CIO Personal BrandingA survey on the effectiveness of IT executive personal branding

Published by Harvey Nash and CIO UK

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Harvey NashHarvey Nash is a global IT recruitment, talent management and professional services organisation. We are a trusted advisor to IT Professionals and a partner to world class IT organisations.

The CIO practice recruits and develops board-level technology executives. From CIOs to IT Directors, Infrastructure Directors to CTOs, we combine passion with in-depth market knowledge to deliver high-performing IT leadership teams.

www.harveynash.com / info@harveynash.com / +44(0) 20 7333 0033

CIO UKCIO UK addresses issues vital to the success of chief information officers worldwide. CIO UK properties provide technology and business leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of IT's role in achieving business goals.

CIO.co.uk is the online arm of CIO UK and is one of the UK’s leading websites for IT executives.

www.cio.co.uk / webmaster@cio.co.uk / +44(0) 20 7756 2800

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About the survey

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Have you discovered your personal brand? A 'personal brand' is the collection of values, experiences and associations that people attach to you. In short, it’s what peers and associates think about you when they hear your name mentioned. Everyone has a personal brand, but now more than ever business leaders and CIOs are investing time and effort in shaping what that brand actually is, and raising its awareness amongst target audiences such as senior management, industry peers and potential employers. Much like a marketing department does with a product.

In theory, good personal branding can help improve your ability to deliver within your current role, and make the transition to your next role easier. The purpose of this survey, jointly conducted by Harvey Nash and CIO UK, was to find out whether that theory works in practice for the CIO / IT executive community.

It was conducted in September �008 and sent to a broad selection of executive level IT contacts known to Harvey Nash and CIO UK. All of the respondents were from the UK. The most common job title of respondents were ‘CIO’ , ‘CTO’ and ‘IT Director’, almost half with budgets of £10m or more.

Finally, we just wanted to say a sincere thank you to all the IT executives who took the time to take part in the survey – without your involvement this publication simply would not be possible.

We hope you find this report useful and informative and we welcome any feedback.

Best regards,

Mark ChillingworthEditor,CIO UK

John Whiting, MD, CIO Practice,Harvey Nash

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Executive summary

For IT to be strategic, the CIO needs a strong personal brand

Almost two-thirds of IT executives believe that having a strong personal brand is ‘very important’ to the IT department in achieving its broad objectives. This was especially important around business-facing/strategic objectives such as ‘influencing business strategy’ and ‘promoting business alignment’.

So to influence at board level, to act as a bridge between business and IT strategy and to demonstrate and underpin the value IT provides the business, it is important that the business has an IT figurehead for people to identify and connect with.

In short, CIO personal branding is as important a part of IT strategy as, say, project delivery or operational effectiveness.

…and many CIOs are successfully brand building

IT in general, and CIOs in particular, have traditionally had a poor reputation and therefore a low brand value, especially when compared to their - perhaps more glamorous - counterparts in marketing or sales.

So it is heartening to see just how many feel they are making a reasonable job of brand building. Over 90 per cent were regularly carrying out two or more brand-building activities. Over one-third have gone one step further and formally investigated how other people view them and identified areas of strengths / weaknesses to identify a brand building strategy. And a very 'brand aware' six per cent had dedicated communications resources with the explicit aim of raising their personal profile.

The net result of all of this activity is also heartening; the vast majority of respondents believe their personal brand is of equal or greater standing to peers such as Marketing Directors or CFOs. Similarly, almost two-thirds feel they have an equal standing as other board directors as one of their organisation's leaders and innovators (beyond the 'nuts and bolts' of IT).

The importance of promoting a personal brand over and above the job title is especially important for IT executives. Regardless of the huge steps forward IT is taking in becoming business enabling, the job titles of CIO, CTO and IT Director still tend to languish towards the bottom of the party invite lists, and the need to promote personal values to add colour and real meaning to these job titles remains important.

CIO personal branding is an important part of IT Strategy

CIO Personal Branding / �

Executive summary

But there is still a huge amount of work to do

Despite the positive news that CIOs are actively building their brands, the fact remains three-quarters feel there is still more work to do.

CIOs are often not natural self publicists, and clearly many were very conscious of the subtle line between positive brand building and blatant self promotion.

