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9 Reasons Why Application Developers Think Their CIO Is Clueless

From being a control freak to being a vendor puppet, here are nine behaviors management needs to steer clear of or risk being labeled "clueless."

By Mike Gualtieri

PAGE 2

5. The CIO is ubergeeky.
Application developers respect a CIO who has deep technical knowledge, but your job is to lead, not to tell them how to architect systems, write code or tap an Ethernet coaxial cable. Rise to your leadership position and trust your technical people to get the job done. And if you don't trust them then you are either a control nut (see number one) or you don't have the right people.

6. The CIO thinks changes can happen overnight.
Sorry to have to break this to you: You are not a wizard and your magic wand doesn't work.

7. The CIO doesn't know the difference between resources and talent.
The fastest way to lose respect is to put clueless managers in charge. Clueless managers equal clueless CIOs. Can you ever imagine Doc Rivers, coach of the 2008 world champion Boston Celtics, talking about player resources like they were interchangeable? "I need two guard resources." "I need a center resource." No. Talent and teamwork make winning teams. Talent matters. Don't pay lip-service to talent. Find a way to locate and use the talent in your organization. You will only be as good as the team you assemble.

8. The CIO collaborates to death.
Whether it is the character flaw of being indecisive or some middle-school notion of democracy, you are in charge. Collaboration is critical, but you also need to make the right decision at the right time. Collaborate like Captain Kirk. "Spock?" "Bones?" He gets opinions from his experts but there is never any question about who will make the final decision. And, if you never watched Star Trek then you shouldn't even be a CIO.

9. The CIO spends all of his time trying to get promoted to CEO.
Not gonna happen, sailor. Despite the seemingly perfect career path for CIOs, it just doesn't seem to happen. Only a handful of CIOs ever got the top job at any of the Fortune 500 companies. Keep your secret aspirations to become CEO to yourself or change your aspirations. Application developers need to know that you are there for them—that you are not CIO du jour.

To Thine Own Self Be True

Leadership can take many forms and styles but one thing all successful leaders have in common is that they earn and keep the respect of the rank and file. Be your own leader and maximize your success by earning the respect of your application development professionals and avoid being a clueless CIO.

Mike Gualtieri is a senior analyst at Forrester Research where he serves application development and program management professionals. To download a free, recent report by Mike, please visit: www.forrester.com/cioappdev.

 

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