The Practical CIO: A Common Sense Guide for Successful IT Leadership

Chapter 10. Act Like a CEO

Executive Summary

IT is a business within a business. The CIO is the CEO of this business. Since you already are, for all intents and purposes, a chief executive, you might as well act like one. When you act like a CEO, you elevate the role of IT. Your job also becomes more interesting and more rewarding. Who knows? Maybe you will become your company's next CEO.

Climbing the Ziggurat

For many years I have felt fortunate to be a member of the global information technology community. From my humble beginnings as an accounting student in São Paulo to my post as CIO of General Motors Europe, my life has been an exciting adventure. My career has had its ups and downs, to be sure. But the successes I have achieved relied less on my ability to master complex technologies and more on my willingness to learn the art of executive leadership.

In short, my success was built upon my executive leadership skills. My ability to improve and refine those executive skills over time is what really kept me in the game.

I never became a CEO. My destiny took me in another direction, and I have no regrets. Sometimes promotion is a matter of luck and timing. In retrospect, perhaps it was just as well that I did not become the CEO of any of the companies I worked for.

When I began writing this book, one of my goals was helping CIOs become better executives. I assumed, as I still do, that becoming a better executive would lead a CIO to higher levels of success in his or her career.

I also ...