Perhaps reflecting this, the more personal the brand building activity is, the less likely the CIO is to do it. So whilst 60 per cent keep their LinkedIn profiles factually up to date, only 1� per cent maintain blogs or online diaries which express subjective, personal opinions.

The paradox here is that the more personal the communication, the more potentially effective the brand building. This lack of blogging is even more surprising given that one important responsibility of the CIO is to promote the use of technology for communication across all of the business.

For some, there was also a tangible cynicism about the whole concept of ‘personal branding’. “I concentrate on delivering practical solutions that are secure and work rather than shouting my name or promoting vapourware," said one respondent.

In many ways this is understandable – after all even the term ‘personal branding’ sounds a little like, well, business jargon. But judging from this survey, the strong balance of opinion points to personal branding being an essential part of the IT Strategy. As one CIO commented “I considered the quality of my work would speak for itself, but realise now that was naïve”.

It might not be fair, but in today’s increasingly complex corporate environment, it’s reality.

Five tips for managing your personal brand

Recognise its importance. Good personal branding doesn’t just benefit you, it’s an important part of your IT strategy, helping your whole department achieve its goals.

Research your brand. To know how to promote your brand you need to know what your brand currently is, and where it needs to be. Join the half of CIOs who have already spent time researching their own brand, their strengths and their weaknesses. Really, really ask yourself “Who am I?” Work out who needs to know about you and make a plan to communicate.

Get the message out internally. The single most important way of developing your brand is to be seen in person - positively. Make going out and meeting the business an objective in itself, not just what you need to do to perform another objective. By all means raise your profile through CCing people on mails, but remember email is the 'cheap man’s' branding tool – you’re one step away from being a spammer.

Get the message out externally. Be one of the (surprisingly) few CIOs that speak at conferences regularly or write blogs. Attend conferences and make a point of networking. Become a press contact for your company. Think through where your name appears, or can appear on all communications (e.g. emails, websites, LinkedIn etc) and make sure the message is right.

Get the message out consistently. Don’t be a one-hit wonder. Brand building takes time and needs to be consistent. There are countless blogs with only one or two postings made years ago. Don’t let the tumbleweed roll through your branding initiatives.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Over ninety per cent were regularly carrying out two or more brand-building activities

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Results

Figure 1. Overall IT budget

Respondents represented a broad selection of the CIO community, almost half with budgets of over £10m.

Figure 2. Overall, how important is it to your organisation that a CIO has a

strong personal brand in order for his/her IT department to achieve its strategic

objectives?

IT touches every aspect of the organisation, from customer interaction to managing the supply chain, information management and product development and business efficiencies. As a result the CIO is uniquely placed to influence every facet of the organisation, but influence only comes with recognition, which in today’s large and diverse organisations requires a brand.

Influence only comes with recognition

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

£100m +£50m - £100m £10m - £50m £5m - £10m £1m - £5m £0m - £1m

8%

27%

17%

29%

8%

11%

Very important – it’s key to the department achieving its strategic objectives

Quite important – it’s helpful in achieving its strategic objectives

Not important – it neither helps nor hinders the IT department

63%

34%

3%

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Figure 3. Importance of CIO personal brand for specific objectives.

(Results show percentage of respondents who consider it 'very important')

CIOs were asked how important they felt a good personal brand was in aiding them achieve seven key business objectives.

The more ‘strategic’ and business-facing the objective, the greater the importance personal branding is. One surprising result is only one-third of CIOs think the CIO brand as being very important to recruitment and retention of staff. At Harvey Nash, the experience has often been the opposite, and the CIO brand has been critical to recruiting and retaining.

Figure 4. In relation to advancing your career, how important is it for you to invest

time in building your personal brand?

CIOs recognise that a good personal brand is important when looking at their next career move. A poor brand means lesser career prospects.

Figure 5. At board level to what extent are you seen as one of the organisation's

leaders and innovators (beyond the 'nuts and bolts' of IT)?

Promoting closer alignment between the business and IT �6%

Building and maintaining relationships with the business ��%

Contributing and influencing business strategy ��%

Extending the responsibilities of IT beyond technology, for instance change management and owning specific business processes

60%

Recruitment, retention, development of IT staff ��%

Managing IT developments and programmes �6%

Managing and delivering IT operations �1%

Very important – developing my personal brand is essential to my career development

Quite important – developing my personal brand is useful, but not essential to my career development

Not important – my personal brand and career development are for the most part unrelated

Results

A poor brand means lesser career prospects

75%

23%

2%

To a great extent - I stand out amongst my peers

To some extent - I am equal to other prominent board level directors

To no / little extent - I am not seen as an innovator

22%

63%

15%

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Figure 6. Overall, how strong would you say your personal brand is internally in your

organisation?

