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To grow as an IT leader in 2026, pair technical judgment with business understanding, clear communication, and deliberate people leadership. Pick one observable behavior to improve, connect it to a business outcome, and practice it repeatedly with feedback from someone you trust.
Why IT leadership development looks different in 2026
Technology executives are being asked to do more than oversee systems: they must connect technology decisions to enterprise outcomes, guide AI adoption, and coordinate across leadership teams. Deloitte’s 2026 Global Technology Leadership Study, an online survey of more than 660 technology leaders globally conducted from December 2025 to February 2026, reflects that pressure. Deloitte reports that 79% of surveyed leaders named driving business outcomes as their top priority, 81% were confident they could scale AI, and 75% said their operating model must fundamentally change to drive greater value. The figures describe Deloitte’s respondents, not every organization. Deloitte’s study announcement also says 71% of organizations in the study had five or more technology leaders.
The practical implication is a dual mandate: understand technology well enough to make sound decisions, and lead across business priorities and people. Deloitte explores that tension in its analysis of the changing role of technology leaders. The development ideas below turn that mandate into skills and behaviors you can work on.
10 ways to grow as an IT leader
1. Build executive presence through observation and practice
Executive presence is not a mysterious trait reserved for a few people. Eric Bloom, executive director of the IT Management and Leadership Institute, describes it as knowing “what flies and what doesn’t.” Observe leaders who earn attention and respect: notice how they listen, make a point, handle disagreement, and adapt to the room. Learn from ineffective examples, too. Then choose one behavior to practice in a real meeting, such as stating your recommendation before the supporting detail.
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2. Learn the business behind the technology
Study how your organization earns or delivers value, what its current priorities are, and which constraints shape its decisions. Before proposing a technology solution, ask business partners what outcome they need and how they will judge success. This helps you frame choices in terms of enterprise priorities rather than features alone—a skill aligned with the business-outcome priority reported by Deloitte.
3. Keep enough technical depth to challenge assumptions
Leadership does not remove the need for technical understanding. It changes how you use it: you need enough depth to evaluate trade-offs, ask useful questions, guide colleagues, and assess vendor claims. Focus learning on the technologies your responsibilities require. If you oversee AI decisions, build knowledge that helps you examine capabilities and business impact; if cloud or cybersecurity is central to your role, prioritize the relevant concepts. As Kristen Lamoreaux, president and CEO of Lamoreaux Search, puts it: “With all things AI, the pendulum is swinging toward the best CIOs being the ones who really understand emerging technologies.”
4. Practice explaining technology to nontechnical audiences
Translate technical choices into plain language: the problem, the available options, the trade-offs, and the expected business result. Try rehearsing a short explanation for a colleague outside IT, then ask what was unclear. The goal is not to oversimplify; it is to make the decision understandable enough for others to participate in it.
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5. Strengthen listening and empathy
Technology change affects people’s work, priorities, and confidence. Ask questions before proposing a fix, listen without interrupting, and check that you have understood the concern. These habits help you spot resistance or operational realities that a technical plan alone may miss. The CIO.com feature on leadership development emphasizes empathy, emotional intelligence, communication, and listening as part of leading technology change.
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6. Make change management part of the plan
When a project changes roles, processes, or expectations, consider how people will experience that change—not just how the system will work. Identify who needs to be involved, what they need to understand, and where questions can be raised. Salesforce’s CIO Trends for 2026 summary reports that 55% of surveyed CIOs said they had personally improved change-management and communication skills. That is self-reported improvement, not an independent assessment of proficiency.
7. Learn to tell a clear leadership story
A useful leadership narrative links the current problem to a proposed decision and its intended outcome. Explain why the issue matters now, what choice is needed, and what success would look like. Salesforce reports that 57% of surveyed CIOs said they had improved storytelling or narrative-building skills. Use the skill in executive updates, project discussions, and conversations with teams—not only in presentations.
