Fostering CIO Partnerships With CxOs Takes on New Urgency

Many CIOs still leave the delivery of digital capabilities entirely to their IT departments. But those who co-lead and resource digital delivery with other CxOs are more than twice as likely to meet or exceed the outcomes from their digital technology investments.

To achieve these kinds of productive relationships, though, CIOs must first identify the various digital leadership profiles in their executive leadership team and tailor their engagement to move these individuals to higher levels of digital leadership proficiency. 

CxOs fall into four digital leadership mindsets, which help determine how successful digital initiatives will be and how much they collaborate with the CIO. 

1. Abdicators resist all forms of collaboration with IT and expect IT to undertake nearly all delivery activities. Executives who fit this profile believe that technology delivery is IT’s job and their own staff should stay clear of technology work.

2. Project Sponsors collaborate with IT on upfront planning and technology selection but then take a passive posture, deferring all delivery and implementation activities to IT staff.

3. Digital Explorers are curious about new digital opportunities and collaborate with IT through both the planning and delivery phases of digital initiatives. They make domain experts available and attend all necessary meetings but still depend on IT to lead delivery activities. They lack the technical expertise and execution capabilities to fully resource and lead digital delivery activities themselves.

4. Digital Vanguards collaborate with IT but are also actively involved in co-leading and resourcing digital delivery activities with their CIOs. They enlist their CIOs’ help in developing the level of technical skills and technology delivery capabilities within their business domain. As a result, their staff are directly involved in building, integrating and managing technology. 

Digital Vanguards are most likely to drive superior outcomes from digital investments.

Modernizing your IT operating model (ITOM) will mean selling the benefits of its evolved value proposition to business stakeholders. 

A storyboard can be an effective tool for the CIO to structure a pitch for a new ITOM and create alignment with their audience. It will help break down complex processes and prepare audiences with the insights they need to engage and make decisions. 

Storyboards are most effective when CIOs tell a clear and compelling story that stakeholders can imagine themselves participating in, inspiring them to contribute more.

Section 1: Connect with the audience via an intro and hook

The hook of the presentation should explain what, but also why. It should articulate the business goal or objective that the new operating model will help enable. Once the audience understands the value, they will be more invested in seeing the new operating model succeed. 

Section 2: Articulate key points that realize the value proposition 

With the value proposition established, move into the major components that will help achieve that new value. Explain each problem the change will address followed by an answer, summarize each insight before showing evidence and ensure alignment between the operating model change and supporting insight. 

Section 3: End with a summary and call to action 

Conclude the story with an appeal to the listener’s emotions (i.e., a sense of urgency or empathy). Restate the initial thesis as a reminder of the primary goal and summarize the key points. 

Finally, communicate the call to action or what the audience needs to do next. The story can end with a:

• Prediction — something that will happen if something doesn’t change

• Question — to get the audience to make their own predictions

• Recommendation — actions that can be taken either by the audience or those responsible for the issues

• Related quotation 

Always craft the message in a way that speaks to the audience.