Build executive presence
CIOs today are under pressure to do more than manage infrastructure. You’re expected to lead from the front, drive transformation, influence board decisions, and deliver tangible results in an unpredictable world. That requires executive presence. This is the real-world capacity to keep people focused when things get complex and unpredictable, and make them want to follow your lead.
Executive presence means showing up with clarity, confidence, and control. It’s about being the person in the room who brings direction, not more noise. And it’s a skill like any other; it’s built over time. You study the people who command respect. You actively discard the habits that weaken your impact. And you train yourself to connect with people in a way that’s both calm and direct.
Eric Bloom, Executive Director at the IT Management and Leadership Institute, puts this well. He says leaders with gravitas “know what flies and what doesn’t.” That means knowing when to speak up, when to listen, and how to shift focus when needed, all without losing momentum or credibility.
If you’re early in your executive career or moving into unfamiliar environments like board meetings or global teams, then this is one of your best growth areas. It doesn’t require extra hours, just consistency. The payoff is influence. People listen more closely when you speak. Decisions move faster. That’s the leverage you want.
Hone your business skills
You can’t just be the tech expert in the room anymore. That’s already expected. CIOs today need to think and operate as business leaders, people who understand how revenue flows, how finance works, and how every unit connects back to strategy.
This shift isn’t complicated, but it is deliberate. It means using the same tools your executive peers use: finance models, budgeting frameworks, strategic planning systems. When you align your planning process with theirs, you stop just being invited to the conversation, you help shape it.
Eric Bloom says the issue is common among early-tenure CIOs. They’re skilled in architecture, implementation, and infrastructure, but often lack fluency in the business mechanics that drive value at scale. That changes now, especially with AI touching almost every part of an enterprise.
Rebecca Gasser, Global CIO at FGS Global, is putting this into practice. She’s diving deep into corporate finance, understanding treasury flows, audits, and compliance, not because she’s switching jobs but because it makes her a better partner to the rest of the C-suite. She’s thinking like a COO. That mindset closes gaps between IT and the business quickly.
If you’re aiming to influence more strategy, take the direct path: learn the language of business fluently. Spend time with finance, sales, and operations. When you speak in outcomes, not output, you’re taken seriously. It’s not about leaving tech behind. It’s about leading with impact.
Tune up your technical skills
There’s been a shift. For the past few years, CIOs were expected to balance business understanding with technical execution. But now, with AI pushing its way into every layer of decision-making, the demand has changed. Boards want CIOs who understand emerging technologies deeply, not just at a high level.
It’s no longer enough to rely on your technical teams to brief you after the fact. You need first-hand insight. That means putting in the time to stay current with AI models, data platforms, and bleeding-edge infrastructure. When you understand the underlying mechanics, you don’t just follow trends, you’re able to lead informed discussions on what’s hype and what’s real.
Kristen Lamoreaux, CEO of Lamoreaux Search, sees this happening across the industry. She notes that CIOs who are leading the charge on AI are personally engaging in technical training. Dozens are enrolling in advanced courses. Not because they’re writing code, but because they want to challenge vendors intelligently, spot risks early, and guide implementation from a position of strength.
If you’re a CIO and you’re not deep enough in new tech, you’re operating with a lag. The next few years are going to reward leaders who can connect emerging technology to actionable business use cases without getting lost in the details, or ignoring them completely.
Step up your work with professional organizations
There’s influence inside your company, and then there’s influence that extends beyond it. If you want the kind of leadership reputation that attracts opportunities, builds partnerships, and earns serious professional traction, you have to step outside of your corporate environment. Professional organizations are one of the best ways to do this.
This isn’t about appearances. When you’re involved in outside associations, especially in leadership roles, you grow your visibility, you expand your insight, and you’re seen as a trusted voice in the broader ecosystem. It also sends a clear message to your own organization: you’re someone with perspective.
