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Crafting Communication and Leadership in IT with Richard Blalock

• Courtney Twiss • Episode 40

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What if you could become a better leader by focusing less on technology and more on people? Join us as we chat with Richard Blalock, a seasoned executive technology leader in the federal public sector, who offers insights from his extensive career in IT. Richard shares his transformative journey from a help desk technician to overseeing IT teams across the Western United States for the US Courts. Through personal stories and lessons from his new book, "It's Not the Tech: Leadership Lessons from the IT Field," Richard reveals the often-overlooked communication gaps and leadership challenges faced in the tech industry.

Our discussion takes us through the critical intersection of technology, leadership, and organizational processes. Richard provides practical strategies for maximizing leadership skills in tech-driven environments, emphasizing the importance of communication, delegation, and strategic alignment. By exploring real-world scenarios, from healthcare to small businesses, we uncover how to effectively align IT capabilities with organizational goals and ensure technology serves as a tool for progress, not a hurdle.

Celebrating Richard's book launch, we delve into fostering healthy leadership cultures that prioritize empowering teams and supporting organizational goals. With insights into overcoming common leadership pitfalls, Richard's book offers a roadmap for creating environments where communication thrives, and innovation is fostered. We wrap up by inviting listeners to join Richard at his upcoming book launch party in Mariposa for a chance to engage further with his exciting new work and celebrate effective leadership.

Connect with Richard at: www.richard-blalock.com

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Speaker 1:

I can't go because we will be on vacation all next week, so how dare you?

Speaker 2:

I know. I love Sears Slider though, so if I was here, I'd be there and I've found that a lot of people aren't aware too much of that venue, and so that's a whole. That's a whole other thing. So just getting people out there and local community stuff so big fan.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to episode number 40 of Now Making Moves in Real Estate. Today I'm super excited to have Richard Blaylock, an executive technology leader in the federal public sector. With over 20 years of IT experience, from his start as a help desk technician to becoming a respective executive, richard has a wealth of stories and insights that equip, empower and elevate others. Richard's new book it's Not the Tech Leadership Lessons from the IT Field, which Courtney and I are staunch leadership readers, but this is going to be an interesting perspective because it's an industry and a field that we're not super savvy with. It's officially out in paperback and e-book. His book dives deep into the real challenges facing organizations, issues that go far beyond technology. It's perfect for seasoned leaders, aspiring managers or anyone curious about what truly drives success in IT. Outside of work, richard enjoys life here, locally, here in Mariposa. He's our first local guest on the podcast with his wife, his two children and their two Australian shepherds. So join me as Richard shares leadership lessons, insights from his career and practical strategies for fostering innovation and collaborations. Welcome, mr Richard.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely Well. Thank you for having me, Michelle. I'm grateful to have the chance to talk about leadership and my book and some great lessons, as well, as I'm honored to be the first local in the podcast, if you will. So thank you for having me and I'm excited to dive in with you today.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, let's do it. So I have known you, known of you for over a decade because I've been here that long, and I know you started off like from the bottom all the way up working your way up. So tell our listeners just a little bit about your journey into the field and like, more importantly, an executive role, right Leadership.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely so. I've been in the IT field for about 20 years now, starting out in a computer lab helping students at my local community college. When I lived up in Northern California I worked at a PC repair shop. They don't exist as often as they used to anymore, but doing those like you bring it in, I got a virus or I need to fix a part. I did that as well for a long time and then over time I've grown. I've worked fix a part. I did that as well for a long time and then over time I've grown.

Speaker 2:

I've worked in a lot of different fields, both professionally in terms of my main job or career, but also on the side through a business. I've done where I've done consulting or repair type work over the years. So I've worked in healthcare small businesses. I've even helped out a couple of real estate companies over the years with some IT've worked in healthcare small businesses. I've even helped out a couple of real estate companies over the years with some IT needs this and that, and then finally transitioning into where I currently work in the public sector. Over the years now I've gotten into an executive leadership role. I currently work there full time. But I also am really passionate about technology. I'm passionate about leadership. That's what kind of prompted me to write this book. So I currently lead a large number of teams across the Western US and I'm all about doing what we can to make efficient use of tax dollars in my role. So that's where I am now today.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so how many people are you leading right now?

