First steps to becoming a CIO

In my previous post I gave an outline of what I believe is the career path from a technical role to CIO, with the first step being that of a team leader position.  Unfortunately in my current organization, there is no team leader role as such, so how do you begin to climb the IT career ladder when the bottom rung of the ladder is missing?  Instead I need to find ways of gaining the equivalent skills and experience.  I’ve identified four things that I believe will equip me with the skills and experience that I believe would be the equivalent of a team leader role, and since I intend to progress further, would also provide me with the opportunity to demonstrate the qualities required in a junior manager role.

Postgraduate degree

Late last year I began studying for a Master of Management (Information Technology) via distance education.  I chose this degree over a more traditional MBA as I was able to receive credit for half of the degree thanks to my industry certifications, meaning that I can study only one subject per semester and will complete the degree in 2 years.  This is a major drawcard with both family and work commitments.  I was also able to get my manager to agree to pay for my tuition fees, which will be the topic of a future blog post.

For my electives I have chosen subjects that encompass management in general as well as the management of people, managing organizational change, finance and strategy.  I believe that these subjects cover a good cross-section of the sorts of skills and knowledge that are required to move up to the lower levels of management where the focus is more on resourcing, budgeting, and the implementation of IT projects rather than developing a high-level vision.

In the future if I find my career stalling, I may look towards completing an MBA, as I believe it will be more widely accepted by the upper levels of management, however that will of course depend on work and family commitments at the time.

IT Service Management (ITSM) and Project Management certifications

The team leader and junior management levels are responsible for service delivery and strategy implementation, making ITSM and project management skills highly relevant.  I have completed the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) version 3 Foundation and PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments, version 2) Foundation level certifications, although there are many other ITSM and Project Management frameworks out there such as COBIT 5 and PMBOK.  In the future I intend to take further courses in these areas to expand on my knowledge.  I was able to attend both of these courses through my employer as part of the general IT training budget.

Volunteer for projects

Taking on projects, especially those projects that no one else wants, is a great way to increase your visibility in front of management and the business, which also means that it is important to do a good job.  Leading a project requires resourcing, budgeting, organizing and problem solving, all skills that are essential for those in team leader or junior management roles.  As an example I have recently volunteered to develop and implement an IT asset lifecycle management program.  Although I don’t have the necessary skills in this area I will need to bring in people that do have those skills and be responsible for managing those people to achieve the desired outcome.

Broadening your IT knowledge base

The further you move up the IT management ladder, the broader your knowledge of IT needs to be.  A search of current IT manager jobs shows that they are often after an all-rounder covering a wide range of technologies.  With that in mind, once I have completed my degree I intend to look at some Microsoft server certifications, whereas a SysAdmin may look at doing a CCNA certification.  Expanding your technical skillset will increase your effectiveness in your current role while broadening your knowledge base will be of value when looking to move forward in your career.

So although the first step up towards becoming a CIO is missing in my current organization I haven’t let it deter me from working towards my goal. I’m interested to hear from others what initial steps they took when starting out on their IT management journey and finding out what they found valuable and perhaps what they found to be a waste of time.