Eric Bloom explains that serving as president of your local chapter of something like the Society for Information Management adds real weight to your profile. It’s external validation, which strengthens your executive presence. People listen differently when you’re seen as a thought leader by others, not just by your internal peers.
If you’re already short on time, the solution isn’t skipping it, it’s being strategic about where you invest. Choose organizations that align with your industry or leadership goals. Show up, contribute, and shape conversations that matter beyond your company. Your network gets stronger. Your ideas get sharper. And your leadership impact grows faster.
Work on your agility
If you’re leading in tech, rigidity is a liability. The best CIOs right now are the ones who adjust quickly, when market dynamics shift, when new tech actually delivers value, or when internal feedback forces a rethink. Staying agile means you’re committed to outcomes, not committed to being right all the time.
That skill takes experience, and it takes discipline. Warren Lenard, State CIO and Agency Head for the Indiana Office of Technology, puts it plainly: a great leader is someone who’s willing to say, “I’ve changed my opinion.” That only happens when you listen carefully, stay open to new data, and prioritize results over ego.
He attributes that mindset to career maturity and credits the book Reset by Dan Heath for helping sharpen his ability to step back, reassess, and shift directions thoughtfully. His approach is focused on defining the end goal, then moving toward it with flexibility.
If you want to lead effectively into 2026, you need this. Agility enables faster decisions, more relevant priorities, and better alignment with what’s actually happening in your business, not what you planned six months ago. It’s not indecision. It’s adaptive leadership. Learn to pivot cleanly and communicate clearly, and your teams will move faster with you, not behind you.
Get better at building great teams
You don’t scale leadership alone. If your team isn’t strong, nothing else holds. Great CIOs know how to build up people, intentionally, systematically, and with long-term continuity in mind. That means identifying high-potential individuals, giving them stretch assignments, and making sure everyone, regardless of level, is growing.
Kristen Lamoreaux, President and CEO of Lamoreaux Search, sees the most effective CIOs investing in targeted upskilling while actively planning for succession. They know who their key players are. They know what drives them. And they work hard to make sure those people have what they need to keep developing.
Team building isn’t just about training. It’s strategy. It involves understanding who can scale under pressure, who’s ready to lead next, and who may be misaligned. It means designing a team architecture that doesn’t collapse when someone exits. That’s how you build endurance into your leadership bench.
If you’re not focused on this now, you’ll feel it soon. Great talent won’t wait around without growth. And when gaps open up, scrambling is not a strategy. Strong IT leaders future-proof their teams today by staying involved, not just at the organization chart level, but in the progress and motivation of the individuals driving their roadmap forward.
Be more empathetic
Technology is advancing fast, but people are still processing the changes at a very human pace. As AI becomes more embedded in the workplace, a lot of employees are anxious, some are unsure about job security, others are unclear about their role in an AI-driven future. It’s on leadership to acknowledge this clearly, not ignore it.
Empathy isn’t an abstract nice-to-have. It’s a practical leadership skill. Kristen Lamoreaux, CEO of Lamoreaux Search, says the most respected executives today have a high Human Quotient, they understand how decisions affect real people and can deliver tough messages without distancing themselves emotionally.
The data backs this up. A 2025 Pew Research Center study found that 52% of workers are concerned about how AI may impact their employment. Another 2025 Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 71% believe AI could lead to permanent job loss. These fears are real and present across industries.
Empathetic leadership doesn’t mean avoiding change. It means leading it in a way where people feel seen, not sidelined. That starts with simple, real things: listening without interruption, explaining decisions transparently, and fostering a workplace culture where concerns are addressed, directly and respectfully.
Lamoreaux also points out that empathy gets stronger with action. She shares that her time volunteering with Ronald McDonald House gives her perspective on what people face beyond their job titles. It resets your focus. And yes, that clarity comes back with you to the office.
