Positive and Productive Working Relationships: The Key to CIO Success

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

  Leadership   Strategy  

This month, I explored how important leadership is to the success of the CIO. In that article, I proposed that leadership is the single most important quality/skill/talent a CIO must have to be successful. Second in importance to leadership, I believe, is the ability for the CIO to cultivate, build and nurture relationships with peers, project teams, IT staff and strategic providers. If fact, the ability to maintain positive and productive relationships throughout the organization is all part of the leadership domain.

Unless you are blessed with refined communication skills, “get along” skills and are oozing with charisma, your relationship management skills most likely can be improved. In business, the most productive relationships are typically forged based on establishing the following about you in the minds of others (in no particular order):

• Trustworthiness: Very little in the form of a relationship can occur if you are not perceived as trustworthy. To engender trust you must be faithful to your word. You must never be seen as someone who spins the facts to fit your agenda. The old adage, “walk your talk and talk your walk” has endured for a reason; it says a lot about a person. People can be at odds in terms of their opinions and how to approach problems and still trust each other.
• Reliability…

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