Whether or not there’s an immediate possibility of getting a seat on the board, clearly it makes good business sense to have a solid foundation of trust with the board. To achieve that, it’s critical to build and maintain a tight relationship with your CEO first.

CEOs have told Graham G. Rong, 2009 Event Chair for the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, that they expect their CIOs to do the legwork before approaching them about new programs. They should already have buy-in from two general managers in the line of business “and have convinced them [about the advantages of] using a specific technology to improve the performance, productivity and efficiency of the product line,” he says, “rather than come to the CEO and say, ‘Here’s a good piece of technology for you to introduce to the lines of business.’ ”

If you are a full executive team member, your CEO may even hire an executive coach to help you be more business-savvy for events such as directing your presentations at the appropriate level for a board meeting, Rong says.

Sandra C. Hofmann, CIO-in-Residence, ATDC, adds that CIOs who have credibility with the executive team and visibility in the organization should join in activities planned around board members’ visits to town, such as a dinner the night before the meeting. “CIOs could approach the CEO and even say that the next time board member ‘X’ is in town, they’d love to pick him or her up from the airport,” she says, “so there is an opportunity to have a conversation.”  --JZ

ASK THE EXPERT:

Dr. Graham Rong

MIT CIO Symposium Co-Chair

Graham Rong has a broad backgroun in product innovation and corporate development. He has extensive experience in IT leadership, business strategy and collaborative research in North America, Asia and Europe. He is currently leading the development of a novel system for financial information and social analytics. He has held senior roles with Vignette Corp. and Harte-Hanks, and was on the faculty in JiangNan University. In addition, he held an EU research fellowship in University of Edinburgh.

     As an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow in MIT Sloan School of Management, Rong focused on corporate strategy, innovation leadership and global development. He lectures at Harvard, MIT and outside of the U.S. He is on the board of multiple organizations and also on the organizing committee of multiple international conferences. He holds an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and PhD from University of Guelph, Canada.

Graham is a member of the Smart Enterprise Exchange and can be reached via e-mail on the community.