced faculty and focus on the skills that matter when you're responsible for leading teams and working across an organization.

For me, it was about being intentional with my development rather than assuming those capabilities would come automatically with experience.

Negotiation was probably the biggest one.

Before the program, I thought of negotiation as something where one person wins, and the other loses. What I learned is that many everyday business interactions are negotiations, and they don't have to work that way.

There are techniques that can help both sides reach an outcome they're satisfied with. That completely changed how I think about certain conversations.

I work with vendors, consultants, business leaders, and colleagues across different departments. In many of those situations, I'm trying to align people around a project or an objective. Being able to negotiate expectations and responsibilities in a way that works for everyone is incredibly useful.

It's one of the skills from the program that I use most frequently.
 

That's a big part of my role.

When we're working on a transformation or an M&A integration, I need to bring together the right people to understand the business requirements before we can design a solution. Sometimes that means getting several decision-makers in the same room. Sometimes it means pushing back on senior leadership because I see a requirement or an issue that needs to be addressed. And sometimes it means asking someone who doesn't report to me to take responsibility for a task.

You can't always approach those situations the same way you would with your own direct team.
There has to be a conversation about priorities, expectations, and what needs to happen. The negotiation skills I learned at Columbia have helped me approach those conversations more effectively.

They've also been useful when working with vendors and consulting firms. I'm better equipped to set realistic expectations and keep engagements focused on our business objectives.

When I returned, one of the first things I did was sit down with my CIO. I told her what I had learned and how I wanted to apply it, particularly to a challenging project that was already underway.

I started using some of the techniques we had discussed around motivating team members.
The goal was to help everyone refocus on what we needed to accomplish. We were able to complete the project successfully. That was an important experience for me because I didn't have to wait long to see how the learning could translate into something practical.

I came back with ideas I could use right away, and I had an opportunity to put them into action.

Very valuable.

If I had to divide the experience, I'd probably say 70% of the value came from the faculty and 30% from the cohort. The faculty brought deep expertise, but what made it particularly useful was that the lessons applied to leadership across different functions and departments. The participants added another perspective.

Sometimes someone had just worked through a problem I was currently facing. Other times, I had experience with something another participant was trying to solve. Those conversations were extremely helpful.

One exercise in particular stood out. We worked in small groups, with guidance from an expert, to discuss a real challenge each of us was facing. I received advice from peers that I hadn't expected to be so useful. When I returned to work, I used those perspectives to help solve the issue.

Yes, and it's something I've repeated several times.

I've started asking team members to weigh in on challenges that aren't necessarily part of their usual responsibilities. Someone who works on a different process or project may see something the person closest to the problem has overlooked. That outside perspective can help the person responsible find a solution.

I experienced the value of that approach during the program, and now I'm creating opportunities for my own team to benefit from it. It's particularly helpful in technology because we can become very focused on the systems or processes we know best. Sometimes the most useful insight comes from someone who approaches the problem differently.

Let yourself be a student again.

When you're in a leadership role, you're often the person expected to teach, guide, and encourage others. You spend a lot of time helping people develop their skills and solve problems.

This program allows you to be on the other side of that experience. You get to learn from faculty and peers, challenge your own thinking, and develop skills that could otherwise take years of experience to figure out.

My advice would be to embrace that opportunity and be open to learning. You don't have to figure everything out on your own.