Be Careful What You Wish For

Coleman spends half his time on IT issues, half on process management and improvement, "and 20 percent of my time on strategy. That's 120 percent," he says with a hearty chuckle.

Time management is critical for a CIO who takes on roles beyond IT. And it's not always a laughing matter. "The downside is that it might kill me," says Drouin. He underestimated the additional workload. "And I don't even feel like I am fully engaged in the new job yet. I am certainly not doing justice to my new team at this point in providing leadership and direction. I am out of my comfort zone. I simply don't have the same breadth or depth of experience with logistics that I do with IT, which adds to the stress level."

Drouin is worried that as he gets the new logistics group up and running, he could easily let his CIO self slide. From conversations with peers who have juggled multiple roles, "it seemed that the IT role kind of got pushed to the back," Drouin says. "I do not want that to happen to me. I love the CIO role, both what it is now and what it is becoming. I like that the CIO role is becoming very business-process focused. CIOs are engaging with their peers at a different level, looking for solutions to business problems and ways to improve business process."

For CIOs taking on additional roles, delegation is paramount. "While making adjustments to be seen to be successful in a new role, you definitely have to burn the candle at both ends for a while," says Gordon of Harvey Nash. "But generally, this is an opportunity to develop a team around you."

Best Western's Gibson had to put most of his attention on IT, rather than on distribution, when he started his job. Having more than one role meant Gibson had to appoint managers who could make critical IT decisions, as well as establish processes that did not require his daily oversight. Now, he relies on his direct reports to deal with most tactical, and even strategic, challenges without him. "You have to have a predisposition for empowering your direct reports and giving them the freedom to deal with things," he says.