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« Foraging for Information versus Marketing | Main | Gartner and the Hype Cycle of Emerging Technologies »
Model the power to influence. The new generation of CIOs: ‘Walk in the Shoes’ of the Leaders that Drive Change and Business Growth!
I am always fascinated to get a better insight into what makes one manager better than another – if for no other reason than in the hope that it will help me to do better!
My colleague Kat has a complicated role description – see below – but has always provided me and others with much to think about. I challenged her some time back on the skills for the new CIO and this is her very interesting profile as to what makes a CIO successful.
Hope you find it as insightful as I did
Andy
Katiushka Borges is Senior Advisor for Capgemini UK.
She is a communications specialist, journalist, psychological profiler, NLP Master business trainer, CXO executive coach and ‘half a geek’.
"I’ve been working for at least 20 years trying to understand what make business leaders succeed by choosing to ‘put myself in their shoes’. I have tried all sorts of fine pairs, styles and shapes to understand what makes them tick.
Early this year, I decided to try on ‘the shoes of the most influential CIOs’ that are now leading the way. What an exciting experience!
These new CIO shoes felt like a glove with wings, so I decided to walk the path of this new generation of amazing CIO leaders and pay respect to them as they can inspire us all!
Please take a look at their leadership styles, and notice what has changed from the role of IT Director to the new influential CIO.
How can we understand what is in the mind of a CIO? What drives this new generation of influential leaders?
It is not only about IT, it is about business. We all can see how the role of the CIO has become an even more strategic, and exciting position to be in. They are passionate about technology and how technology can drive the business forward.
Their leadership roles now also involve diverse forms of communication from informal social events and lunches, where they are keynote speakers, through to more formal newsletters, meetings and events; apart from the two-way dialogue with people in the company. The have stepped out from their offices to show us the way forward.
What has changed?
CIOs sit at board meetings and what they have to say is listened to, by the CEOs and other board members, who know that linking technology with business growth is the way to go!
They seem to be focusing more on technology and innovation than ever before, and they are managing all the functions more holistically across the companies they work for.
How can we build a portrait of common qualities and preferred communication styles to identify what drives them to succeed?
I went inside their heads, like the experience of opening a portal…a door or a window into their minds. If you have seen the film ‘Being John Malkovich’, you know what I mean.
Once I put their shoes on, I applied a ‘Strategic Personality Profiling (SPP)’ method I developed over the past 20 years with the motivation to understand “the difference that makes the difference”! SPP is based on rigorous research criteria and systemic analysis of publicly available data (press, video and podcasts), language patterns, values and beliefs.
I used some of the principles of Modelling Excellence, based on what Richard Bandler and John Grinder (creators of NLP) developed around what makes people excel at what they do, and how that can be duplicated.
How can we see through their eyes, listen through their ears and tap into their minds?
I wanted to understand their driving force, their ways of looking at technology and how they are now behind the wheel of business growth.
Please come with me on this journey to understand what makes them, in my opinion, the business leaders of today.
5 key findings:
1- Empowering leadership styles
Every move in their career has allowed them to better integrate lines of business and functions to drive efficiencies. They like to support and empower their teams towards collaboration and success.
2- High achievers
They are successful not only because they have achieved every goal they set out to achieve but also they have moved out of their comfort zone to engage, communicate effectively and manage complex organisations. They love challenge.
3- Strategic Innovators
They have driven business innovation and taken the step of strategically aligning IT to the business; by not only delivering at an operational level but also by keeping projects on track.
4- Well balanced communication styles
They shared preferred communication styles, such as Kinesthestic (can do approach – hands on –make ideas tangible - grab and deliver – fix and solve – material results) and Auditory Digital (Auditory in a Visual sense, which means they connect ideas in their head like a flowchart that integrates both audio and visual components into events - information in a structured way).
5- Valued board members
Excellent at understanding the importance of sitting at a board table and talking business. Self-assured of the role they need to play in driving business growth in a holistic way, by connecting all the dots and all aspects of the business.
10 Key personality indicators to model their power to influence
The key qualities, including values and beliefs they share:
- Proactive, honest, determined, hard-working, and confident.
- Intellectually active, their minds are quick and agile.
- Business and customer focused.
- Energetic and rigorous thinkers. Every action should be considered thoroughly and every move should have a very clear purpose.
- They bring expertise and knowledge from other sectors to drive business change, with an understanding of what can and cannot be done.
- Good at translating ideas into action with unity of purpose.
- Great skill in commanding attention when they present their thoughts to others. Creative use of metaphors, communication is important to them.
- Ability to influence others and get them aligned to focus and work towards a common goal. They coach and empower their teams.
- Focused on ways of using technology to grow the business and reduce costs. Strong drive to excel and succeed.
