Leader: Less of a leader than your colleagues in marketing?

Research out today suggests technologists aren't yet ready to be trusted at the helm of UK businesses. They are above accountants and human resources execs but below sales and the marketing professionals at the top of the pile when it comes to leadership.

Plenty of people might scoff at such a finding. They shouldn't. The research in question focused on 1,000 people across UK business. It wasn't a straw poll at a marketers' convention.

And ask yourself: would the average person in your IT department be able to better rally the troops, speak in business terms and drive  projects and strategy forward than the average marketing pro? We hate to say it but probably not.

Don't despair though. This is a survey across professions. For one thing, IT and communications isn't even a separate category. They are lumped in with the term 'engineers'.

And despite the proud history of engineers going back centuries in this country, IT is still relatively immature. There are some great leaders that have come through its ranks - and this publication knows many of them - but, as yet, this is still an area of business that isn't as well-rounded as areas such as marketing and finance.

At the top tier there is little problem - there are plenty of CIOs and IT directors at leading companies who are more than a match for their non-technology-oriented peers, in terms of leadership.

We are more concerned with the quality throughout the profession.

But that will change. Mark our words. As the professionalisation of IT continues, so too will the leaders that begin their careers there emerge.