IT managers looking to climb the corporate ladder may set their sights on a CIO position. To ensure success, they must develop and demonstrate specific skills. The focus should be strategic thinking, gaining cross-functional experience, and showing business impact.

Understanding the Roles

The specific roles of IT manager and CIO may vary from company to company, but the main difference is the scope. IT managers focus more on daily operations. They may communicate with vendors, confirm systems are running smoothly, ensure their departments are updated with the latest technology, and identify security issues.

CIO’s duties are more strategic. They must analyze the organization’s long-term visions and goals and implement systems to achieve them. CIOs also communicate with investors and other C-suite executives to ensure company-wide alignment.

The primary responsibilities of a CIO include the following:

• Overseeing technological components that run on-premises
• Orchestrating a technology stack of hardware and software
• Collaborating with executives to determine business strategies
• Advising leadership on how new technologies can support organizational goals
• Building strong IT management
• Creating an efficient workforce culture with the innovation and resilience required to adjust to the fast-paced technology landscape
• Ensuring compliance
• Creating an IT budget that aligns with the organization’s financial outlook

Developing Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking requires the development of hard and soft skills. To develop strategic thinking, a leader must:

• Ask Questions: An inquisitive mindset identifies challenges and opportunities.
• Setting Goals: Leaders should think about the future, considering goals and how they will impact the organization.
• Be Flexible: A leader must be ready to pivot and adjust to the evolving business landscape.
• Collaborate: A good leader considers various perspectives and works well with others.
• Stay Informed: CIOs must be current on their organization’s latest technology, market changes, and new developments.
• Be Innovative: Innovation and creativity help leaders overcome challenges and stay competitive.
• Reflect: Reflect on success and failure to identify the best strategies moving forward.
• Develop Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence is essential when working with colleagues and employees. Leaders must learn to ask questions, paraphrase, listen actively, and read body language to understand communication better.

Once soft skills are developed, leaders can carry out their strategic approach on a practical level by:

• Assessing Competitors: Conduct competitive analysis to identify competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. Use the information to determine how your organization can improve and avoid common mistakes.
• Conduct a SWOT Analysis: Use a SWOT analysis to identify areas of improvement within the IT department.
• Develop a Strategy: Your strategy should be agile, scalable, secure, compliant, and customer-centric. Once developed, review it with stakeholders to gain their input and approval.
• Continuous Improvement: Strategies are rarely static. Review your strategy regularly to identify gaps and ensure it meets market demands and organizational needs.

Gaining Cross-Functional Experience

The cross-functional experience involves collaborating with different departments to achieve a common goal. You can get your feet wet by:

• Volunteering for Cross-Functional Initiatives: Volunteer for projects that require collaborating with other teams.
• Lead Cross-Functional Teams: If cross-functional initiatives provide team leadership opportunities, ensure you are the first in line.
• Build Relationships with Other Departments: Check with other departments to determine how IT impacts operations. Listen to their needs to ensure your systems support a seamless workflow.
• Participate in Cross-Functional Training: Seek out training opportunities to better understand the market, organization, and collaboration techniques.
• Promote a Collaborative Culture: Leaders can promote a collaborative culture through open communication channels, joint meetings, and identifying collaboration opportunities.
• Shadow Other Departments: Spend time working in other departments to gain first-hand insight into their needs.
• Avoid Jargon: Be a business translator by clearly explaining IT initiatives and strategies and how they will impact other departments.

Showing Business Impact

An IT director may find it challenging to demonstrate business impact. They may be limited in what they can achieve. However, by actively seeking out opportunities, they can develop an impressive resume within the company.

It’s also vital to keep track of your achievements. This information will help you demonstrate your potential as a CIO when succession is possible. Organizations may want you to explain how you contributed to revenue, value creation, cost optimization, risk identification, and remediation.

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