Day 1/ Session

The CIO's escalation to the boardroom remains a distant hope

S Y Siddiqui, Managing Executive Officer - Administration at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., called upon CIOs to learn the boardroom balance trick which could propel them into board level roles

Siddiqui maintained that while other professionals related to HR, marketing & sales have grown into board level and CEO positions, the CIO’s role is well placed as support to business but it has not yet been positioned as a strategic part of the business. He saw a glass ceiling for IT heads that prevented them from reaching the top business positions given their broad knowledge and understanding of key business processes, while other functional executives had a blinkered focus on what business was all about.

Siddiqui found that the CIO’s legacy had been described as a joke as far as that worthy’s role and designation were concerned in most companies. The common connotation one gave was that CIO means Career Is Over or Chief Information Officer reflecting information but no technology and so on.

However, he pointed out that all hope wasn’t lost as there is still the possible connect that the CIO could do which was to use his greatest strength of IT technical knowledge to fill in the gaps in business processes such as HR, finance, marketing, operations, R&D etc. and help give an holistic overview of the business. “It is imperative to use technology and play a role in facilitating information in the external business environment, evolve a strategic business plan, help in building talent, drive better business results and improve organizational competencies,” said Siddiqui.

He said that it was necessary that a CIO practices out-of-the-box thinking believing that innovation is a way of life. A CIO should strategically position himself in setting direction and thinking strategically. Building a competitive edge is critical by way of spotting trends in the market and developing a winning strategy that differentiates the company, upgrading a strong executive team, having a nose for talent and team cohesion, managing implementation through delegation, being competent to innovate, change and have risk taking ability in self and the team. Other vital attributes were lateral management, developing, adjusting and evolving a leadership style. “Break the rice bowl for what led to career success up until now will not work, while a 360 degree feedback can help in scaling up to a board role,” averred Siddiqui.

— N Geetha