The Language of Leadership

There is much talk these days of "bi-lingual" CIOs, that rare breed of executive who can speak confidently about both business and technology. Kotoulas, on the other hand, believes the CIO of the future will need to be tri-lingual: speaking not only the languages of technology and business, but also the language of the IT worker.

Kotoulas cites Paul Glen's Leading Geeks as a primary reference for baby boomer CIOs looking to understand the nature of administering younger IT staff in the coming years. "Glen believes, and I agree, that there's IT work, IT spend - in other words, the business language - and the IT worker. The next generation CIO who can speak all three languages will be the successful one."

As far as speaking the language of technology goes, Kotoulas for one is confident that gen X CIOs will have their IT knowledge down cold. "Take away all the spin and IT is really just an implement," he says. "We're not working for high-tech companies. Ninety percent of IT is for non-tech companies. Gen X had their moment of clarity a long time ago and they've realized what they do is not about changing the world. That dotcom stuff is gone."

If nothing else, gen X CIOs will be equipped with a deep understanding of how IT infrastructure can impact the business, because they built so much of that infrastructure themselves in previous roles.

"Gen X CIOs will be able to go to the business and say: 'I know for a fact that those 10 databases can be one, because I've worked on them'," Kotoulas says. "They'll be able to say: 'You're paying for nine in excess at the moment, so if you get rid of them your costs will go down and you're going to improve service, because all our efforts can be applied to just one system.'"

Kotoulas also claims that the oft-repeated corporate mantras of "do more with less" and "improve service while reducing costs" come naturally to gen X CIOs, particularly those old enough to remember the excesses of the 80s and 90s. It seems that witnessing the era of the "mega-merger", not to mention the shocking fiscal irresponsibility demonstrated by companies during the last 10 years, has prompted many gen X-ers to become more focused and disciplined, especially with regard to IT investments.

"That's the lesson of the IT boom of the 80s and 90s: remove the excess," Kotoulas says. "If you understand the technology enough to remove the excess and the inefficiencies, then you can turn around to the business and say: 'By the way, we've improved your service level and reduced your cost. We're aligning with you.'

"It doesn't have to be about strategic vision entirely. Start with the fundamentals and basics if you really want to reduce costs - not spin cost or internal 'funny money' costs, but serious bottom line stuff. What you're seeing at the moment is people saying, 'we've reduced costs by $2 million, but we're also authorizing a $100 million project that's going to fail'."

Learning to Speak Geek

For Kotoulas and many other gen X CIO wannabes, learning to speak the language of IT workers all boils down to leadership. They recognize that in today's rapidly changing business environment, leaders must not only manage their employees, but also support and inspire them. "If there's a group of people who have to work for someone, and a group of people who want to work for someone, common sense tells you that the second team will be the most productive group," Kotoulas says.

And while talk of sensitive, inspiring leadership might have a new age ring to it, in reality gen X notions of good leadership derive from sturdier stuff. When discussing leadership Kotoulas frequently uses terms like "pride" and "consequence", but he's not just throwing them around offhandedly. Like many gen X-ers, Kotoulas's views were moulded in a forge of failed projects, collapsed companies and painful corporate restructures. "I learned to be more human, because there's no way you could work in IT for the last 10 years without realizing that unemployment and global recession result in some very bad things," he says.

"There's a quote from [US economist] John Kenneth Galbraith, where his says the role of governments, economists and leaders is to have a cool head, but a warm heart. That's what makes a perfect business leader."