New CIO Guide

Often new and aspiring CIOs ask advice on how they can move ahead. Recently, there was an interesting discussion on LinkedIn on this topic. The discussion was started by a newly promoted CIO and a lot of advice was given by many CIOs and ex-CIOs. There are many words of wisdom that are worth sharing, which will not only help CIOs but also aspiring CIOs. 

‘Promote’ Yourself

In Michael Watkins’s book ‘The first 90 days’ he advises functional leaders who are moving to executive roles to ‘promote’ themselves. This means stop thinking yourself as a functional leader e.g. Applications Manager, or Infrastructure Manager or an expert and realise that your role is now a broader leadership role. This new role has different demands and expectations than the old role. As an executive, you are now part of the business leadership team and not just the technology leadership team. 

Understand the Business

Your new leadership role requires you to have a sound understanding of the business (products, services and dynamics). Unless you know how the business works, what the customers are expecting and what the competition is doing, you are not going to be able to leverage the technology capabilities needed to achieve success. Learn from your ‘C’ level peers, visit the branches/ factories/ call Centre to continue to learn about the business.

Take time to sit back and understand the organisational context, vision and goals and IT’s capabilities (e. g. their team, infrastructure and services) as well as how they relate to each other.

Focus on a Few Things

As a new CIO there is a temptation to ‘transform’ IT. New CIOs often get into trouble by trying to solve every problem and please everyone right out of the gate. If there are service delivery issues, deal with them first and set realistic expectations with the management team. No one wants to talk strategy when basic IT functions aren't working. Understand what needs to be fixed. What are the  biggest concerns of the CEO or your peers? Is the service delivery satisfactory? Are projects delivering value? Does IT have credibility in the business? 

Once you understand what needs to be fixed, create a 3 or 6 month plan and share it with your boss to get his buy-in. Demonstrate some quick wins. This will create positive momentum for your change agenda.

Create a Shared Agenda

Share your understanding of the business’s challenges and expectations with your staff. What you know, they should know (within reason). There should be no surprises. When your team shares the same understanding with you, they are more likely to buy into the change agenda. When everyone is oriented in the same direction, achieving success becomes easier. Creating a shared agenda also builds trust between you and your team.