A good IT leader is no longer recognized just for having a position in the top corporate hierarchy, but for the level of influence and prestige he has within the organization. However, in order to conquer and maintain this influence – so important for the information technology area – it is necessary to adopt and maintain certain habits within the company.
Want to know what those habits are? Follow our text!
But first, let’s clarify:
What is an influential IT leader?
According to the dictionary, influential is an adjective attributed to someone who exercises influence and has prestige within a given environment. In this sense, an influential IT leader (CIO) is a person whose opinion is decisive for all major changes in the company, precisely because he is respected and admired by all other business areas.
Influence is an important skill for IT leaders, precisely because the information technology area is a central department within the organization, which participates in the main decisions and changes within the company, including the execution of the business strategy itself . Thus, when you are an influential IT leader, these changes, innovations and other requests are more easily accepted because there is the support of important people within the organization .
This issue is being discussed a lot lately because all the studies point to an increase in the influence of CIOs ( Chief Information Officer ) within organizations, and there are even those who say that this position could easily be renamed Chief Influencer Officer.
What are the 7 good habits of influential IT leaders?
Build relationships with different areas of the business
You can’t be influential alone, can you? Cultivating a good relationship with the different areas of the business is essential to build this network of relationships that can make all the difference in management meetings and decision making. In addition, building a good relationship is also essential for other departments to develop empathy for the information technology area and to understand the reality of the work of this sector.
Present indicators that show the value of IT
It is not enough just to speak, it is necessary to do. More than that: it is necessary to show. Therefore, generating IT indicators that really show how the information technology area adds value to the business is important to reinforce the importance of IT for the organization and how the good leadership of this department positively affects the entire company .
They are always studying
Nobody will trust the opinion of a person who has not studied much or who is not up to date on the new market information, right? And this is not exclusive to the IT leader, it applies to all areas of the organization. Therefore, studying and seeking new information goes far beyond a habit, it is something that should be part of the profile of the professional responsible for the information technology area.
In addition to being important for the CIO to have more grounding when it comes to defending his ideas and, therefore, he has a vote of confidence from the other members of the organization, he also assists in knowledge management, that is, so that the leader can pass the information ahead and thus contribute to the training of the IT team.
They seek improvements in the organization’s processes
Promoting the improvement of the organization’s processes is one of the main objectives of the information technology area. However, it is very common for IT to become just a reactive department, which only solves the demands it receives and cannot strategically collaborate with the company .
Therefore, the search for improvements in the business areas must be a habit of the IT leader, so that everyone can feel in their own work routine how much this department makes a difference and, logically, the IT leader becomes most prestigious.
Consider other people’s opinions
Being influential and prestigious within the organization does not mean that the leader must be arrogant and arrogant, on the contrary. He will only be able to maintain the desired influence if there is dialogue with leaders and employees from other business areas. After all, it is not possible to build a debate by listening only to the same opinions, is it not? And for that, of course, he needs to have good communication.
Have good communication
As we told you in the previous topic, maintaining a dialogue with all areas of the business is very important and for this the IT leader must have good communication. However, when we talk about good communication, we are not just talking about being able to have a conversation with all departments, but about being transparent , consulting with other leaders and satisfying everything that affects other areas as well.
Think like a CEO
Thinking like a CEO means thinking with a business vision, not a departmental one. Having this collective thinking, the IT leader starts to feel more involved with other business areas, understand their problems and seek improvements for them. Which brings us back to our first topic: building relationships within the organization.
