CIO — You’re doing a bang-up job at work. With your data consolidation project and new sourcing strategy, you’ve reduced operating expenses by 40 percent, and your new PMO has put smiles on the faces of all of your colleagues. It’s only a matter of time before your fabulousness becomes known and recruiters start calling with your next dream job. (If you believe that, I have a nice bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.)
The fact is, like most rewards, industry recognition takes some hard work. Yes, if you are the CIO of GM or Dell, recruiters know your name, and magazines, newspapers and conference organizers are beating a path to your door. But if your company is not a household name, you need to take a proactive approach to making a splash.
I spoke to four CIOs who take the concept of strategic self-publicity to heart, and together we have developed four simple steps to worldwide recognition.
1. Branding. Before you can get your name out there, you need to have a clear understanding of just what that name represents. Are you great with customers, a terrific leader, an architecture guru, a manufacturing expert? Knowing your brand will allow you to project attributes that are richer and more powerful than those associated merely with your job.
Last December, Michael Iacona decided he was ready to raise his visibility within his industry. But first the CIO of TMP Worldwide Advertising & Communications thought about what he wanted his name to connote. To focus his thinking, he went through an exercise to identify his personal brand.
Iacona sent a survey to his peers, colleagues and even people he had just met to determine the impression he makes. A sample question: If he were a car, what kind would he be?
From the survey results, he learned which five brand attributes best describe him and used them to develop a one-page summary, a personal mission statement and a webpage to advertise it. "This is not about creating an image of who you want to be, but identifying the unique value that you bring," says Iacona. But just like running IT, building your brand is not a onetime project. "This is not something you do once and are done," he says. "Over time, you need to continue to build and nurture your brand."
2. Networking. With your brand in hand, you can nearly see your name up in lights. Well, take a breath; it might make sense to start networking first. This lets you test out your brand, hone it while the stakes are low and meet people who can connect you to relevant editors and conference organizers. "Networking is not just hit or miss," says Sheleen Quish, former CIO of U.S. Can and current CIO-at-Large of Box9 Consulting™. "You need a great address book and a plan for growing it. I spend at least 30 minutes a day adding new contacts to my list."