Speaker 2:

So I currently have a team of about 14 staff but I also provide those are my direct reports that I work with regularly, but I also oversee, if you will, about 37 different teams across the Western United States. There's probably about 225 IT staff that I work and collaborate and support as the leader for that region.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's a lot of people.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to remember everyone's names, but I definitely try.

Speaker 1:

You're working for the federal public sector, so what?

Speaker 2:

is that? Yeah, I would try to be generic, but I work for the US. Courts is where I work, mm-hmm. So in courts is where I work.

Speaker 1:

So in the judiciary side of things Okay.

Speaker 2:

So what inspired you to do the book? Yeah, that's a fantastic question. So you know, over my career I've run into and encountered a lot of really interesting I call them scenarios and situations. Some of them might be kind of humorous but others are downright inappropriate, and a lot of those situations I capture in the book. If you grab a copy you'll notice that every chapter kind of opens with a real story of something that I've experienced, real story of something that I've experienced. I've, of course, to respect the privacy of everyone in the organizations, I've anonymized or I've changed the names or the, you know, the business types or things like that, just to try to be respectful, you know, non-substantively. So I've had these really interesting situations that I've encountered that over time I've really seen point to what I see to be a really root cause or problem. And what I think to be lacking is leadership, and leadership in the technology field I always talk about.

Speaker 2:

I like to tell a story of a situation I ran into about a decade ago where I really started thinking about writing. I was taking over support for a company. I worked for a company that did IT support and this company signed a contract to do the IT support for a small business and that small business had a guy an IT guy if you will that had been there forever, I don't really know for how long. My first assignment I was kind of new to this area. It was my first real serious big boy IT job. My assignment was to meet with this outgoing leader and really learn about what the work was needed, the requirements and the priorities, and help get them up and running. And you know, it was such an interesting. It was kind of mind boggling because I go to meet with them and they I go into the business office and they're like, oh yeah, he's out back. I'm like what do you mean? He's out back. And they point me out and he, there's this old rickety camper trailer out there, like really old busted down camper trailer. Oh, he's in there and so I all right, I go knock on the door and he invites me in and I don't want to be disrespectful but the reality is that this man was like this.

Speaker 2:

If you, when you think IT, if you're not an IT person, a lot of people have that stereotypical idea of like that guy in his mom's basement, you know, kind of Cheeto dust and video games and kind of sloppy areas, like people have that perspective perspective and I believe that some stereotypes exist for a good reason, and this poor man did nothing to help, uh, push against that stereotype. He really filled that up and he was this just super socially awkward man. But then, when it came off to the the technical side of things, he tried to go into this really elaborate detail and talking, talk to me using all of these really detailed terminologies and phrases, and it was actually quite overwhelming and I was like I don't know if I can do this job, like I was actually really nervous that I couldn't do this. So then afterward I go meet with the uh, the boss of the company, the CEO, if you will, of the organization, and he was like explaining how he's. The first thing he tells me is he says I have no idea how my IT guy spends his time. We don't know where he is half the time. He always goes in these big, long descriptions. I'm not a tech person so I really don't know what to say and he just proceeds to tell me 30 minutes of this. All these headaches that he's having with his IT Come to find out over time in this situation situation it wasn't this really like overly detailed environment. But that person itself himself was really um, complicating things. He wasn't communicating effectively, he wasn't partnering with the organization, and so that really kind of started getting my gears turning to be like there's something missing here. There's, there's a gap here.

