CIO in the Boardroom vs. War Room Part 1 of 3

Part 1: Why are we fixated on The Boardroom?

Many of us have been indoctrinated to fixate on one career goal - make it to the Boardroom. You must report to the CEO, you must have a "seat at the table" and you must do all of this or you simply can't be effective in your role. Sound familiar? Furthermore, the same mentality applies when talking titles. Every person who is the top IT leader in their organization wants to be titled CIO or CTO.

There is so much pressure to meet these goals one can miss the opportunity to do the thing that brought us all into this profession in the first place - solve problems and manage change. When you allow your career goals and opportunities to be measured on title and reporting relationship, as a dominant factor, you start making decisions out of context and with ill conceived ideas of how to produce the best results.

In my career as a senior IT leader I have held titles other than CIO while still being the top IT leader for my organization. I have held the title of CIO and reported to the CEO, the COO and various other acronyms. I really can't say, upon reflection, any of these scenarios were a direct impact on my success. The organization, my colleagues, person(s) providing direct supervision and the teams I built certainly affected my results. However, my title and my immediate manager's title - well I really can't offer that as a justification for my successes or failures.

So I offer everyone these three bits of advice. First, honestly assess your situation and ask yourself this: What would I do with my IT organization if I were the CEO? Actually, when you look at your title and reporting structure with an "outside in" perspective most of our situations make sense. CEOs are smart people and when they decide how to organize and title their senior management team it is usually a fair reflection of many factors. The type of industry, the size of the industry/company, the responsibilities of IT and the role it plays in the company and the comfort, time and insight a CEO feels justified providing to the top IT leader. Second, never be afraid to join larger or smaller organizations just because the title or reporting relationship changes. If the opportunity makes you grow - go for it. Third, if you already work in a larger organization with lateral opportunities don't fear making a move - if it makes you grow.

Next, Part 2, Is the War Room really so bad?