The path to becoming a CIO, from a CIO

All the technical knowledge in the world is a moot point if someone with CIO aspirations lacks soft skills. Understanding how to speak the board’s language is essential for the modern CIO.  

In this Q&A with TechTarget, Jo Peterson -- chief information officer, Clarify360 -- discusses how IT managers and directors with dreams of becoming a CIO can effectively navigate the path to the c-suite.  

Editor's note: This Q&A has been edited for clarity and conciseness.  

What accelerated your path to CIO? 

Jo Peterson: It was sort of a series of things. I have long believed I've been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to meet and get to know some really influential and smart CIOs, CTOs and CISOs throughout my career. What I took away was that the best ones combined technical expertise and business acumen. So, one of the things I thought was, “How can I emulate that?” I decided to get both an MBA and a master's in information systems so that I could balance the technical and business sides. Education has always been super important to me: it's really one of my core tenets to success. Every year, I set educational goals for myself, and they can be both technology and business-based. I have also always been fearless about wanting to learn new tech and seeing how it can be applied in an environment.  

Which three milestones should an aspiring CIO aim to hit before they're ready for that step? 

Peterson: The board wants you to protect the organization's reputation and its assets. It wants you to be able to translate technical vulnerabilities into business risks and then understand what their fiduciary liabilities are. So, that person really needs to be able to balance technology and business acumen before they're ready for that board seat.  

One milestone related to this is having ownership of a major enterprise digital transformation, such as overseeing a successful cloud migration, a modern enterprise architecture overhaul, or some sort of data monetization initiative, and this is because the board wants you to manage multimillion-dollar budgets. The other two milestones are navigating complex vendor ecosystems, and leading cultural change. 

Alongside these milestones, having direct exposure to corporate governance and risk management is a must. And that means that you've got to do some groundwork – you've got to create great relationships with folks at your level. IT tends to silo out, but you've got to create these relationships without compartments. For example, if you're in infrastructure, create a relationship with the person that owns security.  

You also have to understand how not to be the ‘Department of No’ and instead think: ‘How are we going to get this done?’ Part of this means playing nice with others, getting to know them, and getting to know what their struggles are and what their initiatives are.  

One thing that any IT executive will tell you they struggle with is being thought of as a cost center manager rather than a growth driver. They all struggle with that. The board wants somebody who understands capital allocation, market dynamics, and, most importantly, how technology can scale revenue. I had a wonderful CIO that I worked with some years ago for a very large waste management firm. He worked with the head of marketing to see how they could use technology to shorten revenue cycles. They looked at how the trucks could be more efficient on their routes so that they could bill customers faster. As a result, he was very successful in getting IT to be thought of as a revenue driver. The fact that he found allies within the businesses and put technology to use for the betterment of the organization was brilliant.  

You also have to understand how not to be the ‘Department of No’ and instead think: ‘How are we going to get this done?’

What experiences most effectively bridge the gap from IT management to business leadership?

Peterson: I think transitioning from team management to business leadership requires moving away from purely technical troubleshooting, and shifting the focus towards enterprise strategy, value creation, and the cross-functional non-IT peer relationship building that I talked about earlier. And maybe it's not the marketing person – maybe it's spending time with your sales guys or your finance team to learn about their daily pressures, operational workflows and how you could help.  

I also recommend being more engaged with your business’s clients. If you get a seat at the table with the client, take it. Ask them what you could be doing better as a company, and they'll tell you. 

The best CIOs have presence. IT folks aren't always known for their brilliant communication skills, but these folks have figured out how to talk to people.

Which human skills matter most on the path to CIO?

Peterson: I think stakeholder influence is the most critical human skill, and that's closely followed by executive presence and negotiation. When you talk to somebody who's been successful in the role, their impact shifts as they move from management to the C-suite. They start to think more strategically instead of ‘how do I bake the bread and get the bread onto the table?’. The good CIOs that I know, the ones that are most empowered by their leadership, drive business strategy. They have an ability to build consensus across different business units, and I think that helps bridge that tech-business divide. I think back to the cross-functional collaboration. They secure buy-in.  

The best CIOs have a presence. IT folks aren't always known for their brilliant communication skills, but these folks have figured out how to talk to people. And they're great negotiators. They can look at a bunch of different pieces of fabric and stitch them together. When I say stitch them together, that can be vendor management, resource allocation, or a number of other things. 

Being the smartest person at the table only gets you so far. It's your human skills.

What soft skills should people develop as early in their careers as they can?

Peterson: I developed them late. I spent years and years of my career as a pre-sales engineer, and I learned from the salespeople. What I learned was how to talk to just about anybody. I learned that the best salespeople did a number of things well. They made everyone feel comfortable in the room. They listened. They had two ears and one mouth, so they spent time listening to what everybody had to say. They were really good at figuring out what the benefit was going to be for the person at the table. How was their solution not only going to bring value to the business, but to bring value to that one person? They tuned in to what mattered to that person. Was it going to make their job easier? Was it going to save their budget? Was it going to stop them from taking a phone call at 3 o'clock in the morning, because they were tired of waking up in the middle of the night to deal with a problem? 

I also learned from the salespeople how to be a better listener, and how to really follow through. The really good salespeople said they were going to do something and then followed through. "Oh, I will get you something by Monday." And Monday morning, that person had an email with what they were looking for. The other thing they did well was getting to know other people in the organization. The really good salespeople didn't just know their contact. They built other relationships and were able to at least make that person aware of what they were doing within the firm. Being the smartest person at the table only gets you so far. It's your human skills. It was a wonderful lesson to learn. 

Did you take advantage of mentorship? What are your thoughts on mentors and sponsors?

Peterson: This is going to surprise you, but my best mentors were men. And it was because they were advocates. It was because they believed in me when I didn't believe in myself sometimes. Either the job felt too big, or I didn't know if I could get it done, and they believed in me. That made all the difference in the world. They believed that, based on what I'd done before and what they'd seen – my performance, my tenacity, my drive, my discipline – that I could get it done. And that was wonderful to have.  

When I was coming up, and it is better now, there really were no female CIOs. I remember being a young engineer in a meeting, and there was a female CIO. After the meeting, I went up to her. It was like seeing a white lion. I still remember saying to her, "I've never met a female CIO before. How did you get here?" And she chuckled and said, "I came up through the application side.” She must have been Wonder Woman to be able to get that position in those days.  

I'm very grateful to be here, and I am always eager to hold my hand out and help other women coming up. It's been a super fun journey, and I really wouldn't change it. 

Harriet Jamieson is a senior manager of custom content and writer for the IT Strategy team at TechTarget.