What makes a successful CIO?

Readers of CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World this week sought to learn what skills make a great CIO, what organizations should do to protect their image after a data breach, and how to build an organizational culture that learns from mistakes and promotes innovation.

The key skills every IT leader needs

We pride ourselves on bringing insights from IT leaders to IT leaders, and this week we published an interview with Andi Karaboutis in which the CIO legend gives her take on what every IT leader should master. Karaboutis draws on her experience leading IT across multiple industries to lend advice to the next generation of CIO hopefuls. It’s well worth a read.  

This prompted readers of CIO to ask Smart Answers for the definitive take on what makes a successful CIO. Guess what: there’s a lot to it.  

Mapping the needs and capabilities of the IT department with the broader organization is the whole ball game. To get to that requires good management and interpersonal skills, as well as strategic initiative. The ability to balance stakeholders, cultivate innovation, and adapt to different situations is also crucial, as is developing talent. Strong communication, negotiation, and decision-making skills are also essential. And there’s more… 

Find out: What are the key characteristics of a successful CIO? 

Image is everything

After recent reports of a major breach at Oracle, last week we reported that the company had admitted the issue to some of its customers. You can argue about the sequence of events, and there is no perfect playbook for these circumstances, but the readers of CSO were quick to ask Smart Answers about the impact on an organization’s image when data is breached.  

The answer: it sucks when it happens. A data breach can significantly damage a company’s brand image and reputation, which will hurt the bottom line. But how the company responds makes a big difference. Be open and truthful, and do it as quickly as you can. 

Find out: How does a data breach affect a company’s brand image? 

Fear factor

Did you know that many CIOs operate within a culture of fear? This week we reported that nearly half of IT leaders are afraid to admit mistakes, which in turn blocks organizations from valuable learning opportunities. 

And that, dear reader, is no good. No good at all.  

Readers of CIO recognize this, and asked Smart Answers how IT leaders can promote a culture in which learning from mistakes is encouraged. Organizing hackathons and adopting design thinking will encourage innovative thinking, says Smart Answers. There’s more, but you will have to ask to find out. 

Find out: How can IT leaders promote a culture of innovation and learning from mistakes? 

About Smart Answers 

Smart Answers is an AI-based chatbot tool designed to help you discover content, answer questions, and go deep on the topics that matter to you. Each week we send you the three most popular questions asked by our readers, and the answers Smart Answers provides.  

Developed in partnership with Miso.ai, Smart Answers draws only on editorial content from our network of trusted media brands—CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World—and was trained on questions that a savvy enterprise IT audience would ask. The result is a fast, efficient way for you to get more value from our content.