I was digging through an old folder this week and found a deck with my name on it. “Howie Cohen. Vision, Roles, Goals & Development Actions. Mid-Year.”
Truth be told, I forgot I wrote it.
Near the end were two development actions.
- One: meet with Global CIOs and industry peers at SIM events, CEB and Evanta.
- Two: meet monthly with the Global CIO as my leadership coach.
If you want a seat at the table, you have to go get it. You have to be in the mix. That is the fundamental truth. There are shortcuts and ways to work around the system but fundamentally, it boils down to trusted relationships.
Most of us think the path up runs through the work. Do the job well, then the next one, and someday someone pulls out the chair. You’ve seen it. Good people waiting to be noticed.
I’ve done it. More than once.
Nobody gets promoted into the C-suite. You get hired into it.
That’s not me being cynical. The 2024 SIM IT Trends Study found that 81.8% of CIOs came from outside their organization. A record. A quarter came from jobs outside IT entirely.
So if four out of five chairs go to someone from somewhere else, waiting your turn isn’t a strategy. It’s a hope.
This is Part 1 of a short series on building that path yourself. Ten steps, and each one comes with something you can actually make. A step without an artifact is just a nice thought.
Step one has two pieces.
Decide if you actually want it – Piece Numba 1
Write down what you’re moving FROM and what you’re moving TO. Most people can name the FROM in ten seconds. The TO is harder. A bigger title is usually a FROM in a nicer suit. What you would do with the authority, that’s a TO. I wrote more about this in What You What You What You Want.. Whatchoowant!
Then answer a few hard ones. These come from leadership forums I’ve facilitated:
- What’s your reason for being?
- What two or three values won’t you compromise, no matter what?
- Does where you spend your time match what you say you value?
That last one stings. It’s supposed to.
Then write the plan ~ Do it. If you have AI do it, it isn’t yours. – Piece Numba 2
Keep it short. Your vision. Your roles. Two or three goals. The development actions that get you there. Give it three horizons: six months, one year, three years.
Then put a name and a date on every action. Mine had a monthly meeting with my CIO on it, and that meeting happened because it was on the calendar. If an action doesn’t have a calendar invite, it’s a wish.
Here is the honest part. Not everyone should want the seat. Some of the best leaders I know looked at the chair and said no thanks. I’ve stepped back myself, and I wrote about why in Getting Old & Going Back to Where I Was.
Step one is allowed to end with “no.” That isn’t failure. It’s clarity, and it can save you years of chasing a chair you never wanted.
So I’ll ask you..
Do you want the seat, or the title?
If you found your plan from five years ago, would you recognize the person who wrote it?
And who, exactly, is your plan waiting on?
Next part: Speak Money.. Why executives don’t fund backlogs.
Nobody’s going to pull out the chair for you. Build the path to it.
Much Love..
Also, if you’d like the template for the development activities, let me know.