At the sidelines of NWC’s Infrastructure Agenda 2008 event last month, I got into a conversation with the CIO of the one of the fastest growing retail chains in the country. Our talk took an interesting turn when I asked him how he managed to ‘sell’ his ideas to his management. The secret: regular and informal interactions with his superiors.
According to him, when CIOs prepare to take on business orientation, they tend to put emphasis on ‘hard skills’ at the cost of ‘people’ skills. There's a strong correlation between companies that use IT for competitive advantage and CIOs who work closely with CEOs and other business executives in setting corporate strategies, a Gartner study notes. To take on the mantle of a business leader, there is no denying that CIOs have to develop managerial skills and knowledge of business and strategic management. To talk as equals, they have to understand the business, how it works and most important, learn the skills of running a business. They have to learn how to manage budgets and projects, be able explain to the management how different technologies impacts business, how technology can drive functions like marketing, and so on.
The education required for these hard skills can be obtained in an Executive Development Program or as a packaged course. But there are no ready made courses for people skills. These can be obtained only through regular interactions and by observing how top guys work. For example, a casual chat with your CFO or CMO where you sidestep technology jargon and make technology accessible can do wonders the next time you knock on their doors for a buy in.
At the same time, hard skills should be used to build up respect within the company by delivering projects on time and delivering to expectations. And your technology education shouldn’t stop because business will suffer if the CIO cannot manage the technology side of his role.