Sunday, October 1, 2017

The Monthly “CIO Master” Book Tuning: Digital CIOs as “Chief Influence Officer” Oct. 2017

Digital CIOs need to become more visible and accountable as “Chief Influence Officers,” learn how to influence the business influencers effectively.  

Compare to the other executive positions, the CIO role continues to be shaken up, refined, reinvented and reenergized. The magic “I” of the CIO title sparks many imaginations and modern CIOs need to wear different hats and play multiple roles. Here is a set of blogs to brainstorm digital CIOs as “Chief Influence Officer.”

Digital CIOs as “Chief Influence Officer”



 Three Views to Enforce CIO Leadership Influence? With overwhelming growth of information and fierce competition,  now we are approaching the inflection point in which businesses are facing accelerating changes and can be disrupted even overnight. The digital CIO is no longer the tedious management role to keep the lights only now, there are many critical leadership traits in digital CIO; there’re many roles they have to play for leading IT up to the next level of organizational maturity. Here are three views CIOs can provide to enforce leadership influence.


CIOs as “Chief Influence Officer”: How to Influence the Business Influencers Effectively IT is the business, every business across the industrial sectors is in the information management business now, and IT plays a crucial role in digital transformation. But the reality is, IT is still perceived as a support function to keep the lights on only. Why is IT not part of the inner circle? Could it be that IT is seen as a cost and not a strategic investment? Could it also because that CIOs haven’t done enough to advocate IT as the change agent? CIOs need to become more visible and accountable as “Chief Influence Officers,” learn how to influence the business influencers effectively.   


CIOs as “Chief Influence Officer” with Multidimensional Influence? Tradition CIOs have been perceived as the tactical IT managers, running IT as a support function to keep the lights on. Nowadays, with fast-paced changes and overwhelming growth of information, contemporary CIOs face many leadership dilemmas: Being sustainable or disrupt, keep status quo or innovative? Act as a business executive or an IT manager, focus on transactional activities or transformative change etc. The command-control leadership style is no longer fit for the hyperconnected and highly transparent digital new normal. Digital CIOs today must shape their digital mindsets and develop their leadership capabilities to make multidimensional influence across the organization as well as the digital ecosystem.    
CIO as Chief Influence Officer: Seven Points of Key Influences: The CIO role by nature is fraught with paradox, the modern CIO need be both business strategist and IT manager, innovator and cost-cutter, visionary and situation-driven. Chief influence officer is one of the most pertinent personas for CIO in the 21st century since technology is ubiquitous in the information age. However, the traditional big box hardware style of IT infrastructure is disappearing, and more invisible digitized IT backbone based on Cloud computing is emerging, modern CIO is no longer just the chief infrastructure officer to manage back office of functional IT, this strategic role is more based on the influence made across the organizational boundary, from innovation to sustainability, from talent management to cultural transformation..


The Modern CIOs’ Digital Mantra: Go Deeper to Lead Forward: Organizations large or small are stepping into the deep, deep digital new normal with the overwhelming growth of information, continuous technological disruptions, as well as the VUCA” digital characteristics. The pace of changes in IT would force more CIOs to shift into transformation-oriented digital leadership roles because IT plays a significant role in driving the digital transformation of the company. Contemporary CIOs need to have multiple personas, explore the breadth and depth of the role and go deeper in order to lead forward.


The blog is a dynamic book flowing with your thought; growing through your dedication; sharing your knowledge; conveying your wisdom, and making influence through touching the hearts and connecting the minds across the globe. The “Future of CIO” Blog has reached 2 million page views with about #3900 blog posting. Among 59+ different categories of leadership, management, strategy, digitalization, change/talent, etc. Blogging is not about writing, but about thinking and innovating the new ideas; it’s not just about WHAT to say, but about WHY to say, and HOW to say it. It reflects the color and shade of your thought patterns, and it indicates the peaks and curves of your thinking waves. Unlike pure entertainment, quality and professional content takes time for digesting, contemplation and engaging, and therefore, it takes the time to attract the "hungry minds" and the "deep souls." It’s the journey to amplify diverse voices and deepen digital footprints, and it's the way to harness your innovative spirit.





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