Increasing your power base and influence...• Passive style and Strategic focus • Views CIO as Solution Provider, will help if they ask, does not view CIO as peer • Active style

Increasing your power base and influence

2Copyright 2019 Anthony B. Gerth, D.B.A. All Rights Reserved

Building relationships and influence is critical for IT leaders

Technology leaders have a critical role to play in achieving organizational goals, especially in digital transformation

Technology leaders are rarely formally taught how to influence others or take a systematic approach

How do IT leaders influence others?


The insights today are the result of 10 years of CIO research

Interviews with 150+ IT leaders

(CIO, VP, Director level)

Interviews with 50+ business

leaders (CxO, VP, Director level)

Survey of 600+ IT leaders (CIO, VP,

Director level)

100+ attendees of an IT leadership

program


A quote from a non-IT executive explaining why an IT leader failed

“He [the IT leader] proceeded to try to understand all the systems, but –the guy fundamentally forgot that there are people behind all those

processes and systems. He totally ignored the relationships, the informal mechanisms, the informal systems.”

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It is no surprise that IT leaders need to “play well with others”, but how…

Source: Gerth, Anthony B., and Joe Peppard. "The dynamics of CIO derailment: How CIOs come undone and how to avoid it." Business Horizons 59.1 (2016): 61-70.

Influencing others requires building relationships and choosing your tactics based on the person


Tactical

Strategic

Interaction with IT leader

Bus

Part

ner f

ocus

Passive Active

Master

Coach

Director

Collaborator

My research reveals four types of business partners the IT leader must address

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These two dimensions create different perspectives of each type of executive stakeholder

Master

Director

Coach

Collaborator

• Passive style and Tactical focus• Views CIO as service provider, not peer

• Active style and Tactical focus• Tries to influence CIO priorities as a Service

Provider. Does not view CIO as peer

• Passive style and Strategic focus• Views CIO as Solution Provider, will help if

they ask, does not view CIO as peer

• Active style and Strategic focus• Considers CIO a peer and a Strategic

ContributorSource: Gerth, Anthony B., and Joe Peppard. "The dynamics of CIO derailment: How CIOs come undone and how to avoid it." Business Horizons 59.1 (2016): 61-70.


You can assess how much they matter with a simple dashboard

Name of stakeholder

Level of influence

Level of support

Total (influence x support)

Action Plan

Tony Gerth 2 3 6 Build on support by enlisting as coach/collaborator

Debbie Downer 3 -2 -6 Proactively address reasons for lack of support to improve

Tigger Jones 1 3 3 Maintain support

Ernie Eeyore 1 -1 -1 Address lack of support as needed

Influence: 1, 2, 3 Support: -3, -2, -1, 1, 2, 3


Relationship building tips

Give more than you get and never, never keep score

Treat EVERYONE you meet with respect…you never know where they will be…especially administrative people!

Care more for others than you care for yourself

Build your network before you need it

There are no guarantees! You will experience failure…shake it off and don’t worry!


I recommend these books on building relationships

• How to win friends and influence people –Dale Carnegie

• Never eat alone – Keith Ferrazzi

• Dig your well before you’re thirsty –Harvey Mackay


Influence styles and tactics vary

See for example: Buchanan, D., & Huczynski, A. (2004). Images of Influence: 12 Angry Men and Thirteen Days. Journal of Management Inquiry, 13(4), 312–323.


Passive: soft spoken, often gives in, non-threatening

Juror #2


Assertive: states case without going “over the top”, listens to others but holds firm

Juror #8


Aggressive: uses intimidation, loud vocal or physical gestures

Juror #3


There are multiple influence tactics to deploy

• Stating: states opinion without wavering, does not use data or consequences (pundit method)

• Legitimizing: states conclusions and presents supportive evidence • Socratic: uses questions to test assumptions and move a decision in a

certain direction (can be combined with stating or legitimizing)• Personal: attempts to link emotional and personal arguments (do it for

me)• Social: seeks connections to others as motivation for change (do it for

the group)


You can tailor style/tactics to the matrix we just reviewed

MasterPassive/Tactical

DirectorActive/Tactical

CoachPassive/Strategic

CollaboratorActive/Strategic

• Style: Be assertive• Tactic: Legitimizing, Socratic

• Style: Be passive / assertive• Tactic: Legitimizing, Personal

• Style: Be assertive• Tactic: All tactics can be used

• Style: Assertive, passive• Tactic: All tactics can be used

Note: that the Aggressive style is not generally recommended


IT leaders need to tailor their relationship approach to their business partners in order to influence outcomes

Understand your business partners’ interaction style and focus

Find business partners that will collaborate with you (types Coach & Collaborator) and turn them into “IT advocates”

Leverage that collaboration to demonstrate that IT can add value (maybe move a Master/Director to Coach/Collaborator)

Minimize the impact of Master/Director by “meeting them where they are” and proactively delivering excellent IT services. The good

news is their expectations are low!

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The next webinar…

Thursday, February 21 at Noon EST

Topic: Strategic storytelling

Same Zoom meeting room


To learn more about the value of executive coaching, let’s chat

Dr. Tony Gerth

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.abgexecadvisors.com

Mobile: +1 812-272-3069

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.abgexecadvisors.com/

Documents

Increasing your power base and influence...• Passive style and Strategic focus • Views CIO as Solution Provider, will help if they ask, does not view CIO as peer • Active style