The leaders you admire and seek to be like practice one consistent trait and do it better than most.

The learning for you and your team with Generative AI is accelerated by four interactive practices with LLMs.

Building takes time. It also takes buy-in. And buy-in requires knowing the crucial, not just the superficial.

Leaders do a lot of evaluation, often implementing scientific assessments or digging into resumes, referrals, and reviews. There might be an easier way to know that the hire is right or the promotion is good.

Coaching is a proven difference maker. Yet, CIOs are behind in having this key to professional advancement and IT effectiveness. Not all coaches are created equal - and CIOs need those who stand above the rest.

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.

Sometimes good initiatives stall. That might be the case with you and generative AI. Don’t let your interest get distracted. Use this checklist to open incredible opportunities for you and your team.

Large Language Models are just that - large. Like much of our work with others, LLMs require a bit of mentoring and coaching. To draw out the best it has to give, we have to train it to think like the rest of our team thinks.

Generative AI has already proven to be beneficial; and it has already shown signs of concern. Your job is to ensure it is implemented and developed responsibly. What are your peers doing that you can't overlook?

The number one issue for CIOs working within the C-Suite, according to your peers, is translating “technology speak” to business impact. It’s time to learn how to effectively connect, engage and align with lines of business to gain their commitment to technology by improving your communication skills and strategies.

You don’t need to communicate IT in a language business understands to demonstrate the value of IT. Instead, you must help LOB communicate business in a language that IT understands.

There are plenty of voices calling for more women to work in technology. But it is more of a fight than an ideology, and it requires intention and integrity, not just inspiration.

Revenue generation and financial savings are not the guides to how you prioritize work. Six areas are, but they all depend on answering the same one question.

Leaders need a personal brand. But not for the reasons that they think. You aren’t trying to stand out from others; you are trying to communicate your fit. Knowing the difference, and understanding how to do it, will lead you to the opportunities you seek.

Retention narratives are loud and contradicting. Worse, retention efforts continue to fail. The ladder has been leaning against the wrong building. It's time to reset it.

CIOs and their team must have creative moments to be productive. Too often, those creative opportunities are crowded out. Three key practices will restore and increase productivity.

IT is a brand, whether you know it or not. You are regarded by others, and eventually compared to other departments. The CIO is the Brand Marshal, and there are four essentials you must employ to perfect your brand and to stand out from the rest.

You are in a battle for talent. Beat the competition by implementing Reverse Interviews. Here is what they are and how to conduct them.

The pandemic has led to unusual work environments and hours. Flexibility is the name of the game. Paid time off is given for expected work. But what are CIOs doing today to compensate for the unexpected, for the additional hours required of the salaried. It’s becoming an issue, and here are how your peers are heading it off at the pass.

The CIO can put their attention in a number of different places. Focusing on bringing value to your marketing team and the customer experience is the first place to look.

Not everyone approaches responsible use of technology like IT does. The CIO overcomes irresponsible use by approaching the challenge from the inside-out, from what they can do to what they must get others to do for them.

Every leader sells, and as the CIO portfolio broadens, selling ideas becomes an even more critical skill. Three insights will help you reduce friction and be seen as an advocate rather than an adversary.

The war of retention will be lost if you focus on efforts around promoting well-being and benefits. The number one reason employees leave can only be addressed by making five fundamental maneuvers.

IT staff are frustrated in five common areas. The CIO and IT leader needs to understand what is wearing on their staff, and how to respond in two substantial ways.

A recent roundtable of your CIO peers exposed six common frustrations CEOs have with IT and six practical responses that help you calm the storm.

CIOs and leaders commit four errors when speaking that fuel the frustration that they are not being heard and feed the belief that people are not interested in what they have to say.

People have fears, uncertainties and doubts that drive their decision making and perception. The effective CIO and IT leader knows how to uncover what is driving a person in order to help and in order to protect their career. It’s not a soft skill, it’s an essential, executive strategy.