Sharpen all your people skills
Tech leadership today involves as much psychology as engineering. You’re guiding teams through new ways of working, adopting technologies that redefine roles, and driving outcomes while managing resistance, all at once. Doing that without strong people skills is impossible.
Jason Pyle, President and Managing Director of Harvey Nash US and Canada, is clear on this: CIOs must intentionally improve emotional intelligence, communication, listening, and interpersonal clarity, because navigating the human side of change is now a core part of the job.
Developing these skills doesn’t happen by chance. It’s deliberate. It requires introspection and consistent feedback. Pyle advises that CIOs working on this should engage with mentors and trusted peers, share what they’re trying to improve, and hold themselves accountable in measured ways.
The goal isn’t to become someone else, it’s to operate with more awareness and more connection. Stronger people skills help you read the room, de-escalate quickly, and drive decisions without unnecessary friction. If you’re only focusing on strategy and execution, you’re leaving value on the table.
With AI impacting every function across the organization, your role includes managing discomfort, building consensus, and ensuring your team feels led, not just managed. The better your people skills get, the more effectively you can do all of that, with clarity and without delay.
Serve on a board
Strategic visibility matters. If you’re a CIO looking to expand your impact, serving on a board, nonprofit or for-profit, is one of the most effective ways to get there. It gives you access to broader governance conversations and insight into how decisions get shaped at the top level.
Karen Swift, Vice President of IT at Penske Media, is already acting on that goal. She’s looking to transition from nonprofit board work to roles within for-profit boards. The motivation is clear: shaping an organization from the boardroom expands how you think, how you lead, and what value you bring back to your own company.
When you sit on a board, your view widens. You see the full spectrum of business priorities, including those outside your operational remit. You also get a firsthand sense of what board members expect from executive leaders. That input helps you speak their language more fluently when presenting tech initiatives or long-term strategic plans internally.
This isn’t about securing a title or adding a line to your resume. It’s about leveling up your leadership maturity and understanding the mechanics of influence beyond operational oversight. If you want a seat at the strategic table within your own company, this shows you how those tables actually work.
Commit, plot for continuous growth
If you’re leading anything meaningful in today’s environment, especially in tech, you can’t afford to coast. The shift cycles are too fast. Markets are too fluid. Disruption is already happening, and the leaders who don’t evolve will be replaced by those who do.
Continuous growth needs real commitment. That starts with recognizing your current gaps, setting the right pace, and sticking with it over time. Thomas Phelps IV, CIO and SVP of Corporate Strategy at Laserfiche, and advisory board member at the SIM Research Institute, says it well: growth requires “hunger and passion,” and then it requires execution.
This isn’t about overcommitting to every learning opportunity available. It’s about being specific. Target the skills or knowledge that will elevate your value. Plot it like a runway. Identify what you need to learn, how you’ll learn it, and when you’ll apply it. Most importantly, don’t wait for someone to tell you it’s time to upgrade. Make that decision yourself.
CIOs who lead with forward momentum tend to outperform. Not just because they’re smarter, but because they’re more prepared. The learning they do today becomes the influence they carry tomorrow, inside the boardroom, across the market, and within their teams. Stay proactive. Stay engaged. Stay sharp.
Final thoughts
Leadership in tech isn’t static. It doesn’t reward those who wait or react slowly. As we move into 2026, the most effective CIOs won’t just manage, they’ll shape direction, influence strategy, and lead people through constant change with clarity and purpose.
You don’t need to master every trend. You need to understand what matters, move fast on what’s relevant, and stay personally committed to growth. Whether that’s strengthening your executive presence, deepening your business fluency, or building teams that actually scale, each move compounds. The more intentional you are, the more value you create.
What separates good leaders from great ones in this next cycle won’t be access to tools or talent. It’ll be mindset. Adapt fast. Execute cleanly. Lead with pragmatism and empathy. And keep pushing yourself outside what you already know.
The role of CIO is only becoming more central. Treat it accordingly.
