Leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about building the conditions where others can find them.

In this episode, Aaron Kopel sits down with Michael Koluch, VP of IT Strategy and Operations at Arlington/Roe, who made a career pivot from 16 years in higher education to IT leadership, starting at the help desk and working his way up.

Michael shares six practical principles for unlocking momentum in IT: setting the right priorities, asking better questions, building teams around strengths, choosing progress over perfection, sustaining urgency, and communicating strategy consistently. He also gets honest about the hardest part of growing into leadership, learning to step back and let your team own the work, even the systems you built yourself.

The conversation also covers what it means for IT to stop being an add-on and start being woven into the business, how to ask questions that reframe processes rather than just replicate them, and why the soft skills we keep dismissing are actually the most critical skills in the room.

Key takeaways:

• The right work matters more than more work
• Leadership is about empowering others, not staying in the weeds
• IT earns its seat at the table by speaking the language of business outcomes

Episode highlights

(00:00) Introducing Michael Koluch

(01:18) From counselor to IT leader

(08:27) Six ways to unlock team momentum

(10:13) Prioritize the right work, not more work

(11:47) Ask better questions before building solutions

(15:46) Build complementary teams that perform

(17:12) Progress beats perfection every time

(18:53) Keep momentum with urgency and strategy

(22:03) The hardest leadership skill is letting go

(28:17) Why IT must become a business partner

(35:56) The surprising hobby that teaches leadership

(37:36) The historical figure every leader should study

(40:08) How Michael wants to be remembered

(42:52) Books every technology leader should read

Michael Koluch on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-koluch/

Aaron Kopel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronkopel

Explore Project Brilliant: https://projectbrilliant.com

Buy Unlocking Momentum: https://a.co/d/hKPFqoS