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8. Find a mentor or trusted peer who will be candid
Choose someone who can observe the situations you want to improve, understands the demands of leadership, and will give specific feedback. Tell that person what behavior you are working on rather than asking for general career advice. Thomas Phelps IV, CIO and SVP of corporate strategy at Laserfiche and an advisory board member for the SIM Research Institute, recommends maintaining “that hunger and passion to learn new skills, and come up with strategies on how to execute that.”
9. Use feedback and repetition to make improvement visible
Pick a work situation that recurs, such as an executive meeting or a project update. Ask a trusted colleague to watch for one behavior—for example, whether your recommendation is clear or whether you invite questions—and request an honest assessment afterward. Repeat the behavior across several opportunities and revisit the feedback. Jason Pyle, president and managing director of Harvey Nash US and Canada, advises: “Anytime you’re starting down a pathway of change, you have to talk to people you trust, let them know what you’re working on, and then set a measuring stick.”
10. Choose training or certification for a defined gap
Formal learning is most useful when it addresses a responsibility you actually have and gives you knowledge you can apply. Pearson’s announcement for its 2026 Value of IT Certification Employer Report says 78% of employers in its research chose professional certification as their leading upskilling investment. That is employer-reported context, not proof that a particular credential is right for every leader. Pearson also reports that employers identified gaps in areas including AI, machine learning, cybersecurity, and cloud. Match a course or certification to your role, your organization’s needs, and the time and cost involved; check that study materials align with the current credential syllabus.
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Choose a development method that fits the goal
A course or certification and practice-centered learning solve different problems. Compare options against the gap you identified rather than treating a credential as a universal measure of leadership growth.
| Approach | Best fit | What to weigh |
|---|---|---|
| Course or certification | A defined technical or professional knowledge gap tied to your responsibilities | Relevance to your role and employer needs, time and cost, employer recognition, and whether you can apply the learning |
| Mentoring and peer feedback | A behavior such as executive communication, listening, or decision-making that can be observed at work | Whether the person can give candid, specific feedback and whether you have recurring opportunities to practice |
| Repeated practice in real work | Turning a skill into a consistent behavior in meetings, project updates, or cross-functional work | Whether the behavior is clear, the situation recurs, and progress can be assessed against an agreed measure |
Pearson’s 2026 announcement says nine in ten leaders in its research expected certifications to become more important within three to five years. It also reports an employer-estimated average of $17,646 in additional annual value for each certified IT employee and that 93% of employers saw a positive return on investment from certified IT employees. These are employer estimates and reported views—not a guaranteed salary increase or a prediction of an individual employee’s results. Pearson’s report announcement provides the context for those findings.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Turn one goal into a practical development plan
- Identify a gap. Choose a skill or behavior that would help with a current responsibility, such as explaining an AI proposal to executives or listening more effectively to a business partner.
- Make it observable. Define what you will do in a specific situation. For example: “In the next project review, I will state the business outcome and my recommendation before discussing implementation details.”
- Ask for feedback. Tell a trusted peer or mentor what you are practicing and ask them to assess that behavior after the meeting.
- Repeat the practice. Use recurring work situations to try the behavior again, adapting it to the audience and context.
- Connect progress to an outcome. Review the feedback and whether the behavior helped people understand a decision, align on a priority, or move work forward. Adjust the goal if it is not useful.
For leaders who oversee several technology domains, collaboration matters as much as individual expertise. Deloitte reports that 71% of organizations in its 2026 study had five or more technology leaders. In that kind of environment, make development practical by learning how to coordinate decisions and communicate shared priorities across executive roles.
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Make development a continuing habit
There is no single course, certification, or communication technique that covers every IT leadership role. The durable approach is to keep technical learning relevant to your decisions, understand the business outcomes your organization values, and practice the people skills required to bring others along. Salesforce reports that 61% of surveyed CIOs said they had personally improved leadership skills; like its other skill figures, that measure reflects respondents’ self-reports rather than independently assessed proficiency.
For further context on the specific 2026 advice, see Mary K. Pratt’s CIO.com feature on ways to grow as an IT leader.
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