In part one of our two-part series on the latest episode of our IT Unfiltered Podcast in conversation with Rob Hanlon of CyberBanque International, we highlighted the importance of relationships and in building political capital enterprise-wide. If you haven’t read the first installment, you can find it here: https://www.americandigital.com/Blog.
During our in-depth conversation, we wanted to know if the CIO’s reporting structure made a difference, big or small, in their overall strategic decisions—particularly when it comes to budget constraints. This is significant because, while some CIOs have a direct line into the CEO, others report to a company’s CFO or COO, instead.
So rational thought would make some assume that a direct reporting line into the CEO meant technology and budgetary decisions would ultimately be driven by strategic matters. Likewise, a line into the COO would logically lean toward service; and a CIO who reported into the CFO could arguably be more cost-driven. But a focus largely driven by cost could slow a number of processes down—leaving an entire marketplace unwilling to work with that CIO if they wanted to avoid such complications.
But according to Rob, the CIO’s reporting structure is less significant than one might assume. In fact, reporting structure is far less influential on a CIO’s decisions than is the executive’s, be it the CFO’s or CEO’s, leadership style. For example, he cited his own personal experience reporting to various CFOs, each bringing a notably different leadership style. This ranged from one CFO who emphasized the dynamics of the business to another who was more focused on cost yet tempered by a keen eye on the overall long-term strategy and vision of the organization. The third CFO was more concerned with innovation and in making sure the company differentiated itself.
“Each one was different in their own way, neither good nor bad. Just different,” he explained. “And your agility as a CIO is to figure out: What is that all about?” Tune into the full conversation at: https://aditunfiltered.buzzsprout.com Or on your preferred podcast service.