Speaker 2:

When it comes to IT leadership, there's a million billion different books out there on leadership and, like you mentioned before, you love them, I love them. I read the leadership book typically every month. I'd be happy to recommend to you Off-Light if you'd like but they really often struggle to hit home with the technology area or the IT crowd. We know that IT is really rapidly evolving, just like the real estate market, I'm sure, is rapidly evolving, but we know that it's not necessarily the technology itself, it's really how we use it to support the organization that we're in charge of, whether it's real estate or otherwise. And so you know, and the other side, like I said, you see these senior leadership, these CEOs or organizational heads that are overseeing these different areas. They're real estate professionals.

Speaker 2:

They're maybe not necessarily as tech savvy you kind of could run the gamut across from one group to another but sometimes they might feel incapable of understanding what it is their IT people do if they have dedicated staff or if they contract out to do something, or if their son's friend is just good with computers and keeps things going.

Speaker 2:

They really don't understand that and they feel incapable of really properly using technology and ultimately that could lead to an unhealthy professional relationship where, if you do have a person, they might be taking advantage of that lack of understanding. If the person they're reporting to isn't technical, they might use just crazy terms or whatever, like this gentleman in the trailer was, or just otherwise just be an inappropriate or ineffective, let's say, relationship when it comes to leadership. So that was really why I ultimately decided to write this book, because I think that leaders, both in the IT field or otherwise, they really need to. In the IT field especially, I think there's some universal, there's universal truths in leadership that apply into the IT field that we're not necessarily hitting home, and so the point of that book was really try to bridge that gap between IT folks and non-IT folks so that companies can really maximize the value of how they're using technology and how they're being leaders for their organization especially.

Speaker 1:

So I hear you saying that you've obviously identified a need for a specific way of leading people in the IT industry that you didn't see currently existed. And so what would you say in the book that you wrote are like the top things or skills or tactics or I'm not sure what verbiage you prefer to use, but that you write about, that you've used, that are effective in leading those people that you have today?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a fantastic question. I really think it's important to break down that mind block, that roadblock that some leaders might have when it's like, oh, I'm not a tech person, I really don't understand it, whatever. And I think we really should break that down. And that's why my book is called it's Not the Tech, because our issues, even in the technology field, are not technology focused. They're really breaking down to two primary areas which I'm sure we've all heard about people problems and process problems. And so when we look at specifically those, you know, when we break that down and we understand that the technology really exists to empower our organizations, to empower us as leaders or real estate agents or business owners to do the work that we need to do, or business owners to do the work that we need to do, then when we understand that that technology exists, whatever it is that we need to support it.

Speaker 2:

I would argue that for the most part, there's a technology tool or product or widget or gizmo or software or whatever that can do the work. It really comes down to how we use it. And so my main points in the book drive down into people problems and process problems. If you really start breaking down your technology failures or shortcomings or your leadership failures and shortcomings. If you really look at them from a people problem or a process problem, that's really when you can start making inroads for meaningful growth and change. And so my book is kind of divided into three. Sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 1:

Well, I was going to say can you give me an example of a problem and how you break it down?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely so. I worked with a client that they bought some software and in the book I talk about this in the example that I used, there was a summer camp that wanted to buy camp management software. Those things exist so they manage the campers and the registrations and who paid and what group they're coming from and do they have medical needs or whatever. There's software out there that does that. And they picked a product that they wanted to do and they invested a lot of their money. This was a nonprofit. They invested their money to, you know, to commit to this product. Well, about halfway into the implementation they learned that the long story short, a critical thing that they needed the program to do didn't exist in this particular product that they bought. And so my argument is that is that really a technology problem? Or how did we come to the decision to decide that product? Did we vet our needs effectively? Did we talk to the right people? Are we trained to use and understand what it is that we need? The ending story of that actually is a positive note, in that it turns out and this is also a people problem or a process problem, depending on how you look at it that the software ultimately could do what it needed, and the guy that was assigned from the vendor to do the installation for us wasn't trained and didn't know what he was doing, and so in that example, it's not the technology. There's technology that can exist to support the campers or to manage your real estate portfolio and all the things that you need to do. There's great technology out there that exists, but if you're not familiar with how to use it and you don't set up your organizational processes to support the use of it, it's useless. Right? Everyone's talking about AI right now.

