“Build a strong relationship with customers, and that means trust and respect,” Blane says. “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason, so sit down and ask what’s important to them and listen to them.”
It’s just as important to create those strong relationships with employees. As CIO, you may already know quite a lot about what’s important to the organization, but each employee or manager will have a different set of priorities and goals within that larger purpose, he says.
“Every leader I’ve worked with wants a flourishing business in a state of excellence where everyone is continually raising the bar,” Blane says. “So, yes, you have to understand technology, but more than anything you have to understand that your job is to enable employees to flourish. Create a cadre of people who know their boss has their best interests at heart. They’ll run towards work instead of running away from it. If you’re committed to that, you’re going to do well. If not, you’ll do OK, but you won’t ever really hit it out of the park.”