From Drip-Feeding to the C-Suite to How CIOs Must Lead via

Influence

Twitter: @vickiva19Linkedin.com/in/vickivanalphen

A bit about my background:I have always had directly client-facing roles:• Ernst & Young Management Consulting (now

Capgemini) – an incredible learning experience for a first job after college• SmithBucklin – where I really honed my

leadership / management skills as a leader of a “startup” business unit and as a staff director of Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG), SmithBucklin’s largest account at that time• Gartner Executive Programs – where I

currently work with CIO / CXO clients to help contribute to their success as leaders

I work with clients leveraging a variety of formats:• 1-1 phone conversations (I meet with my

current CIO clients on at least a monthly basis – to stay current with their opportunities and challenges)• In-person 1-1 meetings (which can range

from informal discussion, to doing a facilitated activity related to professional development)• Facilitated sessions (ranging from 3-15

participants)• Larger Presentations or Workshops

(ranging from 20-200 people)Focus of this presentation

Before sharing samples of the topics on which I have presented, I’d like to share a bit about my overall approach to presentations / workshops:

My facilitation style is to share a little bit of content, set a framework where participants are comfortable sharing with each other – and then get out of the way!My goals as a presenter / facilitator include that:• Participants experience a useful interaction with another attendee – whether that be finding

a shared experience (always a relief to realize “you’re not alone!”), or being able to learn from someone else’s success (or missteps)• Everyone leaves with a conscious realization of what they know now (and didn’t know before

the entered the room)• I lose a little control of the room (due to the positive energy that is created when people are

having really engaging discussions)

Sampling of Presentation Topics*

*Apologies if you find a “presentation about presentations” to be too Sienfeld-ian.

Drip-Feed Digital Insights to C-Level Executives• Delivered to CIO’s at Gartner Symposium IT Expo (October, 2014 in

Orlando, FL)• Description: CIOs can inform and excite their fellow executives about

the possibilities of the digital era, but need to consider the best approach. Using real-world examples, participants in this workshop collaborate on how to educate the C-suite, and practice these conversations through role-playing exercises.

• In other words: When you are immersed in something, and excited about it, you can’t just approach the folks who did not have first-hand experience, and expect them to immediately understand it, let alone be enthusiastic about it. This session provided suggestions on how to craft a communication plan (a “drip feed” approach).

• Result: One CIO stated, “...it was one of the most useful sessions of the entire conference.”

Avoid Becoming Bimodal Roadkill: Lessons Learned from Early Adopters• Delivered to CIO’s at Gartner Symposium IT Expo (October, 2015 in

Orlando, FL; co-created and presented with Gartner colleague, Chris Heiliger – pictured right)

• Description: Illustrated case studies from IT organizations who experimented with the concepts of dual modes of IT: set up the scenario, let the participants discuss (in small groups) how they would approach the situation, and then share the actual outcomes

• Results: This group of approximately 50 CIOs illustrated the concept – that it is a lot easier for a group of strangers to discuss a scenario about other people (than oneself)! Had a hard time ending the small group discussions, and folks were eager to grab the microphone and report things out to the larger group (which is sometimes rare!)

Charting your Course from a Delivery-Focused to an Engaged IT Organization• First Delivered to CIO’s at Gartner Symposium IT Expo (October, 2013 in Orlando, FL) – and

subsequently to a variety of clients (CIO’s and the IT Leadership team)• Description:

A particular Gartner research framework (by analysts Patrick Meehan and Leigh McMullen) illustrating the characteristics of a Delivery-Focused IT Organization to the Engaged IT Organization can be a useful tool to help CIO’s and their team realistically assess where their IT organization is and where they want to be. This workshop will provide CIO’s and their key IT leaders with time and space to explore: • What goes “great” look like, and are members of the team on the same page?• Where are we now? Where do we think we need to be? Where does the enterprise need us to be? (Using

a particular Gartner framework)• What is our focus, as an IT leadership team, that is going to get us “there”

• Result: One CIO commented, “That section on ‘what great looks like’....could spend all day on that topic alone.”

Secrets to Great Stakeholder Engagement / Increase your Engagement with Others and Elevate your Leadership

• Presented different versions of this session at a variety of events:• Gartner Symposium 2015 (co-created and presented

with Gartner colleague, Chris Heiliger)• Women in Technology (WIT) Wisconsin (October

2015) [www.witwisconsin.com]• Project Management Institute – Northeast Wisconsin

Region – Professional Development Days (May 2016)

• Premise of this session: Things are moving quickly. Leaders need to be “in the mix” of the discussion where stuff is getting decided, and if that’s the case, they need to be on the list of folks that decision-makers trust and find value in speaking with.