Speaker 2:

I went to this conference. I was in Florida last week Huge, huge technology conference 10,000 people were there. The focus was all about AI, ai use cases, ai security issues, ai best practices, companies that can use AI. I'm sure the real estate field is being hammered with this. In advertising, we have an AI-driven thing that can help with market descriptions or valuations or best success or all of these other things. I'm sure people are getting hit with that as well. But that is just a technology tool. If you're not trained in how to effectively use it, if your processes aren't in place to do that, to be effectively using it and having the technology to support it. It's useless. It's completely a useless tool for you. So the argument is that when we really start breaking down our problems and getting below the surface technology and down into those people and process challenges and start tackling those, the technology kind of ends up falling into place more organically or naturally.

Speaker 1:

Well, everything you just said, I'm like I can think of a number of examples. I'm like, oh, there's this software we have Nobody's using it, and sometimes it's not necessarily a reflection of the software or the process. It's just like we have so many tools at our disposal that it's like it's overwhelming, like it can be overwhelming to be like, well, I'm using this for this thing and this for this thing, and this for this thing and this for this thing, and then, at the end of the day, I'm just trying to do my job, especially for a real estate agent.

Speaker 2:

A day to day job.

Speaker 1:

We have so many things that we use as real estate agents out there, so many platforms, tracking systems, crms, financial software. I mean it's crazy, it's overwhelming. So I understand what you're talking about and going like, wait a minute, it's not the software's fault, it's like maybe the process or the people.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, and so I talk a lot about. So in the book we dive into kind of a couple of different sections. The first we talk about some critical leadership skills. I really don't feel the need to necessarily reinvent the wheel when it comes to leadership. There's a million leadership books out there. I even say that in the book. I'm like there's a million out there. Here's some that I like if you want to read them.

Speaker 2:

But we talk about three areas that especially are applicable in the technology field and how we're using technology. And the first deals with communication. Because again, I think how your IT, how you're working with your tech people, is really important and being able to communicate effectively across organizations about what you're using, whether you're a person if I'm your IT person, michelle, and I'm, and I'm and you'll say hypothetically, you're not as tech savvy and I'm throwing out all of these tech terms about mainframes, databases and yada, yada and AIs and algorithms and you're like I don't know what the heck you're talking about. That's not, that's a failure on my part. That's not a technical failure, that's my failure to communicate effectively. So we talk about some strategies to break into that, both from the IT side of things and then the non-IT side of things. We talk about delegation. That's a unique challenge in the technology field and in other fields, but I would argue it's also especially in tech in which a lot of people typically IT managers get into that role. They work their way up, just like we talked about in the beginning. I worked my way up. I was in a repair shop fixing stuff. My daughter knows more about how to fix things than I do these days. She knows how to fix my iPhone better than I do. I'm rusty in that area and that's a natural evolution of my role and that's how it should work.

Speaker 2:

With the rapidly changing field of technology is that we have to be able to delegate down, and so it's not about me knowing the most about everything in whatever leadership role that I'm in. It's really about finding the best people that can do the best work in those areas, that are the best in that certain area, and delegating those roles to them. And the last one is strategy. You just talked about a million different programs and CRMs and all these solutions, and are we using them effectively or not? That's also important in that group.

Speaker 2:

That's not a technology problem. That's a leadership fundamental skill, whereas leaders you have to sit down and know and know what direction do we want to take our organization? Why do we want to get there? Do we need to pivot and go to a different direction, and why? And then, once you know that, then you work with your technology people or you're the technology person if you're a smaller group, or whatever to then find and apply the right technology that supports you going in the direction that you want to go. So, rather than being reactive and just fixing, and oh, here's this new thing you're cool headed, you're cool, calm and collected because you know where your organization is going and then you can find the right technology to place on top of that to support it.

