Winning without listening is losing that’s running behind but soon catching up.

Eventually, what either trips you up or builds you up has to do with three leadership constants.

The person who can answer “then what” is more valuable than the leader who answers “now what.”

2024 was hard fought. I saw some things in tech leadership no other leader should overlook.

We don’t just change perception. We change persuasion.

Lack of cohesion in the company is the reason many CIOs lack a solid tech strategy. You don’t have to change the world overnight, but you can change your environment right away.

You have a noise problem. So does your CEO. When information is unreliable, your relationship needs to be more reliable.

CEOs and their business and tech leaders don’t always work together smoothly. Unless corrected, losing streaks develop. Effective CEOs recognize the need to realign or suffer even greater consequences.

Getting the authority to make decisions has never been about your position. It has been about your precision. Clarity, leverage, and peace shine the light into dark alleys.

Confidence is the product of what I call Near Leadership. You get alongside (to focus and to educate) to help others get ahead.

Transitioning into a new company is a thrill. Five priority first-actions will cause you to thrive.

Your CEO can be as pro-AI as any, but if they don’t take this one thing into account, AI will become a monstrous force against the company.

Fractional CIOs may be all you need. But getting the most out of the relationship is another matter. These four dynamics will help you hire the right fit and maximize the benefit.

CEOs want their CIOs to be of greater influence, especially where they don’t have decision making authority.. That means the CIOs need to invest and leverage three critical assets their CEOs have been utilizing for years.

Lists of priorities are merely voices competing for attention. Your CEO won't invest unless you show the real need behind four critical areas in 2024 that need buy-in.

When peak performers compete, it's not the skill in question but the equipment at play.

You led well in a year of the unforeseen. 2024 calls for one area of growth that must be your most intentional.

There are certain things in business that don’t get close attention until something triggers action. For CEOs, IT can be that place where familiarity has become enough. There are ten triggers that will move a CEO to take a closer look, and ten turning points CEOs can lead out in before triggers are ever needed.

We can find ourselves hostage to a person in IT who alone holds access to key programs and data. How do you prevent such a vulnerability, and what do you do if it’s too late? Here are three practical plans to work through.

We all work with people who are risk-averse. Reframing their perspective, and doing three things that support your cause will help move them to the right decision.

CEOs are quitting. A major reason cited is because they don’t have the skills to lead their company into transformation. The problem is, people misunderstand transformation. CIOs don’t. And that is why the CIO needs to help keep their CEO from quitting prematurely.

The CIO role is always changing. Now, some say it is soon to be on its way out. Is the CIO going to be replaced by the technology they have championed? No. You are more than a Chief Information Officer. You are the Chief Insight Officer. And that is key.

More CIOs are reporting to CEOs than ever. And it won’t matter unless CEOs know how to turn their work with CIOs into a partner relationship. But effective CEOs know how to do just that and gain a competitive advantage in doing so.

Many CIOs have options in place to develop people, but they still aren’t seeing the results. Even if you are making cutbacks, you can invest more into your people while saving money and increasing revenue. You just need to brush up on your farming.

Leaders lead leaders. They can’t help it, but they can own it and be more effective in it. The first of four strategies is to serve by being clear and unapologetic about the value you bring. There are three areas in which you must do so: What can’t be contained in you, What can’t be denied from you, and What you must handle with care.

Stakeholders know the value of the CIO. The last thing they want is for their CIO to be led down a wrong path, distracted by the agenda of others, and misdirected by trends that lure them into waste.

There are no ends of opinions and conflicting reports about remote and hybrid work. Use this checklist to help you form your own strategy.

Collaboration takes shape as IT possesses a comprehensive understanding of business vision and can act as an internal consultant, driving business and IT as a learning community with mutual understanding and mutual expectations.

Adoption of technology is now in the fabric of how you operate. Best practices of leveraging technology require a shift: strategic initiative, high-impact outcomes, implementation wisdom, financial justification and training completeness.

Digital Transformations are not just about corporate change. Celebration at the end is appropriate: Change has been made. But celebrations along the way reinforce that people are the ones making the change. The end is a product of great minds and talents within the initiative.

Anyone can make decisions. C-Suite Executives must make effective decisions. Effective decisions implement goals and plans, influence direction and people, and identify key issues and insights. To make these decisions, C-Suite Executives need to stay informed on trends and market realities within their business and filter decisions through customer-centric focus.

Unless you are intentionally shaping what you want, you will find yourself immersed in another culture by default. That culture never creates value. It defends turf: And it’s led by complacency and resistance.

Your life owes its greatness to change. If you lead a thriving enterprise, your debt is no different. Change makes you what you are. Change makes possible what matters most to you.

Yes, Geeks love money and time-off and other physical perks, but that is not what drives them and keeps them. Instead, most Geek-work is driven by creative problem solving. The C-Suite Executive who keeps their Geeks geeking out are the ones who offer multiple motivations built around this single core.