Get your context right. Extensive preparation results in providing the right content for the board. At the board meeting, deliver the content effectively, which means say it well. Be brief, open, accurate, relevant and diplomatic. And avoid saying too much. Each statement you make is a potential rabbit hole for the discussion to disappear down. Be careful what you say.

Scenario planning is a core competency of board-savvy CIOs. Anticipate possible questions and reactions that may arise from your presentation or other presentations regarding IT. Plan how you will respond to best-case and worst-case scenarios. Anticipate which directors are most likely to react to different information.

Be honest afterwards. Ask yourself two questions. If the answer to either is no, figure out want went wrong so that you can start to build your influence for the next time.

(1) When you left the boardroom, did you get what you wanted? To determine if you got what you wanted, decide on your preferred outcome before you get into the boardroom. Not only does your decisiveness increase your chances of attaining your goal, but it will also help you craft the appropriate messages and assemble the necessary content.

(2) When you left the boardroom, did the board get what it wanted? Ensuring that the board gets what it wanted and expected from you is more difficult to measure. It relates to the five key questions about what board members want you, the CIO, to answer: Are you a credible leader? Can we trust you to deliver? Do you function as well as a member of the executive team? Are you a technologist or a business leader? Will you help move the enterprise forward or at least act in a support role?

4. Increase your influence with the board over time. As your role in the enterprise evolves, so should your relationship and influence with the board grow. Over time, experienced CIOs change board perceptions by engaging in activities that develop their business skills and increase their contribution to the enterprise. CIOs that excel in the eyes of the board transition from credible technology leaders to enterprise business leaders.

Developing the board relationship to this level can take two to three years from the time the CIO joins the enterprise and establishes basic credibility with the executive team. These contributing CIOs often delegate management of IT operations and day-to-day IS leadership to a CTO or equivalent. They engage with the board on growth, investment and competitive advantage issues.

To understand the board perspective, some CIOs even recommend becoming a board member of a volunteer or non-profit board. Volunteer boards still provide the board perspective and experience without many of the restrictions and pressures associated with serving on corporate boards.

CIOs with the highest levels of interaction and credibility have changed their role from technology leader to business leader. These CIOs often participate in non-IT enterprise leadership roles. In some cases, their non-IT leadership roles preceded their CIO role, thereby enhancing their credibility as a business leader. In other cases, their non-IT leadership roles followed their CIO role and were a direct result of their demonstrating business credibility.

Andrew Rowsell-Jones is vice president and research director for Gartner's CIO Executive Programs