8 Lessons from CIOs for Future Tech Leaders
Aspiring managers can learn a lot from CIOs who have already successfully made their way to a top technical position. The lessons learned from their previous careers can prove invaluable in shaping your career path. To help you with your IT career planning, we asked three seasoned CIOs to share their top career lessons with us. Everyone agreed that the sooner you know these things, the better.
Maintenance roles and routine projects
You don't need to constantly implement high-visibility projects to climb the career ladder. Don't shy away from maintenance tasks or fight a decision to renew a legacy system. There are limited opportunities in many companies to deal with cutting-edge projects. For example, if 80 percent of the entire software budget is planned for maintenance, support and upgrades. However, you can always set yourself apart by using your knowledge to add new, better features and improve on what you already have, CIOs surveyed advise. A CIO adds: "Especially at the beginning you have to tackle some projects that may not be fun to learn your craft."
Use leapfrog opportunities
Even if you're just doing "software maintenance upgrades" or fixing bugs, you can always keep your technical skills up to date and thereby establish yourself as a top performer. Passionate developers who master the latest version of popular technologies such as Node.js or Angular have the opportunity to overtake older colleagues with far more professional experience. It's what happens in the industry all the time, executives surveyed note.
Plan your career carefully
If your heart is set on taking on a development leadership role, or even becoming a CIO, you can't hop between jobs at random. You need to know for yourself how to gain the skills and experience you need to get ahead. "Successful careers don't just happen, they have to be carefully planned," is a core statement of the survey. Develop networking habits early on. Successful tech leaders draw on complex connections that they tap into when they need solutions to problems, advice, or recommendations.
Never fly alone
Taking on more responsibility and work than you can reasonably handle is not only a major professional mistake, but also describes the recipe for your failure. If you get the chance to take on a project manager or lead role, learn to trust your team, to let go and to delegate.
Hire people smarter than you
Don't feel threatened by IT professionals who have a broader or deeper knowledge than you. Many experts agree that executives who feel threatened by strong employees are more likely to be "B and C players" themselves. In other words, you improve your performance and chance of promotion by surrounding yourself with smart professionals with complementary skills and expertise.
Don't be afraid to (cautiously) challenge the status quo
Don't be afraid to challenge the "we've always done it this way" mentality. New employees and managers in particular can have a positive influence with suggestions for improvement, products or the working environment. But be careful how you do it. That means please don't appear as a know-it-all.
No technical jargon
If you have the unique opportunity to present yourself to the management or the board of directors, do not try to score points with technical jargon. "You're definitely going to lose," say the managers surveyed. "Your job as a CIO is to break down language barriers and explain things in a way that people understand," is offered as helpful advice.
Communicate bad news as early as possible
You work in a technical environment, which means things can go wrong, like a server going down or the software breaking down. However, don't try to fix the problem in private until someone finds out. The news that something went terribly wrong has to come from you. "No matter what you intend to do, don't apologize. Tell the CEO or management board what happened and when it will be fixed. But make sure that you meet the specified deadline,” advise the managers surveyed.
