State of the CIO 2008

CIO.com had an interesting article recently about the CIO of 2008: What Kind of CIO Are You? In reading through it I was pretty easily able to identify my style. The first thing that really rang true for me was that of being a Transformational Leader. One of my strengths is being able to quickly identify the needs of the organization, the current state, and how to reorganize and shape the IT division to better align IT with the strategic objectives of the organization. Here are the bullets of the article:

• Redesigning business processes
• Aligning IT initiatives and strategy with business goals/strategy
• Cultivating the IT/business partnership
• Leading change efforts
• Implementing new systems and architecture
• Mapping IT strategy to overall enterprise strategy

I also think my nature is that of what they called the 'Business Strategist' which really doesn't seem wholly different. Here is the description for it:

• Developing/refining business strategy
• Understanding market trends
• Developing external customer insight
• Developing business innovations
• Identifying opportunities for competitive differentiation
• Reengineering or developing new sales and distribution channels

The other type of leader that they describe is a 'Function Head', which strikes me as being more of a tactical role. While I am certainly comfortable with the tasks associated with it, I do find my contributions to be more transformational and strategic.

Much of the article talks about being in the right place at the right time and I couldn't agree more. It is imperative that anyone, regardless of their position, be able to identify his or her own skills and put them to work in an organization that will benefit. It needs to be a mutually beneficial relationship for both the employer and employee to be successful. A couple of times in my career I've had frank discussions with employees who just didn't seem to be finding their groove and I wasn't able to adjust their positions enough to make the groove fit them and I had to say that maybe it wasn't the right job for them. While this sometimes terrifies people, it can often be the necessary wake-up call for everyone.