CIO as an Agent of Transformation

Bangalore: “Leading an IT organization is no cakewalk and with the increasing impact of technology on business, it is only getting more challenging, whether you are a middle manager plotting your long terms career goals or a seasoned CIO looking for a refresher course…” - Martha Heller, President, Heller Search Associates.

These very same thoughts of Martha are echoed in the book by Larry Bonfante entitled ‘Lessons in IT Transformation.’ Larry has craftily brought out and embedded in his book certain traits pertaining to human dynamics that moulds a CIO into an efficacious leader.

Let us analyze five of the most primary attributes mentioned in Bonfante’s work:

Unify Stakeholders -   Bringing together the manifold stakeholders and persuading them to align for a single cause for the organization is a gargantuan task that the CIOs must accomplish in order to lead a more formidable charge.
Build Relationships – Formulating partnerships with internal executives, vis-à-vis CFO, CMO as well as the CEO, and with vendors in order to procure the most viable technologies is a skill that CIOs need to incorporate in his work approach.
Be Trustworthy – Both the internal clients and external consumers must feel comfortable enough to approach the CIOs in order to satisfy any queries whatsoever. In this regard, CIOs must build a circle of trust so that their expertise can be sought in a genuine way.
Effective Communicator – A CIO should hone his/ her communicating skills for effective transition of thoughts and ideas to their counterparts and subordinates for generation of adequate support in their ventures.
Drive Change – Keeping in mind the ever changing trends in the IT sector, a CIO should take over the reins to facilitate new ideas as well as indulge in risks that might prove beneficial to the organization in the long run.

Adhering to the above mentioned characteristics will brand a CIO as the quintessential agent of transformation.