Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

How to Identify Bad CIOs in Their Natural Habitat

Bad CIOs are a blight on the IT profession and on the organizations that employ them. The following list of behaviours common among bad CIOs will prevent you from hiring them into your organizations. If they're already there, it will give you good reason to eliminate them
Page:

And now, for a special, executive edition of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom: "CIOs in the Mist."

Today we're studying the technologious variety of the species nocens executor, more commonly referred to as the bad CIO. The nocens executor remains a mystery to many observers. He lacks distinguishing physical characteristics, and, chameleonlike, he quickly adapts to new surroundings. This makes him difficult for certain headhunters, hiring managers, CEOs, CFOs and boards of directors to identify.

The elusive nocens executor — or bad CIO — stealthily migrates from habitat to habitat. He lays waste to business and information ecosystems. He destroys tribe morale, pillages budgets and imperils shareholder value. His destructive actions can go undetected for many months, often long after he's left his last conquest.

Nevertheless, the experienced observer can spot a bad CIO as easily as he can smell the pungent aroma of hippopotamus dung. Often, the staff that works for the nocens executor is even more adept at detecting his waste. Observers of bad CIOs at all levels of business ecosystems have identified a long list of behaviours common among bad CIOs that recruiters, hiring managers, executives and IT staff can use both during and after the trapping (ie. recruitment) process to determine what species of CIO they're dealing with. If they manage to discover the bad CIO before making the fateful hiring decision, the delicate ecosystem can be saved. But if they don't, the staff under him can use this information to determine whether they want to blow the whistle on the charlatan or simply find a new job working for a bene executor, or "good CIO."

How to Recognize Bad CIOs

There are a number of behaviours observers can zero in on before hiring a bad CIO.

They migrate quickly from habitat to habitat.
A sign that a CIO is of the nocens executor species is a pattern of rapid job transitions on his résumé, according to Shawn Banerji, a recruiter with Russell Reynolds Associates in NYC and an experienced observer of the species.

"When you see people leaving in 18 months, 24 months, south of three years, you have to scratch your head and wonder if they were in their jobs long enough to be successful given how long it takes to execute and see results in IT," says Banerji. Quick turnover in jobs could indicate a lack of performance, that the individual is not able to deliver, he says.

Banerji recommends that individuals hiring the CIO should ask why the CIO has not lasted long in his positions, look for a solid answer and then vet what the CIO has said with his references. If the CIO cites statistics that say that the average tenure for CIOs is two to three years to back up his turnover, don't buy his justification, says Banerji. Research from the 2008 "State of the CIO" survey shows that the average tenure for IT executives is four years and four months.

Page:

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: ACT, Bill, Boss, Enigma, Flock, IT People, Oracle, Phoenix, Russell Reynolds Associates, Tribe, VIA

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • HP Imaging and Printing Services
    According to Gartner, a major focus for organisations today and in the foreseeable future is shifting from cost reduction to growth, expansion, innovation, and operational excellence. If your organization is serious about driving growth and innovation and improving customer experiences, you’ll find that a well-managed imaging and printing environment is key to these goals. A growing number of organizations are turning to services as a means of integrating imaging and printing into their overall IT infrastructure strategies. It may be one of the fastest ways to continue to drive down costs, fund innovation, and prepare your organisation to capitalise on future opportunities. Read more.
    Learn more »
  • Case Study: NZ Bus Develops Applications 60% Faster, Improves Database Performance by up to 35%
    Key Benefits: Developed applications 60% faster, Created development and test environments in minutes compared to days and weeks previously, Reduced server costs by 30% with server virtualisation, Saved NZ$40,000 in database administrator training costs, Provided high availability features that keep the database and core applications up and running in the event of a server failure, Introduced compression capabilities that improved database performance by 30% to 35%. Read on.
    Learn more »
  • Virtualise, Manage, Backup, Consolidate
    Datacenter sprawl is one of the larger challenges that datacenter managers are facing today. Over time, applications, servers, and storage can create many unique architectures across the IT infrastructure. This can introduce complexity, increase costs, and compromise business-critical application performance and availability. Read on.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.