Speaker 1:

Mm-hmm, Though it's all I like cringed. If anybody watches this on YouTube, you'll see me when he hit like number two on delegation. I'm like, oh, it's just so hard. It's so hard Like, what's your like biggest tip on trying to be like that delegator?

Speaker 2:

That's one of the biggest challenges that I face. I do consulting and I visit a lot of organizations and come in to try to help look at their IT department's efficiencies. And so many leaders are. You know, I've been in places where there's an IT director that has 14 or 15 staff that are supposed to be doing things that the IT director is spending their time doing.

Speaker 2:

So there's issues where there's a trust issue. Maybe you want it done a certain way and they might not do it a certain way or communicate it the exact way you want it, and so there's a little bit you have to choose what you're going to let go of or what you're going to try to instill. There's that trust issues. There's imposter syndrome is huge in the technology leadership field. Right, well, I need to know the most out of all my teams, and that's not necessarily, that's not true at all. So we look at that, that type of imposter syndrome, and then it's just really maximizing value.

Speaker 2:

If I, you know, if we're not able to, if we're just constantly putting out fires and and busy, busy, busy, doing busy work, which we have to do, then that leadership person cannot step back, cannot get out of the day-to-day grind, cause sometimes they gotta be in the day, they gotta be able to roll their sleeves up and and jump in and support the team. But a leader should be able to delegate effectively. And there's somebody I like. His name is Jocko Willink. He's a Navy SEAL. He wrote a great leadership book and he talks about. You say execute in the military terms which I'm not a veteran or anything like that but you say execute and everything's just getting done and you're able to step back and analyze, in his analogy, the battlefield. But in the work realm, where we're going, are we headed in the right direction? It allows you to step out and be more proactive and really maximize that value for your organization to stay a step ahead.

Speaker 1:

We love Jocko. Jocko's great. I love Jocko.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Jocko. I mean, he's one of those that we saw at an event speak one time and talk about somebody that just you know, really like recognize, like okay, I got to let my people do what they need to do. And, um, what did he say? If not? If not, it's, it's not his quote, but it's if not us, then who? Or if not me, then who? Right?

Speaker 2:

Well, it's his mentality behind extreme ownership. And as leaders, we take responsibility for the success or failure of the areas in which we're in charge of, and you really can't see the upcoming problem if you're in the trenches too busy. You know doing things. I use an analogy in my book of a ship captain. Let's say, right, maybe he started off in his role as a cook, peeling potatoes or whatever, and that's great, there's nothing wrong with that. But he's worked his way up. Can he be out there and seeing are we going? Is our staffing okay with the ship? If he's back in the kitchen peeling potatoes, he can't, and so he has to be able, he or she. They have to be able to step into their leadership role and own that, and that involves maybe giving up something. Maybe it's not exactly how I'd prefer to communicate it, or my way or whatever how I'd go about it exactly. But as long as your missions or objectives are being completed, then you might have to pick and choose what battles you're going to tackle there.

Speaker 1:

It's one of the most difficult things. That was my second cringe moment of letting go and picking battles. It's like that's my nickname. It's huge. It's like I feel like I'm the one that has a difficult time delegating because I like to control and I'm afraid of like will it turn out good?

Speaker 2:

You know what I mean, and I'm afraid of like, will it turn out good you know what I mean, or as well. And you guys, leaders, we have to step into. We should be empathetic and almost try to put ourselves into our team members shoes. I've been enrolled where I've been assigned a project where I spent weeks or even months working on that project and going way down the road in a certain direction and, to be fair, I was also communicating in written like weekly reports or biweekly updates to my leadership where I was going and what I was doing. And about three months into it my boss came in and had a completely different idea that we should be going in this other direction and all of that work was wasted.

