In a recent meeting with CIOs, we did a small sample poll of who they report to.
- 52% report to the CEO
- 10% report to the CFO
- 6% report to the COO
- 3% reported to Managing Partners / Director of Finance / VP of Infrastructure / Executive VP of Operations
Does it matter?
Yes.
And no.
You can tell some war stories about reporting structure (feel free to share in the comment section).
We advocate for CIOs to report to the CEO. But if you don’t, and even if you do, there are three shifts that will help you leverage the relationship regardless of the position they hold. And by leverage, I mean, get done what needs to get done.
Reestablish Your Identity
Are you an agent of change or an achiever of efficiency? Do you enable innovation or master technology?
Either one is legitimate. It’s who you are.
But who you are needs to be clear to you and others. I’m hesitant to use terms like modern and traditional, but for clarity's sake: if you are a traditional CIO, your primary contribution to the company is to increase efficiency and mitigate risk as their technology leader. If you are more modern, you are leading the company into transformation as a business leader, and perhaps, encouraging strategic risk.
Reestablishing your identity becomes important because you need the business, and who you report to, to see you as you are, not what you once were or what they expect you now to be.
It’s only then that your reporting is congruent. For a traditional CIO, the CEO wants to know how you are covering them; the CFO seeks to know what you are costing them, and the COO needs to know how you are cooperating with them.
Modern CIOs report from a different perspective. For the CEO, it’s about business opportunity and competitive edge. For the CFO, it’s the return on replacement of resources and on longer term investment. For the COO, it’s how you make life easier.
Naturally, traditional and modern CIOs cross-over and have shared concerns. But regardless, for you to leverage the reporting structure you have, your priorities flow from your identity.
Reiterate Your Priorities
Let’s take a step back, and in doing so, take a step into some uncomfortable territory.
I’ve read article after article that tells you that as a CIO today you need to become an agent of change. And they say that as if being an agent of change is like flipping a switch.
Guess what? A small percentage of leaders are natural change agents. Another percentage can learn the skills behind change leadership and exercise them effectively.
What about the rest? You are going to need to bring in the change agent. It’s a gift and a skill. If you have neither, stop trying to be what you are not.
I read a recent article that says about half of CIOs see themselves as change agents. That’s about right (though more see themselves as that than are effective in it).
What about the other half? They are just fine, thank you. Not every leader is a leader of change, but they can be a leader of the leader of change. Get the right people on your team!
We had to take that step back to understand the importance of reiterating your priorities.
You leverage reporting structure - getting done what needs to get done with minimal interference - by being true to who you are.
The position you report to has priorities. You are in a high-leverage space if theirs align with yours. If not, you increase leverage by demonstrating how your priorities serve theirs, even if your priorities are of secondary concern to them.
Resolve Their Problems
Ultimately, their priorities are related to problems, and IT has a wide-span of how to resolve problems, including traditional and modern approaches to solutions.
Consider key questions a traditional or modern CIO brings to a report with different priorities than yours:
Traditional CIO
With a modern CEO: “As we consider how technology will increase our competitive edge, what remains important to you in areas of efficiency and risk?”
With a modern CFO: “As you monitor investment opportunities, how will my focus on cost management serve your planning?”
With a modern COO: “As you are looking to automate more, how does my experience in testing and building use cases complement your need for aggressive implementation?”
Modern CIO
With a traditional CEO: “What insights do you need from me in order to answer the Board’s questions about innovation and staying ahead of the competition?”
With a traditional CFO: “What do I need to provide that will help you forecast cost savings and revenue growth as a result of technology implementation?”
With a traditional COO: “What are your staff’s primary pain points that I can alleviate, especially if I can clarify how new technology can serve them rather than scare them?’
It Comes Down To One Word
The commonality between a traditional or modern CIO in leveraging the reporting structure is making your report an advocate for you.
They advocate for you because you are including them in your thinking, prioritizing them in your planning, and being open in your communicating.
No matter what reporting structure you have, you report with their end in mind, and then demonstrate how your own priorities (traditional or modern) are part of the bridge that gets them from where they are to where they want to be.
Any leader worth their weight recognizes that the companions they want on the journey are those who bring them value, even if the value they bring isn’t the first thought on their mind.
If I go on a several day hike in the wilderness, the first person I want on my team may be the guide who is there when I get lost. But I’m going to be very grateful for the person who knows how to survive by eating in nature should a bear steal all of our food.
Don’t underestimate yourself by who you report to. Keep the value coming, and your day will come.