- Innovative and strategic. Open to listen to new ways of doing things that bring ‘material results’.
Walking in someone else’s shoes is not easy. However, keeping a pair of ‘fine shoes’ like these handy, might help us understand ‘the difference that makes the difference’. Voila. Vive la difference!"
Any comments or questions, please add a comment to this blog or email katiushka.borges@capgemini.com
Posted by Andy Mulholland on August 18, 2008 | 
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Comments
# on August 18, 2008 1:53 PM, Vijeesh Papulli said:
Personally I am pleasantly surprised at the timing of this article as I am just about to complete a book called 'Partnering With The CIO - The Future of IT Sales Seen Through the Eyes of Key Decision Makers' by Michael Minelli and Mike Barlow. The CIO role is one of the fastest if not the fastest evolving CXO positions in an organization. Since early 80s the role has transformed from 'being a leader of this group of Geeks sitting together in a enclosed compartment (called server rooms or data centers) working on huge MIS systems' to a person who plays a key role in planning, development and execution of companywide strategy in the new economy. Your article provides a very interesting personality profile of CIOs which I found missing in the book. Thank you Katiushka for 'going inside their heads' as you put it; as you have been able to come out with some insighful observations!
# on August 18, 2008 7:00 PM, Rob Peters said:
This is a very interesting read. I completed a 5 year study of CIO's for DePaul University from 2003 to 2007. I interviewed over 100 senior IT Executives from across industries in the Chicagoland area. Many CIO's are struggling with alignment and are more comfortable with the the enterprise project plan than talking business. Many CIO's are not at the board level. Many senior executives with the title CIO reported to the CFO. After Sarbanes-Oxley was passed by congress. It was the CEO and CFO that brought the CIO into the discussion and not visa versa. I really believe that the CIO role is at an important inflection point of either becoming very strategic or becoming a Chief Outsourcing/Infrastructure Officer. As always, each company has a different view of what they exepect from their senior IT executive.
# on August 19, 2008 5:14 PM, Katiushka Borges said:
Thank you Vijeesh. I would be interested in getting that book you mentioned. Please do not hesitate to send me any other readings or publications on the subject. Katiushka
# on August 19, 2008 5:24 PM, Katiushka Borges said:
Rob, I would e very interested to share ideas on those interviews you did. You are absolutely right, many CIOs are struggling and each company has a different view. Fortunately things are changing and naturally evolving, and it is inspiring to see evidence of how influential CIOs are leading the way forward and challenge old views.
Thanks for your comments. Katiushka
# on August 19, 2008 5:28 PM, Katiushka Borges said:
Rob, I would be very interested to share ideas on those interviews you did. You are absolutely right, many CIOs are struggling and each company has a different view. Fortunately things are changing and naturally evolving, and it's quite inspiring to see evidence of how a group of influential CIOs are leading the way forward and challenging old views and ways of doing things. There is still some resistance to overcome, as usual, although it's quite exciting to watch how it develops. Thanks for your comments. Katiushka
# on August 22, 2008 5:47 PM, Dan Cunningham said:
Really interesting article - thanks Katiushka!
I think the changes that you describe illustrate the shift that has occurred in IT as a whole, from being almost a support function to people realising that it is the thing at the heart of the business, the driving force behind it all. The CIO is now leading the innovation that is touching every single area of the business (hence the necessity for a more strategic element to the role!)
My question (to everyone here) is: what is going to happen to the CIO role next? If Information Systems are central to every area of the business now, does every executive not need to be equally focussed on driving innovation through Information Systems? Does this mean the CIO role merges into every other CXO role and evaporates? Or will we always have a distinct CIO?
# on August 25, 2008 2:22 PM, Katiushka Borges said:
Dan, I think you illustrate well what is in the mind of many people by posting these questions, thank you.
What I believe it is going to happen to the CIO role next is expansion and segmentation of the functions. Similarly but not quite the same, it has happened somehow to the HR role. Not many HR Directors are part of the executive board. For example, someone like Neil Roden, Global HR Director of RBS, is a very influential man (sharing most of the CIO Key Personality Indicators that I highlighted in the article) who understands his role in driving the business forward and his contribution is highly valued as any other board member.
I think that acquiring and practising these KPIs, and making innovation relevant to colleagues and business needs through effective communication, is also the key for our new generation of CIOs, CTOs and IT Directors.
As business evolves and we face new challenges, innovation does not have the same meaning for everyone. I agree, every executive should be equally focused on driving innovation, not only through IS but also with IS.
That is why I think it is so important to look at the business holistically and identify all the areas that play a role in driving it forward.
Expertise and quest for knowledge is something IT professionals strongly share, so instead of evaporating or merging into every other CXO role, I believe that like a Captain of a ship that understands all the functions and roles, he has a Navigator who is the one that charts the way through unknown waters.