How to be the CIO every company wants

Agility and the ability to manage change

You’re working on a new remote sales system when the CEO stops by and says that the company is contemplating acquiring a competitor with a complementary product line. He asks for your input. From a business standpoint it makes absolute sense, and you tell him that. But now you have to put the stops on the remote sales project and migrate IT staff into converting a new company onto your ERP system. How quickly and seamlessly can you change gears and refocus your staff?

Collaboration

You’ve heard that Finance has purchased new software and is moving ahead on its own no-code application development. Finance feels self-sufficient. No one has communicated with you. But you know from experience that Finance will probably be coming to you within 90 days to request integration with other company systems. Do you wait to hear from Finance, or make it a point to actively collaborate and touch base with them, even when there are no immediate projects that you’re aware of?

Communications in plain English

The board wants to know to why a Wi-Fi 6 network is needed for manufacturing, and why all of the routers and other network devices have to be upgraded, when everything already seems to be working fine. Can you explain the need to upgrade in plain English — and appropriate business terms — without getting too deep into the weeds of a technical discussion of new Wi-Fi protocols? Being able to do so will not only help you sell the C-suite on IT investments but also increase your chances of buy-in among business colleagues when you need it the most.

Managing the superman (or superwoman) syndrome

Over 80 years ago, the first Superman radio broadcasts hit the air, with cub newspaper reporter Jimmy Olsen exclaiming, “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!”

Undoubtedly, there are many days when CIOs just wish they could don that cape and fly to the rescue of new, screaming company priorities with instant IT solutions. Unfortunately, it’s probably more likely on any given day that most IT leaders feel more like the bird or plane.

So if you acknowledge that you are only human and decide to just focus on two main areas as a CIO, what should they be?