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Leadership Agenda for CIOs: Be Nice

Influential leaders know how to use their charm to achieve their goals.

By Susan Cramm

February 01, 2004 — CIO — The first part of the year is a natural time for implementing organizational changes, and so a lot of CIOs are transitioning now to new positions. Some are switching companies; others are moving between divisions or into newly created divisional CIO roles. Regardless, the challenges revolve around how to make a good first impression and set the course for the future.

If you are transitioning to a new position, you may feel like a 12-year-old going to your first school dance—everyone seems to be watching you, and you just want to fit in. The good news is that fewer are watching than you think; the other executives are too wrapped up in themselves to give you more than a passing glance. The bad news is that it’s not enough to just fit in. New executives are brought in to make things happen. You have only a few months to assess the current situation, get your game plan together and signal what you care about to the rest of the organization.

New CIOs need to keep this mantra top of mind: First be charming, then be tough. Before you dismiss charm as irrelevant to your role as an executive, remember that if your ultimate goal is influence, then job number one is to build relationships. Meanwhile, you can assess the situation for IT and formulate your plan of attack.

New CIOs are often greeted with closed arms. Breaking through requires emphasizing people over tasks—that is, charm. Spend time with your direct reports, influential executives and their staffs, intensive users of IT services, and the front line (employees who deal directly with customers). Discuss their agendas, objectives, concerns and suggestions. During these sessions, ask questions and take visible action to deliver short-term wins (for instance, resolve a service issue or ensure that a performance appraisal is written).

These face-to-face meetings accomplish more than building relationships and credibility. They also provide the information necessary to define your IT game plan—as long as you ask the right questions. Make sure that during your conversations with others, you are probing for insights in the following three areas:

• Where should IT investments occur?
• Is the organization capable of capitalizing on the potential of IT?
• Will the installed technical infrastructure stand in the way?

Investment opportunities are theoretically derived from an understanding of the industry, company financials, business strategy (explicit or inferred) and competitor positioning. But real-world IT investment opportunities are found at the intersection of business value and motivation. Practical investment requires filtering the theoretical opportunities through the motivation of the executives who are running the business and will be accountable for realizing value.

 

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