Congratulations—you’ve just been promoted. Now for the bad news: You've probably
been selected for the CIO role based on your ability to implement technology and
run a department. Those are very likely your strongest skill sets, yet those
tactical skills will now take a back seat to leadership skills.An example is the ability to influence others and rally the troops—a skill that you can’t just read about and learn. While new leaders do learn some skills on the job, experts advise future and current CIOs to get basic leadership training before landing a promotion, or soon after.
That’s why more IT executives are attending leadership schools around the country, and more organizations are developing leadership programs specifically for CIOs and CTOs, according to Jim Kouzes, a leadership consultant, author, and educator in San Jose, CA.
When it comes to leadership education, you have numerous options: daylong seminars; weeklong, off-site courses at universities or private schools; certificate programs; consultants who visit your company to work with teams; and leadership coaches who work one-on-one with clients. For the sake of space, I'll focus on group leadership education.
It’s never too late
In 2000, as the new CIO at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Jeannie Winston decided she needed a refresher course in IT management. She had spent the prior five years in the legal field and felt her IT management skills had become rusty.
She enrolled in a CIO certificate program at Carnegie Mellon University, the CIO Institute, which covers a broad spectrum of senior IT issues, including knowledge management, e-commerce, security, and leadership. The four-year-old program was designed for federal IT managers but attracts equal numbers of private sector CIOs and their seconds-in-command.
For 14 months during 2001 and 2002, Winston traveled to attend four-day courses in Arlington, VA—a grueling schedule on top of an already demanding job. While the commute was tough, as was juggling her day job around the courses, it was well worth it, said Winston. The CIO was able to share ideas with other CIOs, assess her own strengths and weaknesses, and participate in role-playing activities. All of this helped her navigate difficult cultural challenges at the university, including transitioning from an open-network academic environment to one that required more security.
Unlike technical skills, leadership concepts—including conflict resolution and the understanding of human motivations—are best learned interactively, Winston discovered. "Leadership is more of an art than a science," she said. "You have to work harder to get in tune with those soft skills."
Bill Ferguson, director of the CIO Institute and a former CIO, said participant feedback indicates that IT execs like the blend of academics and experiential learning that Carnegie Mellon offers. What CIOs most desire from such courses, he added, is the ability to immediately put the skills they learn into practice back at work.
Another critical take-away from the learning effort is networking. "It's just as important for IT types as other executives," Ferguson said. Broader responsibilities in business and strategy require next-generation CIOs to be human relations experts. "There is an interest in maintaining and developing these executive skill sets."
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