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The Naked CIO: What makes a great IT leader?
And not just another face in the crowd…

By Naked CIO

Published: Monday 30 June 2008

Climbing the greasy pole as a CIO depends on certain key factors. These are important for reaching the very top and indispensable for avoiding a rapid return to earth, says the Naked CIO.

I once did a talk on the key factors for success for a CIO. Looking back at what I said at the time, I'm slightly surprised how much of it still holds true.

CIO50 2008: Top 10

The UK's leading CIOs revealed…

1.Robin Dargue Royal Mail

2.David Lister Royal Bank of Scotland

3.Neil Cameron Unilever

4.Catherine Doran Network Rail

5.John Suffolk UK government

6.Gordon Lovell-Read Siemens UK

7.Paul Coby British Airways

8.Tania Howarth Birds Eye Iglo Group

9.Simon Post Carphone Warehouse

10.Ben Wishart Whitbread

But a few of my beliefs have been tainted by the corrosive effects of long-term exposure to corporate sewage. No top-level IT executive can escape that these days.

We inhabit a world of problems - and solutions that turn into problems. So, what are the qualities that make a CIO great and what makes a CIO more than just a person who can wade through the muddy waters of today's IT environment.

Let's be clear: some of my thoughts here may be what I aspire to, rather than what I necessarily am.

First, how does one get noticed as a CIO? Self-belief: anyone who has risen through the ranks to become CIO is likely to believe he or she is one of the country's best.

Great CIOs are those who stand up and be counted. They are not afraid of criticism and speak out with passion about their beliefs. Being a follower or silent in the face of uncertainty or criticism will never get a CIO noticed.

Understanding risk is also key, especially in today's climate. Know when to bet on innovation and know when to play it safe on proven and stable technologies.

A great CIO is always respected for being innovative but is rarely a maverick. This characteristic certainly holds true for many on this year's silicon.com CIO50 list.

Being the technology ambassador to the business is a skill that is much talked about and rarely achieved. It is part of this business-alignment craze that so consumes blogs and white papers about IT thought leadership.

Yet in truth it is so simple - today's top CIOs come across as business people. Walk, talk and most importantly speak like a business person even if you are a techie.

Never ever resort to elitist technical jargon as a way of affirming your superiority. If you lead a technology department then this expertise has already been recognised implicitly.

Great CIOs are also great salespeople. They can sell their ideas, themselves and their vision.

They must be able to do that because having a vision and selling a vision effectively are two very different things. That distinction may be the difference between being recognised as a great CIO or dismissed as a nobody in our fickle industry.

Finally, you must be a seasoned diplomat. A diplomat in deciphering the never-ending technical discussions of your staff, the silo-bound business debates of your colleagues and the cost-cutting, value-impacting and resourcing diatribes of your CFO and board.

Do this and effectively steer your organisation towards being value-driven is the one sure-fire route to being recognised as a great CIO.

Grasping these factors is merely the first step. The more difficult manoeuvre is to act on this knowledge and become great not in terms of what you think but in what you do.