"IT was not initially meeting the needs of marketing and there was little relationship to speak of," says Janice Chaffin, then Symantec's CMO. Chaffin says IT was more focused on back-office systems than on front-office systems at the time. "There was a lack of an underlying IT infrastructure for marketing," she says.

Thompson's arrival changed that. He was surprised by the lack of attention and resources marketing received from IT. Thompson's style is to build IT's relationships across the business, so he quickly moved to engage with Chaffin (now group president of Symantec's Consumer Business unit).

"Janice had a sizable business challenge to resolve," says Thompson. "She saw IT as a strategic player in achieving that goal. So I reached out to her to build a strong relationship from day one."

Thompson started by scheduling one-on-one meetings with Chaffin to get to know her and the needs of the marketing department. "It takes commitment to reach out and to understand the business issues and then figure out what changes your organization can make to help them meet their goal," says Thompson.

In their meetings, the two leaders focused together on project selection and top priorities. They also worked to incorporate customer experience metrics into those projects for internal and external constituencies. "I spent my time prioritizing with Janet," says Thompson. He also created a marketing solution delivery team, whose leader regularly sits in on marketing meetings. This has helped both sides understand the other's needs and goals.

The result? Thompson and Chaffin aligned their teams and developed a process for collaboration on a variety of projects, including a major redesign of Symantec's Web site and the implementation of a tracking system for marketing campaigns using Salesforce.com.

The key to success, says Chaffin, is their relationship: "It's all about open, honest communication and building a partnership. With that foundation, we are able to flag issues and work together to address any problems."

But they were also able to do much more than that, adds Thompson. "Our partnership expanded into a dialogue around how to help each other to be successful," he says. For instance, he says, Chaffin and her team worked with his staff to help them understand how to better market IT to the rest of the organization. Chaffin notes Thompson and IT improved campaign tracking and enabled marketing "to function more like a science and produce a better result for the company."

For CIOs and CMOs who want to form their own more perfect union, Thompson and Chaffin offer the following tips:

• Interact regularly on a personal level with your C-level colleague
• Take time to understand the business challenges your partner faces
• Develop an action plan to address those needs
• Invite each other to your team's meetings
• Dedicate staff to working together
• Set the tone by presenting a unified front and not giving in to the stereotypes
• Trust each other's expertise
• Seek the advice of your partner to become a better leader and a better organization

In the end, says Thompson, "you both have to drive for success and hold each other accountable."