Being an IT leader can feel like an uphill battle with no support. As you’re pulled in all different directions, asked to make the impossible happen, and tasked with guiding your employees as they develop their own career, it’s hard to make time to focus on yourself and your own personal growth. And with many IT leaders being promoted to leadership without proper training or guidance, it can feel like a lonely road.
We understand the struggle, which is what led to the creation of the IT Leadership Lab – a community built by and for IT leaders to discuss the unique challenges that IT leadership faces when managing both a team and the technology that runs an entire organization.
Our bi-weekly livestreams hosted in the ITLL shine a light on various leadership topics, but we’re taking things up a notch with our first-ever IT Leadership Lab Summit! This two-day event will feature keynote presentations and workshops from leadership experts to help you track down the bugs in leadership.
Note: This form is only for the Day 1 sessions. If you are interested in being a part of the small-group workshops on Day 2, you can sign up for them here on the Day 2 Workshop page: https://go.ninjaone.com/summit-it-leadership-lab-workshops
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How to Find, Develop, and Retain Your A-PlayersDave Kline, Management Advisor & Speaker 9am-10am ET |
Most teams aren't full of A-players because most leaders are playing the wrong game. They're chasing expensive talent with perfect resumes instead of identifying people who can be A-players in their specific context. The best leaders know how to spot undervalued talent, develop them systematically, and create environments where top performers choose to stay. This session shows you how to build your own talent factory instead of competing for the same overpriced candidates as everyone else.
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Making Data-Driven Decisions in ITCarmen Campos, Sr. Program Manager (ITIL & ITSM) 10:15am-11:15am ET |
As IT leaders, you’ve heard it before. If operations are running smoothly, executives may ask, “What are we paying you for?” but if issues arise that affect the organization, you may face the same question, “What are we paying you for?”
Because the concept of IT can be a bit abstract for those not directly involved, proving the value of IT decisions to other parts of the organization is one of the most common issues that IT leaders run into. But just like any other business decision, it comes down to data. In this session, Carmen Campos will be walking us through the data-to-decision lifestyle, how to tell your story with compelling data, and how to tailor your storytelling to your specific audience.
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Why Your System Keeps Producing the Wrong Behavior Nate Payne, Leadership Strategist & Tech Consultant 11:30am-12:30pm ET |
When leadership breaks down, we tend to blame people, culture, execution, or even ourselves. But most organizations are behaving exactly as their systems allow.
This presentation looks at leadership like a system to be debugged. Instead of focusing on intent or language, we’ll examine outcomes: what behaviors are rewarded, where friction appears, and how incentives and constraints shape decision-making inside IT teams.
Drawing from Living Systems Leadership, this talk reframes leadership as the design of conditions rather than the exercise of control. You’ll leave with a clearer way to see why pushing harder often creates fragility, why values alone don’t change behavior, and how resilient systems achieve coherence without constant pressure.
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Managing Your IT Organization with Radical CandorAmy Sandler, Principal Coach at Radical Candor 12:45pm-1:45pm ET |
Radical Candor helps organizations build teams that trust each other, move quickly, and deliver great results. This keynote will demonstrate Radical Candor with energy, clarity, and real-world stories that inspire people to take action.
Through this keynote, you’ll learn the skills and confidence to communicate openly and solve problems before they grow. You’ll also discover how to give and get feedback in a way that strengthens relationships and builds trust over time.
Workshop #1: How to Grow Your Influence and Get Support for Your Goals
Dave Kline, Management Advisor & Speaker
9 - 10am ET
Workshop #2: Designing Conditions for Thriving IT Teams
Nate Payne, Leadership Strategist & Tech Consultant
2 - 3pm ET