Why I Should Be a CIO

The vast majority of architects worth their salt traditionally fail as managers. Having come from technical backgrounds, many architects prefer to lead by example. The preference for technical excellence and demonstrated ability gets in the way of processes and decision making by those who are uninformed. Many enterprises do not leverage expertise to their competitive advantage and fail to recognize the potential of those who push the envelope or think outside the box.

Many of today's respected executives were architects in their own domains. They found creative solutions to difficult problems, possessed a savage desire to succeed, and most importantly never stopped learning. Leaders such as Jack Welsh (former CEO of General Electric) and Rudolph Giuliani (former mayor of New York City) had more desire to succeed than fear of failure. We hope executives will ensure future prosperity of their enterprise architectures by ensuring that stewards exist today but also are being grown for the future.

Sadly, for too long the development of new leaders within most enterprises has taken a back seat to other issues. Smart leaders understand that having talented leadership at all levels of an organization is necessary for a business to meet the challenges faced in today's business economy. Some executives believe that leaders can be built by sending them off to a leadership training class or by buying books about cheese and fish.

The problem is further compounded when this approach is taken with IT leadership. Today's IT departments face the challenge of understanding both the business of the company and the business of IT. Leaders within IT provide guidance to the business while simultaneously providing services for it. Their business partners may make flawed assumptions about the role of technology and how it can solve business problems and provide corrective action while also correcting flaws within their own organizations. Leaders within IT must constantly adapt their approach to fit their IT organizations' capabilities and still create attractive environments for talented technology staff.

To the CIOs who are reading this book: We ask you to seriously consider establishing a formal leadership development program for your organization and to staff it with people with diverse experiences and backgrounds. Include architects, developers, and even help desk personnel. Provide mentoring and continuous feedback, and you will be able to grow a constant supply of leaders. Don't settle for managers.