The many comments by readers of my previous Leading Questions column, which explored the difference between leadership and management, revealed several truths:

• Leadership and management are very different…but it’s hard to say just exactly how
• Leadership is harder than management…but people who can execute are rarer than big thinkers
• Management can be the more valuable skill…except when leadership is critically important

A Situational Framework
The concept of situational leadership was popularized by management guru Paul Hersey, who developed a useful matrix for determining the amount of direction and support that a leader should provide, and the skills required by the leader and followers. But his is a very general framework; a more useful model for CIOs would take into account the particular requirements and tensions of the role.

One situational leadership model was outlined to me by Bradford Brown, director of the Business Technology office at McKinsey & Company. At one-third to one-half of all companies, IT doesn’t function well, Brown says. Development projects come in very late or well over budget or both. There may be fundamental problems with IT. The leadership qualities required of a CIO in this situation are a deep competence in the underlying processes of IT and a firefighter’s mentality, Brown says.

At the other end of the spectrum, about a quarter of companies enjoy well-run IT departments and recognize the strategic importance of IT, Brown says. The leadership qualities needed in this situation are, on the business side, an ability to engage with senior executives, talk their talk and understand their businesses; and on the technology side, the vision to channel the power of IT for competitive advantage. Functional competence in IT is secondary. Brown observes that a firefighter CIO would be a flop in this situation.

The situation for CIOs at the remaining portion of companies—a quarter to a third, in Brown’s estimation—falls somewhere in between. Leading-edge IT isn’t the concern, but the ship is sailing smoothly. Leadership here calls for an ability to steer others toward the goal of continued execution, using soft skills such as charisma, rather than the highly directive capabilities required in the first situation.