The CIO’s Job Description: Top-Notch Sales Executive
Written by Todd L. MichaudJanuary 28th, 2010
At an NRF panel earlier this month, McDonald’s CIO David Grooms was asked by the moderator what he would tell people his primary job is. Grooms said, "I'm in sales," and then added that he wanted his staff to say, "We make hamburgers." Grooms is right that a CIO needs to be a master of sales, but that's mostly because the CIO needs to sell both upstream and down.
The CIO needs to sells ideas upstream to senior management and sideways to line-of-business peers, convincing them that the technology is the right move and that it needs to be approved and funded. If that works, it's barely 30 percent of the battle. If the stores aren't sold on the idea, Franchisee Columnist Todd Michaud opines, the data won't be used and the project is doomed to fail. And you're to blame.
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January 28th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Couldn’t agree more with your Todd. I am going to share this insight — “Knowing technology is basically the entrance fee. I strongly believe that project management is the number-one skill to get you into middle management (manager and director) and that sales is the number-one skill to get you into an executive position. My advice to anyone looking to climb the ladder: Use multiple ladders. Make sure that you spend time managing projects and being involved in sales and marketing. ”
with all my team members. A great manager is one who helps build more great managers.
February 1st, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Rohith,
Thank you so much for the compliment. I agree that our job is to help people achieve their full potential. This sometimes means that we have to help them see the forest through the trees, including what skills they may need to add to be successful.