What Do CEOs Want?

According to Gupta, CEOs want strategic-minded CIOs. The biggest deficits CEOs see in the current crop of IT chiefs are the lack of a deep understanding of business opportunities and the inability to communicate strategically with high-level internal and external stakeholders. Market Knowledge, Commercial Orientation and Customer Focus plug in there. "In industries where business is closely entwined with technology, or where it can be used as a competitive advantage, that's where CEOs are looking for CIOs with high EQ," says Reynold Lewke, Egon Zehnder's North American CIO practice leader.

This trend is personified by Kumad Kalia, CIO of Direct Energy, and his CEO, Deryk King. King specifically recruited Kalia for his EQ. "I took great care to recruit someone with a good track record of operational excellence, strategic thinking, experience in customer service and a diverse career background," King told the audience at the recent CIO (US) Leadership Conference. (For more on this session, see "The CIO-CEO Relationship at Direct Energy", below) "I expect a much broader contribution from my CIO; he has to be prepared to talk about issues outside of his immediate responsibility." Kalia concurred: "The role of the CIO is more than just keeping things running," he said. "We've had to acquire a lot of the skills of a traditional general manager."

Direct Energy was ready for a strategic CIO with an expanded role, but many companies still have a traditional, constricted view of the CIO as operations-oriented function head. How can CIOs in these companies create awareness and acceptance of the strategic potential of their position? Find out more in the September issue of CIO.