Take The Humble Road To Succeed

IT is not merely about installing software apps and hardware devices; I feel it is much more. As a CIO, I feel IT should be brought into the everyday functions of employees so that they do not think of IT as an isolated department. The success of IT comes only after it is implemented across different departments like sales, distribution, production, finance and so on. IT helps these function heads in getting results, and does not by itself own any function.

Now going a step further, for a CIO, the success of IT doesn’t stop with the mere implementation. It also depends on how skillfully he is able to connect people across different function heads, and work with them to implement IT projects and get the desired results. And this poses a major challenge. A CIO has to understand other people’s egos and constantly persuade and convince them why a CIO needs to enter their expert areas. They might also not like a CIO telling them how to go about their work.

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I feel that the only way to deal with such situations is by being humble in your dealings. If you do a commendable job, then you should not take the credit, and should instead pass on the credit to your peers and juniors. It may be your hard work, but in order to mature professionally, you need to pass the credit to others. As an example, say, you are working with a business function head to implement an IT project. I feel the ideal thing to do is to let the other person take ownership of the credit of a successful IT implementation. This will motivate him, and in a way serve your purpose as well.

Hence, you need to constantly talk to people from all business areas and prove by demonstration that IT will help them achieve desired business results. And, you have to build that confidence over a period of time. It does take a lot of time and patience to build that kind of rapport, but I feel it is worth the effort. It is likely that you or your team might get frustrated at times, but that will not help. You have to keep on trying to convince people about the benefits of IT by demonstrating the kind of results its use can yield. My management is excellent and it greatly supports me, but still there are issues. A CIO’s life is difficult, but frankly, you have no choice. You can’t run away from it.

Also, I feel that a CIO is the only person who understands the data owned by an organisation, and he can truly demonstrate how systems are integrated. Now, everyone may not understand the benefits of having certain systems in place. But you should keep talking, and get past their egos.

I remember a statement made by Narayan Murthy that changed my life and gave me the courage to be humble: “Whenever you do a good thing, open the window and give the credit to others. And whenever, you do something wrong and you don’t get your results, go to washroom, see your face in the mirror and find out where you went wrong.”

Frankly, ever since I have followed this quote, I have grown by leaps professionally. After some initial hurdles in the first five years at my organisation, maturity set in. I have grown a lot in last ten years. And, an important lesson that I have learnt is that this journey of maturing is very essential to make people see the benefits of what you are offering. You may have delicious food to offer, but if people are not willing to eat it, it is a waste. Putting your point across, without offending the egos or sentiments of others is very critical. And, that can only be achieved by being humble.