What it takes to win your first CIO role

Joy Brown’s rise through the upper echelons of digital and IT roles models what is now requisite preparation for technology leadership. Primed by a rotational program that cycled through varied assignments to build a technology-plus-business foundation, Brown was able to develop a robust process orientation in addition to skills in communications, large-scale change management, even a Master Black Belt Six Sigma certification.

Subsequent leadership roles built out her experience with data, analytics, AI, and machine learning while handing Brown direct accountability for technology-driven business results — a precursor to full P&L responsibility. Through every career step, Brown was intentional in her choices, pursuing roles that filled in key competency gaps, stretched her outside of her comfort zone, and burnished the well-rounded profile now essential for top IT leadership.

“Today it’s absolutely necessary for technology leaders to understand what digital, AI, and data means for the business along with having a strong foundational understanding of the business itself and all the levers that influence P&L,” says Brown, senior vice president and chief digital information officer at Boston Medical Center. “As the business world evolved and things changed, my list of what was needed evolved as well,” she says.

Given the centrality of technology to the business and the accelerated pace of digital transformation, it’s no wonder the goalposts for top IT leadership keep moving. Just a decade ago, would-be CIOs could ascend to the top spot by way of an infrastructure, applications, or security track. Now modern IT leaders are expected to have breadth and depth of experience across the broad spectrum of technology domains along with an innate sensibility to craft and lead business strategy.

“Up and coming CIOs need to hit on as many of these functions as possible so they round out the entire panoramic view,” says Martha Heller, CEO of Heller Search Associates, an IT executive recruiting firm specializing in senior technology roles. Data experience is another must-have set of competencies, Heller says. “You need a story about how you helped the company turn data into a valuable asset, whether that’s a solution, process improvement, or customer experience,” she adds.

Taking an outsize role

Along with business strategy acumen and well-developed soft skills, those striving to climb the digital and IT executive ladder should be rooted in customer centricity — straddling both internal users as well as the broader external customer base.

Vikram Nafde, executive vice president and CIO at Webster Bank, says having a customer-centric mindset helps drive a robust business strategy orientation. It also keeps IT and digital leaders grounded in understanding and advancing technology as overall enterprise strategy now that it’s embedded in every facet of business.

“It’s really about putting the needs and expectations and long-term vision of clients and internal customers first — walking in their shoes,” Nafde explains. “You have to build authentic relationships and connections throughout the entire enterprise.”

Aspiring CIOs must also continually build proof points of competency, including showcasing that they are ready and willing to excel at performing a much bigger role than currently assigned, Nafde says.

Nafde put that practice into action early when he joined Webster Bank during a period when the firm was embarking on a merger of equals with another bank. Nafde was tapped at the onset to lead the technical integration of the two entities — an assignment he says served as a proof point that he was more than capable of executing larger responsibilities.

That project and subsequent others demonstrated Nafde’s ability to lead large-scale transformation and change management initiatives. Nafde points to a time when he was tasked with introducing the agile operating model to software engineering. Instead of focusing change management efforts on that singular function, Nafde got buy in from leadership to make a broader pitch to top management to reorient the entire technology delivery framework around agile practices.

“I didn’t stick to the smaller box that was drawn for me,” he says. “You have to be able to affect change, not just in your own organization, but throughout the enterprise. You have to be able to effectively communicate, advocate for, and lead large-scale change.”

To be successful driving change, would-be IT leaders must be readily adept at forging deep relationships across the business — especially with top executive management. Annie Baymiller, senior vice president and CIO at Owens Corning, prioritized making such connections at the beginning of her career, and the focus helped attract mentors and key executive influencers to her corner.

Baymiller spent more than six years at Owens Corning in early- to mid-career IT roles, stepped out for a two-year stint in consulting, and then returned to the manufacturer of building materials at the behest  of a longtime mentor who just happened to be the then-CIO. Come back to the fold, her mentor told her at the time, and they would put forward a formal plan to groom her as a succession candidate for top IT leadership.

Once back at Owens Corning, Baymiller and the executive team created a CIO capabilities map, which helped identify her strengths along with a development plan to shore up technology weaknesses and leadership gaps. Baymiller spent time immersed in cybersecurity strategy and risk and financial management and worked tirelessly on honing softer skills in areas such as talent management.

Baymiller says her ability to lead big projects, showcased by an early SAP deployment, were part of what put her potential and career trajectory in top management’s sights. “They saw I was able to build a team, organize messy work, and get things done in a positive way,” says Baymiller, who took the reins from Owens Corning’s longtime CIO last year.

