It’s hard to overstate the importance of having a strong leader in the role of chief transformation officer. They are often the difference between a transformation taking hold and just petering out. CTOs have a seat in the corporate balcony—as adviser to the CEO and peer coach to the C-suite—as well as at ground level, where they are deeply involved as the transformation takes place. They cultivate and align transformation leaders across the business. They are role models of leading through change.

Bain & Company surveyed over 400 senior leaders and executives about transformation, and one of the consistent findings was the importance of effective sponsorship. Our data shows that employees are 3.5 times more likely to perceive change programs positively when leaders demonstrate alignment and support for the change.  

To better understand what transformation leadership requires, we spoke with four experienced leaders representing a cross section of industries: Cathy Arledge, senior vice president of Business Transformation at Dell Technologies; Mathieu Staniulis, vice president of Products, Solutions, and Digital Platforms and chief transformation officer at Desjardins; Angel Mendez, former senior vice president and chief transformation officer at Cisco; and Wilf Blackburn, who’s run transformations at multiple leading insurance companies in Asia and Europe.

Aligning leaders

Q: How do you help your top team align on, prioritize, and foster a shared commitment to your transformation agenda?

Staniulis: The time we spent at the executive level setting the transformation objectives was key. It was done over a six-month period, meeting with the top 10 every two weeks. It was high pace. While it may look surprising to have spent so much time here, alignment [with executives] was really important. These are not objectives for the projects. They are business outcomes that we’re looking at. And the discussion is not only about the projects that will help us achieve those objectives but also about the way we run the business.

There was a significant shift when this went from being “the program’s priority” or “the transformation’s objectives” to becoming the whole organization’s objectives and priority. We were no longer discussing “the” transformation; it became “our” transformation. It was a pivotal moment for me. When this shift happened, it transformed the entire conversation. The case for change had been made, and we were all united in the same mission.

Mendez: As a transformation leader, you rely on the authority delegated to you for some decisions, but the larger ones—those involving funding, operating model changes, or decisions that must be made across functions, for example—require the CEO and their staff to make the ultimate decision and be accountable. We created a steering committee to allow for a more frequent cadence and get into the velocity that was required to deliver results.

Cultivating leaders

Q: And what about business leaders? How do you make sure you are helping them to deliver and sponsor change?

Arledge: Leaders know that, to be successful, transformation leadership is an expectation. These aren’t fringe efforts. It’s what we need to do to enable our strategy.

When it comes to delivering transformation, senior leaders have to be all in. If they delegate it two levels down, the message is “This isn’t important.” It’s a signal to their organization. They have to own it—they’re on the hook, they’re responsible.

When I talk to other CTOs, I often hear, “I’m having a hard time getting the support I need, even though I have top executive alignment.” My advice is that it doesn’t take long for business leaders to come around when they are receiving all the recognition and credit for the transformation progress. You want leaders excited and talking about it. This isn’t a transformation that’s happening on the side of their business. This is their business and needs to be embedded into how they run it. The transformation is the delivery of the business strategy.

Developing your own leadership

Q: What advice would you give about becoming a selfless transformation leader? How can CTOs embody this unique leadership role?

Blackburn: Don’t try to be popular. It’s quite useful sometimes to put yourself in a position where you’re forced to be brave, do something courageous, make a choice that shows you’re really committed to the change … The more sacrifice you seem to be making, the more people can see that you’re really serious about what you’re doing. It takes some courage, but leaders do not have credibility if they are not willing to take on tough actions and deal with the attendant risks.

Arledge: We enlist senior leaders, and we make them look like rock stars because we do a ton of work and they get all the credit.

My role is kind of like Switzerland. I should be very nonthreatening to these leaders while still holding them accountable. I want to help them help us be successful as a company. And I think people know that, which enables me to play more of the coach role and give advice. With our COO, I’ve been completely open and honest. He may not always agree with me, but we have a relationship where we can talk about tough topics. You have to be willing to say the unpleasant things.

Mendez: At the beginning, the CTO needs to play a challenger role, bringing to the business a positive, yet inquisitive tone; you’re trying to challenge why we are doing things a certain way. Once launched, you’re in execution mode, trying to land the planes on time, deliver on promises. The common denominator is adaptability. You need to figure out how to shift your style and communicate with people across the different phases of the transformation.

For me personally, it’s been a journey. I came to the table with a certain set of skills, mostly operational and general management. I had to get into parts of the business and business process that were new to me, so there was a bit of learning. For example, we spent quite a lot of time looking at the business from an external perspective to identify potential untapped opportunities (across customer, competitor, market, and investor perspectives). It is a critical role for the CTO to play. Overall, it is helpful experience if you want to run a business. It’s a 360 role, outside-in, and can be very complementary to core business skills.

Key steps for CTOs:

1. Help the top team set aside time to align on a plan of action.

The CTO plays an important role in building top team alignment at the start and continues to develop that shared commitment throughout the transformation. Our survey found that executives at companies that had achieved their transformation goals were 25% more likely to agree that their top team was cohesive, committed, and aligned.

2. Empower leaders to own the transformation by supporting them and recognizing their successes.

In pivotal moments, the most effective CTOs help leaders across the organization unleash their full potential. These CTOs use these opportunities to empower and support leaders in owning and delivering the transformation. They regularly recognize their leaders’ successes. Strong CTOs listen. This builds bonds, needed behaviors, and accountability for results.

3. Own the role.

In our survey, executives at companies that had successfully transformed were 30% more likely to agree that their leaders were personally committed to the change. That starts with a bold, courageous CTO who sets the tone and builds commitment by engaging the organization and generating excitement. A CTO should challenge the status quo when necessary. By empowering others and operating above politics, a strong CTO focuses on the good of the whole enterprise.

For more on the CTO’s leadership role, read “The Chief Transformation Officer: Your Navigator for the Uncharted Waters Ahead.”

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