Technology leaders and marketers are “seated next to each other” at the table. Both share mindsets, points of focus and communication needs. The effective technology leader will expand their professional skills to nail sales insights and strategies.

The best leaders know what their strategic needs are. They know specifically what the CEO can do for them. No CIO should be caught unaware. Knowing your needs in four areas will ensure that you are always prepared with a great response.

Retention is a real issue being met with weak solutions. You and your employees need an advocate, one who comes alongside another and promotes their success in areas of personal growth, relational health and work-effectiveness.

People are quitting their jobs in record numbers. Whether it is due to fatigue or a need for change, offering to “recharge” their batteries isn’t enough. They need to learn how to change their lives. They need an advocate.

Vendor contracts often place the CIO in the squeeze between contract fulfillment and stakeholder expectations. Three carefully crafted practices will keep you in the lead and in favor.

The CIO must drive business innovation. S(h)e will do so by listening and learning, education, modelling the way and building alliances.

Public perception of the CEO matters, and members of the C-Suite misrepresent the CEO in subtle but daily ways.

The CFO and CIO maximize the value of their relationship when the CIO recognizes three key considerations: the common ground you share, the collaboration you need, and the communication you can have.

Feeling that you can’t get through to the CEO can be demoralizing. Fortunately, a simple recognition of how they are oriented can lead to overnight change with just a couple of adjustments on your part.

We need more women in technology leadership roles because of the strength that comes from how they have been shaped and what they have overcome.

Masterful speaking is not in the show but in the flow. Focus on these four elements of speaking, and you will accomplish more than any speaking aid can deliver for you.

For years now, we have debated to whom the CIO should report. The options are few, but it doesn’t matter. The question was wrong. Fix the question, and the answer is obvious.

The CEO and CIO want things from each other. Four areas are critical needs that often are overlooked: what each wants as it regards risk, networks, business exchange and team mastery.

Every leader needs an advocate who serves as a champion, guide and resource for each leader’s identity, success and experience of supportive community.

In today’s changing environment, we not only must work differently, we must think differently. Design Thinking ensures that we are focused on the right problem and producing the right solution by thinking in the fields of Them, Us, and It.

Talent magnets look for candidates who bring potential and invest in their own development while attracting those candidates with a compelling brand, future value and an enriched experience.

Leaders understand that the most critical component of a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic is the leader. Tough circumstances call for tough conditions but tough conditions do not diminish tougher character and commitment.

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.

The effective CEO and CIO realize that digital transformation isn’t about business processes but about customer experience. The best technology enhances the values, communication and emotions of the business-customer relationship.

This is why you have risen to the top of the pack. In particular, the CEO, CIO and C-Suite are hyper-sensitive to being distracted from what matters most. Especially, the CEO and CIO have moved into a working relationship different than before and more essential than ever.

The CIO is both the most crucial and most volatile expert to companies today. Navigating change and crafting transformation require the CIO expertise. Yet, there are still questions being resolved as to place and function.

Peer learning, leading practices and supportive community is irreplaceable in today’s currency of gaining advantage and staying ahead. Without the insight of others, waste of time, energy, ability and money accumulates. No leader today will survive under the burden of expectations weighed down by less than best execution.

Digital Transformation is more of a leadership challenge than a technology challenge. The demands of today have outpaced yesterday’s training. IT members need to exhibit a whole new skillset than what drew them into technology in the first place.

Companies get so buried in daily responsibilities they overlook what really matters. Digital Transformation matters, and the effort it takes to rally, craft and drive that initiative matters. In Part 1, we talked about rallying change through how you motivate, relate and connect.

The moment you assume the mantle of a leader, you redefined success in terms of how you bring out the best in others, and how you multiply your skills to the point that others surpass them. Leaders are not threatened by any one individual’s success, because the leader is measured differently than those they lead.

Because technology is 'important,' the CIO has been invited to the table. What companies don’t realize is that the traditional long table with a head that listened and then made decisions has been replaced by the round table. Today’s CIO must co-create, not just facilitate, the very nature of how business is done. The CIO is transformational not transactional.