There’s no understating it: The right CIO can make or break an organization’s digital transformation. “But don’t interpret that as ‘the CIO does everything,’” says Greg Layok, managing director of technology at business and technology consultancy West Monroe. “It takes several disciplines to become a digital organization, and organizations need a leader who can pull them all together.”

The most successful digital transformations are driven from the very top of the organization with CEO-level leadership. However, CIOs rank just behind them as key players. “A CIO with the right blend of skills and approach is capable of facilitating or, in ideal cases, accelerating digital transformation throughout an organization,” says Matthew Garthwait, CIO of healthcare technology management company Capital i. “In many cases, the opinion of the CIO is the most heavily weighted voice in a technology discussion.”

11 digital transformation skills that matter

It’s important, then, that CIOs involved in digital transformation efforts have a certain set of skills. The most important capabilities for IT leaders driving digitization today include:

1. Self-assurance

“CIOs need to have confidence in their abilities to pitch their enhanced role to the leadership,” says Yugal Joshi, vice president of digital, cloud, and application services research for Everest Group. “The reason many enterprises ended up creating roles such as Chief Digital Officer and Chief Transformation Officer was because CIOs were too timid and unsure of their roles (as well as too busy in the day-to-day hustle of running the enterprise technology landscape). Strengthening the emotional intelligence skill of self-belief, therefore, is job number one.”

[ Do you know how to spot top digital talent? Read also: Digital transformation: 4 signs of a superstar. ]

2. Digital transformation fluency

“CIOs need to have a product management mindset – and also be fluent in digital behaviors and culture. Because you don’t do digital. You become digital,” Layok says. “So much about digital transformation never ‘ends.’ It’s a mindset shift toward becoming digitally fluent, failing fast, and instituting new ways of working. The CIO has to not only have, but also exhibit those traits.”

3. Collaboration and orchestration

The most successful IT leaders today appreciate the value that other business disciplines and functions bring to the digital table. “If they’re not accustomed to collaborating on that level across their organization, they’ll have a hard time,” Layok says.

In the wake of the pandemic, CIOs must become ever more collaborative leaders, notes Red Hat’s Shabnoor Shah, Open Leadership Global Lead and Executive Coach, Red Hat Open Innovation Labs. “There is a need for a robust digital culture where leaders continue being the key actors and champions. It’s more essential than ever to bring multiple and even often dispersed stakeholders together for enhanced alignment and collaboration. Collaborative processes will have to be skillfully facilitated, at the same time that leaders also address and cope with crucial ethical concerns,” Shah notes.

[ Get answers to key digital transformation questions and lessons from top CIOs: Download our digital transformation cheat sheet. ]

4. Financial strategy

“One of the most important new skills for today’s CIO is calculating ROI for strategic IT,” Seth Robinson, senior director of technology analysis at technology association CompTIA. While many companies viewed the IT function as a tactical cost center, digital transformation demands a deeper understanding of business objectives and IT ROI to advance.

5. A growth mindset

A CIO who is risk-averse is a poor match for ongoing digital evolution, Layok explains. They must be adept at change and continual learning in order to serve as a leader and exemplar of continuous improvement. “A CIO who embraces, encourages, and thrives on the change that digital transformation brings will have a more positive effect on the process than a CIO who stays on the sidelines, lightly supports, or shuns the program,” says Garthwait.

“In my experience, most CIOs are thrilled to be in a position to have such a broad and positive influence on the organization and are happy to go the extra mile to promote digital transformation.”

6. Deep domain and business process knowledge

CIOs overseeing digitization must understand the key drivers of the business. “A true strategic CIO understands that becoming digital is not just about technology,” Layok says. IT leaders must be capable of identifying continuous improvement in processes, evaluating new operating models, and many more activities that require fundamental business shifts.

“Only CIOs that understand the business benefits that digital transformation unlocks and educate digital skeptics in their organization will successfully achieve company-wide buy-in,” says Kevin McCaffrey, CEO and founder of digital transformation consultancy Tr3Dent.

IT leaders also need a comprehensive understanding of their organization’s business ecosystem, McCaffrey adds, since partners may be impacted by a full-scale disruption.

Let’s explore five more valuable skills for digital transformation leaders:

7. Technology translation skills

IT leaders must also be able to translate technical jargon into business terms that matter to the C-Suite, board, and other important stakeholders. “To bring digital initiatives to scale, it is critical that companies appoint a seasoned CIO to spearhead their transformations. However, in addition to technical experience, digital leaders must also have robust business knowledge to drive strategy and align key stakeholders on common objectives,” McCaffrey says. “Such CIOs are few and far between because translating technical knowledge to investors and C-suite executives can prove quite challenging.”

[ Need to explain hybrid cloud strategy to others? Get the free eBooks, Hybrid Cloud Strategy for Dummies and Multi-Cloud Portability for Dummies. ]

8. Strategic vision

A digital transformation leader needs foresight to architect a technology-enabled direction for the business. “They need that vision to foresee where the business is/should be headed and how technology can help in this journey,” Joshi says. “With this, they can make a stronger case of getting involved in these business strategy decisions.”

9. Customer experience expertise

“The explosion of consumer technology has drastically changed expectations around tech capabilities and user experience,” Robinson says. “CIOs must take these expectations into account while also managing the more stringent requirements of enterprise technology.”

10. Comprehensive change management

Never before have employees needed to change their work lives so drastically and rapidly. Digital transformation is an upheaval that can cause fear, conflict, and turnover without the right approach. “While change management skills have generally fallen to other functions and disciplines in the past, it is now essential that senior IT leaders be well-versed and comfortable with change frameworks, communication, and management,” says Joshi.

“This is not a secondary workstream on the project plan or an HR-only responsibility. The success of the program rides on the leader’s ability to positively manage the change process.”

“Leaders need to facilitate this in a way that instills a positive attitude in employees,” notes Red Hat’s Shah. “Amplify your organization’s existing support structures such as learning, training, coaching, and mentoring systems – and ask if you need new ones. This will also mitigate the employee frustration levels that often come with the pressures of technological, process, and behavioral change happening at once.”

11. Adaptability and an eye for alignment

“Any digital transformation plans should be thoroughly vetted with the CIO to ensure alignment exists before rolling it out to the organization to allow for the greatest chance of success,” says Garthwait. Without that, the best-laid digital plans can fail before they even begin.

“CIOs have to deeply understand the strategic necessity of digital transformation for their organization, and they must be able to use their strategic management skills to adapt the transformation efforts based on feedback loops,” says Joshi. “Given the degree of uncertainty, feedback loops and adaptation are a must.”

[ Get exercises and approaches that make disparate teams stronger. Read the digital transformation ebook: Transformation Takes Practice. ]