Great CIOs consistently exceed key stakeholders' expectations and maximize the business value delivered through their company's technology. What's their secret? Sure, IT professionals need technological smarts, plus an understanding of their company's goals and the competitive landscape. But the best of them possess a far more potent ability: they forge good working relationships with everyone involved in an IT-enabled project, whether it's introducing new hardware or implementing a major business transformation. In The CIO Edge, the authors draw on Korn/Ferry International's extensive empirical data on leadership competencies as well as Gartner's research on IT trends and the CIO role. They prove that, for IT leaders, mastering seven essential skills yields big results. This new book lays out the people-to-people leadership competencies that the highest-performing CIOs have in common-including the ability to inspire others, connect with a diverse array of stakeholders, value others' ideas, and manifest caring in their relationships. The authors then explain how to cultivate each defining competency. Learn these skills, and you'll get more work done through others' enabling you to successfully execute more IT projects, generate better results for your company, and concentrate your efforts where they'll exert the most impact. The payoff? As the authors show, you'll work smarter, not harder-and get promoted far faster than your peers.

TOC

Part 1: Characteristics of High-Performing CIOs

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Leadership First. Everything Else Second

Chapter 3: The Make Up of the High Performing CIO


Part 2: Cultivating Your People Skills

Chapter 4: Lead Differently

Chapter 5: Embrace Your Softer Side

Chapter 6: Inspire Others

Chapter 7: Build People, Not Systems


Part 3: The Payoff, Becoming a Great CIO

Chapter 8: The Right Relationships, the Right Results

Chapter 9: Mastering the Art of Communication

Chapter 10: The Professional (and Personal) Payoff