CIO’s Leadership Footprint

“One who walks in another's tracks leaves no footprints.

Modern CIOs have one of the most paradoxical but significant executive roles, as information technology becomes so pervasive, they craft their organization’s architectural blueprint; they shape their business’s digital footprint; they are responsible for their enterprise’s information footprint, they shape the fresh cloud footprint, they also work hard to reduce data center’s carbon footprint. However, first things first, CIOs, don’t forget to build up your leadership footprint.

1. Influencer’s Footprint

“The footprints you leave behind will influence others. There is no person who at some time, somewhere, somehow, does not lead another.          

Leadership is influence, influence comes from wisdom, wisdom is base on knowledge, but more than knowledge, and knowledge is gained from information & data, luckily, CIO is the official owner of business’s information system. However,  such an entitlement won’t guarantee CIO’s leadership effectiveness.

CIO’s leadership skill need be transferable and touchable, to bring up the fresh perspective into business, new industry, instill new culture, inspiring new thinking., transformational CIO and IT need craft influence landscape and leave footprint cross functional silo, and keep pondering on how to improve project success rate (average 70% failure rate statistically), how to significant improve 80/20 IT investment ratio, and leverage how much percentage of resources have created business value.

CIO’s footprint is more than the feet crunching in sand, it may also like the wind blowing in the trees, the waves curling on the beach, the firework blossoms in the sky, and the song of the mockingbird as the evening sun sets.

2. Improvement Footprint

We have found a strange footprint on the shores of the unknown. Eddington 

Modern technology proves human’s progress. At contemporary business, technology is enabler for business transformation, process optimization and talent empowerment.

CIO as a C level peer executive, the leadership footprint need cover all functional organizations & their inter-relationships and know how to orchestrate them effectively.

CIO’s leadership footprint is base on business acumen, and  a comprehensive understanding business in general, to perceive future vision and craft strategic planning, to master the SWOT analytics, GAP, IMPACT, Value Analysis., etc, not only grasp the growth opportunities, but also include competitive landscape, regulation, and governance.

CIO’s leadership footprint is rising on data shore or hidden in green valley, scatters on the mountain or flow with the cloud,  lead business’s continuous improvement with small step and large leap.

3. Innovation Footprint

Don't tell me the sky is the limit, there are footprints on the moon!

Today’s forward-looking CIO also need be an innovator with both critical thinking and creative thinking capabilities,  as CIO is truly an influential leadership role which can make significant difference for business's win or wane, it might also means to create unique footprint to lead through business transformation.

The innovation leadership includes the movers and shakers with fair judgment; thought leaders who can bring up different point of view; the innovators with the hybrid mindset to blend three elements of triad: analytics mindset of business strategist, innovative mindset of entrepreneur; and communication mindset of coach

CIO ‘s innovation footprint can be traced at the rocky road in innovation management journey, with clear goals to delight customers and to engage employees via the effective process and right tools & platform, a radically different kind of management needs to be in place, a different way of coordinating work, a different set of values and a different way of communicating.

CIO’s leadership footprint need be left in customers’ mind, the employees’ heart, at the customer frontline or the big room in decision-making.   

Transformational CIO does not lead alone, CIO’s footprint need be interwoven with other leaders’,  the high-performance leadership team need compliment each other’s skills, styles and strengths, to deliver economic, social and people values at the same time and build solid global footprint.

Yes, there’re also footprints on the moon.

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