By Jack Rosenberger Published in CIOInsight
A popular author and speaker about the future of IT, Charles Araujo talks about what it means to be a digital leader, the IT organization of tomorrow, and how to enable transformation in an organization.
When it comes to describing a future vision of IT, Charles Araujo often talks about a new style of leadership, one in which CIOs and IT leaders focus less on technical skills and more on business and personal skills, such as the ability to listen and learn from others, be open and accountable, and create a personal relationship with the members of his or her teams. As the founder and CEO of The IT Transformation Institute, Araujo has articulated this vision in his popular book, The Quantum Age of IT: Why Everything You Know is About to Change, and articles for CIO Insight like “The Courage of the Transparent CIO” and “Are You Brave Enough to be an Intimate Leader?“
The role of IT in the enterprise has changed, Araujo says, largely due to the consumerization of IT, IT’s increased importance to the success of nearly every business, and the easy availability of IT services from outside service providers. Instead of being the sole source of tech resources for a company, IT departments are finding themselves in a new and challenging role, one that involves working with other departments to help their achieve their goals and drive the business, as opposed to supplying core technologies. To help IT adjust to these new conditions, Araujo urges CIOs to create a shared team vision for the future, and to develop “a next-generation IT organization”—one that is a learning organization, as well as disciplined, transparent, and intimate—and that can successfully adopt to this new, business-oriented role.