The Official CTN (CIO Talk Network) Podcast 6m5a5q

It today’s competitive environment, enterprises are almost in a state of war. However, are your people acting as warriors? It is not about the act of fighting. It’s about the level of preparation to face any challenge and an unyielding belief in the mission that they refuse to quit. How do you go about unleashing that warrior within each member of your troop?

As an accomplished leader who has earned many stripes, others’ expectations of you keep getting higher. How do you deal with the pressure while continuing to perform at your best, evade complacency, stay  focused on the big picture, make sharper decisions consistently, and  continue to inspire those who work for you, while meeting and exceeding  the ever-increasing expectations?

With Digital Transformation now considered as catalyst for growth and relevant, in 2016, many organizations focused on rethinking their operations, solutions, services and how to their customers and partners. Embracing external mindset and focusing on interoperability seems to be the key to a favorable and interdependent ecosystem where everyone thrives. What are CIOs thinking and planning to that end as part of their 2017 Agenda? What else in on their mind for the New Year?

Traditional wisdom says that if we find our ion, the universe will align to make us successful. However, persistent pursuit of excellence while staying loyal to the ion has proven to be the recipe that works. How do we instill this grit in ourselves as well as in others who follow us such that it results in organizational greatness?

Whether it a peer to peer communication, one to many, between boss and a direct report or with a customer, clear communication is the key to getting stuff done and moving the business forward. Frequently, responses to our questions are often complex and unclear, full of rhetoric, corporate speak and jargon such that we feel like saying “Just answer my question!”. While we pursue innovation, agility and growth, what are we doing to build a culture of simple, to the point communication within the organization and with those we serve?

To achieve agility, a business should be able to make real time decisions based on comprehensive and actionable insights. It should also be able to extend and scale applications and infrastructure at the speed of innovation. Finally, the human resource should be motivated to wear different, more and multiple hats as the organization builds momentum and changes direction. With no standards or benchmarks, how are organization and leaders developing and mastering their own recipe to Business Agility?

With Digital technologies, Utilities can transform customer engagement, offer new products and services as well as improve operations. How well has the Utility industry adapted to what Digitalization offers? What is the current state of Digital Transformation for Utilities?

Many companies have embedded analytics within their organizational framework expecting a positive impact on company revenues, margins, and organizational efficiency. Have such data and analytics program delivered on the promise?

In order to retain customers, businesses need to continually deliver new, improved and integrated experiences, both in the physical and digital realm. To that end, as part of undergoing a digital transformation, how are organizations leaning back and rethinking innovation, service delivery and integration?

For sustained growth and profitability, organizations are looking to scale globally but also recognize the need to remain responsive and customize experience locally i.e. glocalization. How can technology enable this?

Real leadership is a result of actually facing problems, pressures and pain points, leading change initiatives that matter and making positive leadership choices. There is no real checklist to become an effective leader. While coaching and other help is available, how can aspiring individuals become intentional about doing vs. just learning and identify a clear path to making constant improvements in their own leadership performance?

Organizations are embracing digital transformation in order to understand customers better, enhance their experience across all touch points, help improve top line growth through refined sales conversations, scale business globally while remaining responsive at local level, enabling distributed workforce and make better data-driven decisions. This is a lot and is getting complex as well as chaotic. While we have grand intentions and even stakeholder sponsorship and investments, how can we get a better handle on this and accelerate the digital transformation process?

Strategy may be important but change involves people. An environment where everyone is motivated to engage individually and as a team requires a threshold of trust. Trust is based on where we are going, how we are progressing and is it in the best interest of all parties involved. Reduced trust can adversely impact the change process and offset the value it may deliver. How can leaders build, measure and improve the level of trust in their organizations and maintain it above a threshold as they go about leading change?

Some say, by natural makeup, we all are born to lead. However, very few lead with confidence, inspire others to perform at their maximum potential, make a difference and build a corporate career they love. What code do we need to crack in order for this seed of leadership we all are born with to become reality?

The needs and preferences of the riders are changing in of experience they expect in and outside of the ride. How are product innovation, customer experience, and technology leaders working together to transform rider’s experience and make him a customer for life?

Fewer things get done better. How can Leaders say NO more frequently without coming across as naysayers, focus on fewer projects and lead the organization towards sustained efficiency, growth and profitability?

Leading an organization can be like driving a car. Sometimes when you are looking ahead, focused on your destination, you overlook or ignore blindspots that may result in an accident. How do you create a second mirror that will make these blindspots visible? Is it a spot problem or deeper? Is it self-inflicted or are there other elements influencing it?

Each organization has its DNA, competitive forces, and legacies. Lessons learned from celebrated leaders and their professed best practices may be completely inapplicable in a different corporate context and thus, may not produce the desired results if used as is. How can we decode the organizational DNA and use it to customize leadership development for best outcome?

Do organizations spend as much time on getting to know their employees as much as their customers? How are you making sure that your organization is focused on one employee at a time? How are the technology and HR leaders customizing the workplace experience for the employee?

There’s an opportunity for organizations to benefit from workforce comprising humans and machines. How are organizations preparing to harness full potential of this hybrid workforce while effectively tackling resistance due to mechanophobia and implied job loss threat?