Both this table and the previous one give good news; many CIOs believe they have an equal standing with their peers. This would have been a very different story ten years ago.

Figure 7. Overall, how strong would you say your personal brand is externally?

The majority of respondents did not feel they had a strong external brand. Tie this with how important people feel an external brand is with developing careers and it’s clear that a large proportion of CIOs are potentially limiting their career prospects through lack of branding.

Very strong - I am almost as well known as the CEO. Most people know my name / job title. Most people know what values I stand for, and see me in a positive light.

Quite strong – I am as well known to the business as other prominent departmental heads (e.g. marketing, finance etc). Most people know my name / job title. Some may also know what values I stand for.

Not strong - I am less well known to the business than other prominent departmental heads. Some people know my name / job title, most would not know what values I stand for.

Weak - I am not well known. Most people would not know my name / job title, and almost no-one would know what values I stand for.

A large proportion of CIOs are potentially limiting their career prospects through lack of branding

14%

73%

12%

1%

Very strong – For instance, I am well known in the broad CIO / IT management community and often act as a spokesperson about general IT issues in the media or at conferences

Strong – For instance, I am well known within the CIO / IT community within my particular industry or technology specialism and occasionally act as a spokesperson on IT issues

Not strong – I rarely act as a spokesperson on IT issues

Weak – I never act as a spokesperson on IT issues

2%

37%

52%

9%

Results

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Figure 8. Which of the following activities do you undertake to develop and

promote your personal brand internally or externally?

Although 'being seen in the business' is clearly a very good way to raise awareness, over one-third of CIOs still don’t do this important task. Conference speaking, a ‘classic’ method of brand building, languished close to the bottom of the table.

Figure 9. Do you believe you are investing the right amount of effort into

developing your personal brand?

Clearly a very significant proportion of the CIO community believe more can be done to raise the profile of themselves and their role. CIO branding has come a long way in the last ten years (helped along in part by with the classic marketing ‘trick’ of rebranding the job title 'IT Director' to 'CIO') but there is much more to do.

I regularly go out of my way to be physically seen in the business 6�%

I always ensure that personal information on social websites (such as LinkedIn) is kept accurate and up to date

60%

I ensure my name is on all relevant emails / communications that go out from the IT department to the business

��%

I have arranged specific IT events / demos to the business where I act as the figurehead

��%

I – or someone on my behalf - have formally investigated how other people view me and identified areas of strengths / weaknesses

�9%

I have spent time formulating an ‘elevator pitch’ about who I am and what makes me different

�8%

I actively act as a press spokesperson for my company / IT department �8%

I have specifically researched, read books or attended training / conferences on personal branding

�0%

I have put in place a personally branded regular newsletter, blog or diary entry that goes out to the business

1�%

I regularly speak at conferences 1�%

I have a communications plan (for example through a PR agency) with the explicit aim of raising my personal profile externally

6%

I maintain a personal blog for people to read externally �%

Yes

No

CIO branding has come a long way in the last ten years...but there is much more to do

25%

75%

Results

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Special Report: Being a brand

The Harvey Nash CIO UK personal branding survey reveals not only CIO opinions on the benefits of having a brand, but also the skills CIOs believe branding needs. John Whiting, Managing Director, CIO practice at Harvey Nash and Mark Chillingworth, editor of CIO UK, discuss the findings and requirements a CIO must meet to become a brand.

The Oxford English Dictionary describes a brand as “a special or characteristic kind,” and the Harvey Nash CIO UK personal branding survey looked to collate and understand if British CIOs are seen by their peers and organisations as special and depicting a characteristic kind.

John Whiting is clear about what a CIO needs to be considered to have a brand; strong communication skills. “They are speakers for the role and for what they have done personally and what they have done with technology for the business,” he says. Two instantly spring to mind for Whiting, Robin Dargue, formerly CIO at drinks manufacturing giant Diageo and now driving forward transformation at the Royal Mail, and Catherine Doran, information management director at Network Rail.

