New Year’s Resolutions 2012

Last month I made some predictions for the Top 10 trends that will affect your work life in 2012. Now that the New Year’s celebrations are upon us, it’s a good time to reflect on what your Top 10 New Year’s resolutions might be (beyond losing 10 pounds or learning to hang glide). My humble suggestions for you are:

1. Meet with your customers more often. C’mon, admit it, you don’t do it nearly as much as you should. Grab your calendar and make time.

2. Learn more marketing speak. One of the best ways to understand customers is to know how marketing pros appeal to them. Set up lunch with your CMO and arrive ready to talk about the marketing automation tools that may be infiltrating your organization already.

3. Amp up your tweeting and blogging. As you become a more authentic part of the conversation with employees, customers and partners, you’ll be amazed at what you learn (and what you have to offer).

4. Deliver on time and on budget, but especially on value. The business value of IT is Priority Number One now. The rest is table stakes.

5. Think past the hype. What can cloud, mobile and consumer technologies do for your business? CIOs who don’t lead these efforts will lose credibility and relevance.

6. Balance innovation and execution. These are the yin and yang of your leadership and management skills.

7. Keep an open mind about emerging technologies. New products and vendors may surprise you. I’m thinking of Windows 8, Hadoop, virtual desktops, unified communications, consumer IT, and so on.

8. Turn “IT” into “It.” Focus on understanding Information more than on Technology. Your influence and business savvy will grow.

9. Be all about the G word. Try to create revenue, leadership and organizational growth, as well as professional and personal growth.

10. Stop worrying about what you can’t control. You can’t control the economy, but you can control your ability to innovate, execute and drive amazing results.

Does this list match your own resolutions? I’d love to hear from you if it does.

In the meantime, I wish you a happy, healthy and successful 2012.

Michael Friedenberg is the president and CEO of CIO magazine’s parent company, IDG Enterprise. Email him at mfriedenberg@cio.com.