Book Description
You have what it takes to be a CIO. Do you have a strategy for getting there? Now you do.
'Gregory Smith has written the definitive work on how to achieve leadership success in IT. This well-written and carefully researched book is a must-read for any IT professional with aspirations toward the top IT spot. Years from now, seasoned IT leaders will be crediting Smith's book with playing a role in their success.'
-Martha Heller, Managing Director, IT Leadership Practice, Z Resource Group, and cofounder, CIO Executive Council 'Wow! Put all the tips, advice, and strategies in this book to use now. The road to the top is rarely straight-follow Gregory's advice and the path will reveal itself to you!'
-John R. Sullivan, CIO, AARP
'While most professions have a distinct road map to the top, there is no standard career path to becoming a CIO. Smith addresses this unique challenge and provides aspiring CIOs with encouragement, advice, and essential skills based on years of his own and other CIOs' cumulative experience -- an important effort for the profession that Smith's fellow members in the CIO Executive Council embrace and applaud.'
-Mark Hall, General Manager of the CIO Executive Council
'Teaching students what a CIO really does has been tough. We've had to choose between anecdotal treatments based on trade press articles and integrated academic frameworks that offer little in the way of lived experiences. Greg's book fixes that. By organizing interviews with leading technology executives, trade press reports, and his own experiences as a CIO, he provides an organized and comprehensive view of the job and its important role in modern organizations.'
-Fred Collopy, PHD, Professor and Chair of Information Systems and Professor of Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University
From the Inside Flap
Preparing for the role of chief information officer (CIO) takes careful planning, strategy, and knowledge: What does a CEO look for in a CIO? What is the difference between a CIO and a CTO? How do you learn the business and build key relationships? Straight to the Top: Becoming a World-Class CIO is an essential guide to help information technology (IT) and business professionals recognize the qualities necessary to attain the role of first-time CIO and strategically plan their career moves. This vital road map for success offers a rare view, from the executive recruiter's perspective, of the traits top search firms are looking for in CIO candidates.
Becoming a CIO requires a solid skill set from the candidate, including significant technical proficiency, business acumen, and an exceptional ability to communicate meaningfully. Most importantly, the CIO's success is measured in an ability to decode IT into usable ideas and solutions that work in tandem with the goals of the business. Straight to the Top expertly coaches aspiring CIOs on building up these requisite skills with 'insider information' from leading CIOs and author Gregory Smith's own observations throughout his twenty years of experience working in the IT field-most recently, as a CIO.
Based on advisory research, case studies, and interviews with a variety of CIOs, executive recruiting firms, and sales professionals, this proactive book is strategically divided into two parts.
Part One-Building the Necessary Skills and Relationships-discusses the prospective CIO's need to:
Communicate exceptionally and effectively
Translate IT-speak into business terms
Understand business users and their needs
Build effective relationships outside of the IT 'glass house'
Part Two-Preparing for the Role of the CIO-builds on the fundamentals discussed in the first half of the book and examines:
The key skills employers and search firms require in a CIO
The need to think like a CFO and act like a CIO
How to balance the risks and rewards encountered while moving up the IT ladder
What to expect once you land your first CIO position
Useful to academic institutions with degrees and programs in information systems, Straight to the Top equips CIO candidates with a straightforward course of action to the corner office in becoming a world-class CIO.