Above: (from left): Vicki van Alphen, with WIT Founding Board Members – Vicki Leinbach (CIO at Ariens Corp.) and Michelle Schuler (Excelion Partners)

Below: Facilitated activity with WIT Leadership Council illustrating the Commonalities / connectedness among the various CIOs.

Generating AND Articulating the Business Value of your Programs (it’s all about them!) • Presented at Project Management Institute

(PMI) – Northeast Wisconsin Region – Professional Development Days (May 2016)

• Description: Delivering consistency and project controls is the foundation, and now, to continue to increase the contribution to the enterprise, PMO’s need to be delivering innovation and a continuous stream of value.

• Results – Participants:• “Played with” a model – defining business value

purely from the viewpoint of the customer• Practiced defining project value in meaningful

terms that stakeholders will understand and care about.

Above: Photo courtesy of a PMI Northeast Wisconsin Volunteer

Sources cited in this session:

Taking Ownership: Making Digital Work your Great Work • First Delivered at the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum

(February, 2016) in conjunction with Gartner Executive Programs colleague, Marc Andonian (@marc_andonian)

• Description:• Provided a framework for considering one’s great work / good

work / bad work • Additional considerations – in the age of “digital” – how do

CIO’s ensure that they are focused on these new opportunities to have a significant impact on their enterprise (by creating new products, helping to disrupt, rather than be disrupted, etc.)

• Results: Participants appreciated the opportunity to reflect on where they spend their time and attention, and create some concrete plans for how to adjust those in order to spend more of their personal resources on great work

Above: Marc Andonian describing the “Great Work” model (including the story about Milton Glaser and his iconic I heart NY image)

Right: Book by Michael Bungay-Stanier, content source for this presentation.

CIO Influence: Awakening the Digital Force Within You

• Delivered at the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum (February, 2016) in conjunction with Gartner Executive Programs colleague, Marc Andonian (@marc_andonian)

• Description: There has been an awakening. Digital technologies are disrupting every industry at lightspeed. On the dark side, CIOs trying to maintain control over every use of technology throughout the organization. On the light side, CIOs seizing the opportunity to lead through influence.

• Results: Participants had the opportunity to:• Discuss and explore what it means to lead via influence, and how

that feels different than leading via direct control.• Target the best opportunities to lead via influence and select the

best techniques for doing so.• Participants also had the opportunity to discover their “Star Wars”

name (btw – mine was Vanvi Chwest)….Marc and I were creating the content for this session right before “The Force Awakens” premiered and decided to have some fun with the session!

Participants did an activity which helped them experience the Leadership Spectrum – ranging from Control to Influence. As part of the subsequent debrief, they were askedto text the words associated with Leading via Influence.

Managing your Teams Through the Digital Journey – Not Your Parents’ Organizational Change Effort

• First Delivered at the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum (February, 2016) in conjunction with Gartner Analyst Elise Olding (@EliseOlding) and Gartner Executive Programs colleague Thor Madsen (@ThorMadsen)

• Description: Today’s business environment involves constant, fast-paced change, and traditional communication / change management efforts are no longer viable. A focus on influence and engagement will fuel sustainable change and allow employees to succeed and adapt in an environment of uncertainty.

• Results – Participants:• Had the opportunity to be reminded of what it feels like to

experience uncertainty and lack of context.• Mapped their IT leadership teams according to the model

presented (which included Risk Appetite and Change Readiness)

Above: (from left) Gartner colleaguesThor Madsen, Elise Olding with me – smelling coffee beans (aseach participant received a packet of coffee beans – as part of the “brain-aware” technique – associating a smellwith something helps your brain to remember.

Left: Results from a voting activity where CIOs rated where they Personally rank with respect to CHANGE.

Preparing CIOs to Lead Via Influence (a.k.a. How to Thrive in a World Where the CMO has the Most Technology Spend)

• New session that will be presented at upcoming CIO Roundtable (Northeast Wisconsin) and AITP Chicago meeting (Q3 2016) • Description: According to Gartner IT Key Metrics data, it is estimated

that 17% of total enterprise spending on IT products and services across industries is controlled or managed outside the enterprise IT budget. Gartner expects this to rise to 50% of total enterprise IT spending for large enterprises in pursuit of digital business transformation by 2020.

Conclusion / Gratitude• I really enjoy the opportunity to

present to different audiences – it’s one of the times when I feel most energized!• As you can see from some of the

photos – I also love when I have the opportunity to collaborate / co-present with talented colleagues.