5 ways to balance self-promotion with the demands of the business

While it’s never been a better time to be a successful IT professional in terms of professional gains, recognizing opportunities for career advancement is just the starting point. 

IT professionals who want to land the top jobs will have to appeal to the senior executives of their respective organizations in new and creative ways. Harvard Business Review says savvy self-promotion is a delicate art: “You need people to notice your growth and accomplishments, but no one likes a braggart.”

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But how do you strike the right balance? Five business leaders share their tips for effective self-promotion.

1. Focus on the right topics

Anjali Shaikh, managing director and CIO Program Experience director at Deloitte Consulting LLP, said the growing prominence of technology’s role within the enterprise means IT leaders are more frequently tasked with telling the story of how the organization is leveraging technology, both within the business and in external forums.

“This trend means that your personal brand can be equally important as the company’s brand and dynamic and impactful CIOs are often leveraged as magnets to attract talent and highlight the organization’s technological successes,” she said.

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Shaikh told ZDNET that tech professionals should be deliberate about the topics they lean into externally and think carefully about how those areas affect perceptions of their organization.

“They should ensure their brand is a positive beacon for tech talent while also serving as a testament to their organization’s commitment to tech-driven customer service and product development,” she said.

“Harmonizing personal brand with the company’s is about being strategic when leveraging both personal credibility and the company’s reputation in the technology sphere.”  

2. Keep an eye on innovative ideas

JP Avelange, CIO for technology specialist Expereo, said technology’s elevated position in business transformation today means IT executives must have a high profile.

“In their ‘new’ role, self-promotion is the key to ensuring CIOs’ contributions are recognized, and they’re seen as business partners,” he said.

However, self-promotion must be balanced with the business’s requirements. Avelange told ZDNET that achieving this equilibrium means putting one’s ego aside.

Successful IT leaders communicate with business peers regularly. They demonstrate how projects create value, whether through a positive impact on the organization’s bottom line or customer experiences.

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The best CIOs also remember to keep one eye on future trends to ensure the business stays one step ahead of its competitors.

“Simultaneously, CIOs must drive innovation by exploring and implementing emerging technologies that give them a competitive advantage,” he said.

“Building a stronger customer experience and developing an agile organization that can quickly respond to changing market conditions should be the two main priorities here.”

3. Deliver on your responsibilities

Attiq Qureshi, chief digital information officer at Manchester United Football Club, said IT professionals who see the growing importance of the technology department as “a land grab” will struggle to balance self-promotion and broader business requirements.

“If they see it as an orchestration exercise, and their job is to understand the demarcation lines and work with different people at different levels, they’re more likely to succeed,” he said.

Qureshi explained to ZDNET how that orchestration process works in his role at a world-famous sports team.

The club relies on complex systems and data sources, including fan information in the CRM platform, football performance data related to medical, nutritional, and recovery systems, and scheduling systems for teams at various levels.

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Add in match-day platforms, Wi-Fi networks, and digital content the club shares with fans around the globe, and Qureshi said his reputation is tightly related to public perception.

“I’ve worked for some big brands, but nothing comes close to Manchester United and the number of people following you. And for me, that’s an extra dynamic.”

“The high-profile nature of the club is great — it opens doors, you can have conversations, and it makes recruitment and retention easier. But it also comes with responsibility.”

Being a successful CIO for a Premier League club means delivering systems and services the business can rely on.

“We don’t have a fail-first and fail-quick mentality,” he said. “Our technology has got to be robust, it’s got to go live, and it’s got to work.”

4. Appreciate the challenges people face

Southwest Traders CIO Ambrose Earle said new opportunities come with a proven ability to work closely with your peers and help them meet their objectives.

“A big part of my job is process improvement, not the technology. I think that focus gives me more appreciation of the business and its challenges,” he said.

Earle told ZDNET his leadership style is centered on Lean Six Sigma, a team-focused managerial approach that seeks performance improvements by eliminating resource waste and defects.

Rather than worrying about self-promotion, Earle ensures people across the business can make the most of the tools his organization implements.

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Since joining Southwest Traders in 2018, he has engaged with professionals across the organization to suggest technological solutions to the problems they identify.

“A big challenge for me when I was recruited here was adoption. People won’t adopt a technology if they don’t understand or are not directed effectively,” he said.

“If I’m working with the business and I appreciate their challenges, I think we have a great opportunity to implement technology that solves their issues.”

5. Show how you constantly learn new things

Omer Grossman, global CIO at technology specialist CyberArk, said up-and-coming IT professionals must remember that self-improvement is a constant work in progress, and any business leader is never the finished article.

“The environment is constantly changing. To be a successful CIO, you must be a continuous learner,” he said.

“I’m always learning — taking online courses, meeting customers to hear their feedback, being active in CIO networks, and consuming information and data.”

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As part of a continual learning process, many CIOs have aimed for self-promotion by taking on expanded roles, such as adding words like digital or transformation to their job titles.

Grossman told ZDNET that IT professionals who rise to the top, regardless of job titles, prove to the business they can harness a range of capabilities. Rather than just promoting their benefits externally, they deliver great results internally.

“I think eventually the CIO will be a mostly inward-facing executive who also unleashes the integrated potential of IT, security, data analytics, and AI together.”