Speaker 2:

And so that goes back into a communication challenge and a people leadership challenge in which, as leaders, if you're too busy over here and you're not able to support your teams so I have a whole section in the book that talks about the people problem where we dive into how to build really great, healthy teams in your organization and then how to keep them as well. I do talk a little bit about the IT side of things that I personally am a fan for, the appropriate roles of telecommuting and remote work. I have a very distributed team and you know I don't want to get too deep into that topic, but those are some of the things that we talk about about building and then supporting the right, the teams, and building that healthy culture. And, in my example, in a healthier culture, my leadership would have been able to take that step back and understand how to best support their teams to accomplish the goal. That's the difference, right, because I'm out here accomplishing the goal. If my boss wanted me to go right instead of left, I didn't know that and I spent all this time going in one direction, only for all that work to be wasted.

Speaker 2:

And so really effective leadership comes down to not the sales goals, not the quarterly profits, not none of that. It's really, I believe, that leadership, successful leadership, is really when your team members are feeling supported and empowered and enabled to do the work that they need to do, which ultimately gets you the quarterly goals and the sales goals and the whatever figures. But so many. Often we get focused on the day-to-day and trying to achieve it and we're hostile or toxic to our team member or unhealthy communication and we're not. They're telling us what they're doing and we're not listening, and then it's not the way we wanted to go. We didn't listen enough to pivot them or whatever, and that's not a healthy, that's not a healthy work goal, and so I focus really heavily in the book on building and maintaining healthy and effective teams, which is a universal leadership principle. It's not an IT leadership principle, but it's universal for all.

Speaker 1:

Which we do. Have a lot of real estate agents out there that are on teams. We have a lot of real estate agents that are team leaders. We have a lot of brokers that are responsible for organizations. So our audience could certainly benefit from your book and your suggestions. So, before we wrap up, a couple of things. Let our audience members know where they can find your book.

Speaker 2:

Great yeah. So it's for sale currently. It's out now on Amazon. If you search my name Richard Blalock B-L-A-L-O-C-K is that last name on Amazon you can find that it's in paperback and e-reader formats. You can also go to richard-blaylockcom, which has links to the book. It has links where you can book me. I love speaking. I love speaking at events. I speak at events all over the country, and so I'd be happy to come talk to your organization about healthy leadership cultures and empowering your teams and building all of those things out. You can book me anytime and we can. I'd love to hear from you and we could talk about what you're looking for and how we can help out with that.

Speaker 1:

So well. I am very, very, very excited for you to. I've been able to watch your journey and your wife's journey and your kids obviously as well. But I think it's really cool to meet people that start from from the bottom and work their way up, and you are certainly one of those people that have gone to school, done the work you know, put in the hours and you deserve all the success in the world. So congratulations. I'm super happy for you and your family. And the other thing that I wanted to mention before we leave is I hear you're going to have like a book celebration party. When is that happening, if our local and other people want to come?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so. If you're listening to this or watching this and you're local, or even if you're not local and you want to come up to the Mariposa, the Yosemite area is beautiful this time of year. We are holding a book launch party. That will be next Friday or Friday, November the 8th. That's going to be from 6 to 8 pm at Sierra Cider. If you haven't been to Sierra Cider, it's a gorgeous venue. They sell some great cider and we're going to have some local food vendors and some desserts from local vendors as well. So it's a great opportunity to see the book. We'll have a couple, we'll have a handful of copies per sale in person, but it's a great opportunity to come up and celebrate so happy to sign them. My wife bought me this beautiful pen I can use ready to go, so happy to sign copies anytime, but especially at that party. So if people are in the area, we'd love to have you there.

Speaker 1:

Perfect. Yeah, we're big fans of Sierra Cider, David and Dana. We showed them on our American Dream TV episode. Was that last month? I think it was last month.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, we love that great venue.

Speaker 1:

So all right, richard. Well, thank you so much for joining us, and I can't wait to see what's next for you.

Speaker 2:

I really appreciate you having me on and thank you so much and I look forward to maybe coming back soon and talking again. Thank you again.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

Perfect.