The CIO Questionnaire: Paul Martin, global CIO of Rexam

Rexam is a packaging business that features in the FTSE top 100 global CIO Paul Martin says a key part of his role has been to hone Rexam’s competitive edge through projects such as datacentre consolidation, creating managed service provider contracts for networks and reducing risk through the appointment of a chief security officer. Read the full CIO UK interview with Paul Martin here. Q. Which business books have been influential in your career? A.The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell by Oren Harari and 29 Leadership Secrets from Jack Welch by Robert Slater. Q. Who have been the most influential people in your career? A. My wife, Patricia, and my former boss of 14 years, Charlie Feld, later executive vice president of EDS. Q. Do you believe in mentoring? A. Yes, I believe in mentoring or coaching. Early on, I had several mentors who helped me shape my career. It is great to meet with a person who you view as a role model who takes an interest in you and your career. I can attribute my success to the coaching I received in the Eighties and Nineties. Q. Which tools or tactics have given you most success in communicating up, down and across the organisation? A. In terms of communicating, along with informal communication, I love to pull together PowerPoint presentations to get my message across about IT. Q. What has been your biggest mistake? A. Not moving to the UK sooner. The experience of living and working in a different country has been invaluable. Q. And your greatest success? A. With the exception of my family, my greatest professional success was when I was the CIO for Rexam Beverage Can Americas where we re-engineered the supply chain and enabled it with SAP in 2003. We took customer online ordering of beverage cans from five per cent to 85 per cent in 12 months and changed the way our company conducted business.

Q. What is your greatest strength? A. I am a business process change agent with a collaborative approach to getting things done.

Q. And your greatest weakness? A. I can over-commit.

Q. How do you keep up to date with the march of technology? A. Gartner research and networking with other CIOs. Q. How do you deal with stress? A. I go to the gym three to five times per week. In addition I like to get in my car and just cruise with music in the background. Q. What profession would you most like to attempt? A. I would enjoy the challenge of managing a business. Q. Which word or phrase do you most use/overuse? A. “Can do!” Q. Do you have a sport you practice, or a sportsperson or a team that you follow? A. I love American baseball, but since we live in England now, my son and I are major Chelsea FC fans.