Bringing Out The Leader in a CIO

Instilling leadership qualities has become a prerequisite trait for CIOs for leading a more charismatic charge in realizing organizational goals in a coherent fashion. In a recent research conducted by Gartner and Korn/Ferry, seven distinguishing attributes were recognized that marked the essence of an accomplished CIO, reports IT Business Edge.

“During the course of our research, we observed the CIOs with the best people skills used these soft skills to influence expectations well ahead of when priorities were set or a project began,” remarked George Hallenbeck, Director, intellectual property development for Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting. “Before a dime was budgeted, or staff time allocated, they were meeting with their colleagues and engaging in candid two-way conversations that defined what success would look like. Then they delivered against the expectations they helped set and as a result, the organization felt the investment of time and money in IT was worth it. Soft skills produced hard results.”

Following are the seven virtues a CIO needs to incorporate in his behavioral patterns and work dynamics to lead the IT sector in a systematic and productive manner:

1) Be a People’s Leader: The primary factor due to which a CIO is fruitful in their endeavors is the acknowledgement of the fact that behind every successful venture, people are involved and that due credit needs to be forwarded for the efforts put in.

2) Think out of the box: Not to undermine their intellectual skills, but a CIO should weave a formidable fabric of different ideas in order to come up with the best possible solution which is kosher to everybody.

3) Be Accessible: A CIO, in order for effective leadership, needs to be more approachable in order to facilitate creative and innovative ideas.

4) Build Relationships: CIO needs to invest time to build, maintain and develop relationships with internal peers as well as external suppliers and customers to extend the reach of organizational success.

5) Bridge Communication Gap: Clarity of communication should be present in a CIO for an effective comprehension of ideas and messages.

6) Be Galvanizing: In order to extract the maximum out of the employees, a CIO needs to motivate and applaud for the efforts put in during the course and completion of a project.

7) Prioritizing People: Due emphasis should be given to the people aspect and develop the requisite skills so that their capability and capacity to deliver results manifolds.

As Graham Waller, Vice President and Executive Partner with Gartner Executive Programs said, “CIOs understand they need to manage IT processes in order to deliver results and to meet key expectations. They also understand the need to lead people in order to deliver on those goals. However, what many don’t understand is the incredibly important interplay between the two,” said Mr. Waller. “Focusing on leadership and people skills - the ‘soft’ things that many CIOs tend to minimize in their quest to keep up with their day-to-day responsibilities of managing IT - is in fact the biggest determinate of their success, or failure.”

As such, honing the leadership skills along with their analytical skills tend to make the most effective and efficient business technology executives.