This is a question that I have been asked many times over the last twenty some years and one that in many ways has not changed in all that time. Trends in technology have come and gone, we have entered a digital age and as a result seen the demand for more and faster change. Consumers now have all of the power in the value chain and businesses that don’t realise this, are as quickly forgotten as our last holiday. Reporting lines have changed to reflect the changing emphasis on technology in most sectors. Every survey I read these days reports that more tech leaders now report to CEO’s and sit at the exec table. Having said that, those same surveys will also note that some 35-40% of them still report directly to their CFO.
Whatever the reporting line of the CIO/CTO/CDO etc. it is clear to me that to be a tech leader, you must first be a great business leader. When I have been asked “what makes an IT leader a CIO”, I have often used the CFO as an example. After all, the CFO is a great business leader but they do not “do the accounts”. In the same way, a CIO helps to lead the businesses but they do not “do the IT”. Technology and the people and process that underpin it, are simply the levers a CIO pulls to deliver the results the business requires for its customers.
Norman Broadbent plc (LON:NBB) is a leading Professional Services firm offering five interrelated Talent Acquisition & Advisory Services: Board & Leadership/Executive Search, Senior Interim Management, Research & Insight, Leadership Consulting & Assessment, and executive level Recruitment Solutions.