Dargue and Doran are level � leaders, as categorised by the manual to business leadership Good To Great, by Jim Collins. Whiting summarises it thus: “The real leaders are those that have created lots of wealth. It used to be the charismatic table thumpers, it tends now to be more the people who can create for the organisation.”

If there is any doubt amongst CIOs of the importance of communication skills, Whiting shares the details of a CIO job spec that Harvey Nash has been given by a CEO, Fourteen of the criteria for the role are behavioural, and only one requires a technology competence. The list of requirements include: collegiate, collaborative yet decisive, relationship builder, attention to detail, supporting but challenging.

CIOs responding to the survey saw themselves as business leaders. A CIO at a leading online brand described himself as “leading transformation and change in order to benefit the business, my team and our industry”, while a housing association CIO said “I am here to help you find better ways of running our business”. Another at a beverage manufacturer said they were “a commercially astute leader of the technical function who exploits opportunities to apply technology to business advantage".

“I see three types of CIO; the top tier who will always come to the fore, a second tier that is from the traditional IT background and a third tier of new people who have grown up in IT over the last six or seven years where the outsourcing model has been strong. So this third group are good at business relationships and negotiations as they have been freed up from the 'keeping the lights on' mentality,” says Whiting. They are creative thinkers and comfortable with supply, demand and profit versus loss. CIOs that talk about implementations on budget and have a delivery perspective do not garner the interest of the CEO. The real success is talking about commercial reality, the difference implementations make to the business, and whether it generated revenue.

A business mind and strong communications skills together ensure that CIOs will become influencers in the board room. Whiting said: “CIOs need to be able to go to the board and promote a business case and win the case for new technology.”

The real success is talking about commercial reality

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Special Report: Branding, a CIO’s perspective

Two CIOs, one an experienced hand with a CV that includes Lloyds TSB and the Financial Times, another, a new CIO on the block, shared their personal experiences of being a brand.

Ian Cohen has been the CIO behind the online revolutions at the Financial Times and Daily Mail newspapers in recent years and has a career that includes introducing e-commerce to Lloyds TSB. A frequent speaker at events, Cohen recently left Associated Newspapers.

Roger Scholes is just �1, but has already made his mark as the head of IT and finance for trade vehicle parts supplier ZF Trading. “A brand is making yourself stand out. The head of IT has to be visible, so that what they offer the business has to be easily understood,” Scholes says. He believes the key word for a CIO’s brand to encompass is “support”.

“In a big organisation it’s more important that you have a brand and demand that it is understood,” Scholes continues. Cohen agrees and believes a CIO cannot have an effective board level presence without a good brand. “If your brand is ‘they are only here to make sure the email works’ then you need to do something about it.”

Cohen also advocates a CIO building a good brand beyond the office walls. “On a personal level external branding is important and most organisations are happy for you to do it. Speaking in public is good. It promotes the company and you and it is a very good development activity.” In his last role Cohen demanded that one of his key line managers speak at one internal corporate event and one external event as part of his personal development for that year. “Branding is like a product portfolio for you to present,” he says.

The opinions and experiences of Cohen and Scholes back up the Harvey Nash CIO UK findings that �6 per cent of CIOs believe good branding promotes closer alignment between their department and the rest of the organisation, and 60 per cent find a good CIO brand allows the CIO’s responsibilities to be extended beyond IT.

Just �� per cent of the respondents said they were investing the right amount of effort into developing their personal brand. Cohen finds this inexcusable. “Saying you haven’t the time is a cop-out, you have to make time for it. It is like an FD saying ‘I haven’t time to look at a spreadsheet’,” he says.

“IT can be unapproachable. You have to set yourself up as approachable and you have to believe you have something to offer,” Scholes says. Early in his career he worked on an IT helpdesk which is where he believes he learnt the value of support, approachability and how they tie into a CIO’s brand.

“As a CIO you wear out a lot of shoe leather,” Cohen adds. Scholes relates, “I see most people during the day and I always make a point of asking about their business and or themselves”, Cohen describes it as central to “relationship building”.

A CIO without a good brand and experience in relationship building may find it difficult to progress up the career ladder. Cohen says the latest job specifications that have been placed before him all feature key terms such as 'gravitas' and 'presence'. “These are the elements that go into a brand.” Cohen admits that setting out a personal brand is a fine balance between self promotion and careful branding. “Tone of voice is very important. Good leaders rarely say 'I'.”

Good leaders rarely say "I"