Having an intentional development plan, particularly one designed with input from top leadership, was probably the most important thing that positively impacted her career, Baymiller says. Having the ear and support of top leadership, including her past CIO mentor, was the other critical piece.

“People can’t help you grow and develop if they don’t know where you are headed,” she says. “Understand your foundation and how everything hangs together. I had an incredible mentor and if he had not pushed me and gave time to my development, I would not be where I am today.”

Prepping the course

Not every would-be CIO has ready access to mentors or CIO networks so committed to charting a course to the C-suite let alone building out the right skill set. To fill the gap, CXO Connect, an organization committed to coaching and educating senior IT executives, launched a 16-module Global CIO Certification Program designed to prepare executives for next-generation technology leadership in less than a year. The nine-month program, delivered in a synchronous distance learning format, takes an interdisciplinary approach and is meant to acclimate new CIOs or aspiring CIOs to the demands of the role, especially the soft skills required at an executive level, according to Barbara Dossetter, managing director, Advisory Services, at CXO Connect.

As opposed to an emphasis on technology, participants learn how to sell ideas to the board, develop strategy, refine operating models, cultivate successful relationships, manage and retain talent, and dig into financials. “IT has to face out towards the rest of the business and understand the strategy that underpins the rest of the business,” Dossetter explains. “We teach participants how to listen and build presence so when they’re speaking in a room, people listen and have trust in what is said.”

Grant Hodge, head of IT at Viridor, went through the CXO Connect Global CIO Certification Program to fill in gaps in his development profile as he began to ascend the IT ranks within the renewable energy and waste management firm. Hodge started out at Viridor more than a decade ago, in administrative roles. He began to get involved in IT support functions, graduating to running the service desk and managing small teams. Under the domain of a new CIO, the IT organization was reimagined as a key partner to the business and Hodge dug into those requirements, spending several years as a business partner and business partner lead, which began to open doors to higher-profile, management roles.

“I was able to demonstrate I knew the business and I knew the people, and I was willing to take on new roles,” Hodge says. “I had a mentor who pushed me over the last hurdle, and that’s when things really began to change.”

That same mentor encouraged Hodge to take the CIO certification course to fill in remaining gaps, most specifically, to help him learn to manage at the executive level. “It’s different managing at the executive level — you move away from pipes and wires to using technology to add value to the business, and the course outlined that clearly,” he explains. “It taught me not just how to be a CIO, but how to be a good CIO.”

Lessons from up-and-comers

As CIO up-and-comers navigate the now multidisciplinary, business-centric pathway to the top, they need to keep a number of things in mind. For one thing, regardless of what route they take, prowess in leadership and managerial skills, not technical acumen, is what ultimately will be the key differentiator.

“Now is the time to stop being the best technologist in the room — leave that role to someone else,” Dossetter advises. That doesn’t mean CIO candidates should dilute their knowledge of applications, infrastructure, and service management or back off from thoroughly understanding AI. “You now just need to be looking at those technologies through a strategic lens,” she explains.

It’s especially important to understand how money moves through the organization and impart that sensibility to the rest of your team, Heller says. “Your CFO will appreciate that you understand what the ramifications are when margins go up and down,” she says. “Know how your business makes money and how IT can support that.”

Trying to stay the course is another common mistake that can derail a potential path to top IT leadership. “Not rocking the boat is a mistake,” Nafde says. “Sticking around somewhere for too long and getting comfortable isn’t good.”

Boston Medical Center’s Brown took that charter to heart, navigating critical leadership training, digital experience,  and P&L responsibility at GE and Vanguard and going deep on data, AI/machine learning, and analytics through positions at Capital One and Verizon to round out her CIO pedigree. While embracing the data and AI piece was a crucial component of her skills roadmap, Brown said she was careful to make her CIO ambitions clear to avoid getting bucketed into a chief data officer pathway.

In addition to making sure the executive team, mentors, and sponsors fully understood her desire to own accountability for business results, Brown advises aspiring CIOs to go hard on peer networking, stay connected to critical search firms, and pursue seats on public boards.

Even after careful preparation, there is no guarantee others will share the view that one is ready to take the CIO mantle. “That I’ve not gotten here until now shows how steep the mountain is,” Brown says. “You can’t just make it clear internally to the leadership team that this is your goal. You have to make sure they are as invested in getting you there as you are.”