I received a call from a Hiring Professional. She has been tasked with finding a CIO for a fairly large company. They detailed what they are looking for and she started her search.
It didn’t take long for her to go back to the Executive Team and tell them that such a person is very difficult to find. So they made some concessions. When she told me what she and they had then agreed on, I applauded. I also told her why they are still setting themselves up for failure.
I’m sure you will spot it too: The person will be their first official CIO, following a long-tenured IT Director who was loved and who doesn’t have the capacity to carry them into the future.
The incoming CIO will be tasked with implementing a new ERP already selected by the Innovation Team. This is priority one from the C-Suite.
(Have you implemented an ERP? Are you still sucking on your thumb and calling for momma?)
So, we know some things: A C-Suite is looking for a person to implement a system they bought. I also found out that the IT team has a 1:6 ratio of those who will report to the new CIO and the IT employees. An ERP implementation is very hard work. Following tenured leadership is always tricky.
This is a solid, successful, well-intentioned company that is aggressively pursuing and generously investing in technology and is looking for a strong leader who can pull it off.
What does this add up to?
It adds up to disaster.
I don’t doubt the commitment of the executives. I (mostly) don’t doubt the buy-in of the six IT managers. I do doubt the engagement and readiness of the IT team, the employees whose managers said yes to what the C-Suite wants but who were not asked what they think or need.
Why This Feels Like A Perfect Storm
Top-driven doesn’t mean that everybody is on board.
Long-tenured leaders who don’t have the capacity to take teams into the future led teams who weren’t focused on the future.
Transactional teams don’t easily welcome transformational leaders.
The people responsible for making the change must desire the change. Change in the company first requires change in the employee.
My advice to the hiring pro? Get me into that company to do an assessment of the IT team and the organization’s appetite for change. Then you need me to meet with every IT employee to identify what will personally motivate them and excite them about changing the ERP. (as well as welcoming a CIO).
Change is toward fulfillment. At every level. Corporate and personal.
If you as a leader cannot tell me why an employee is personally on board with a change they are tasked with affecting or adopting, you have not exercised change leadership. You’ve just demanded work to be done.
Guess how well that works in implementing and using an ERP.
Or, as the new CIO, lasting longer than the implementation takes.
Hiring a CIO is a mistake if you haven’t made sure that the soil is ready for the seed of change to take root.
