The 2007 Ones to Watch Survey was conducted online between Feb. 12 and Feb. 28 among CIO magazine Ones to Watch Award recipients. Of the 25 award recipients, 23 completed the survey. Percents may not sum to 100 due to rounding.
Age & EducationOne third (30%) of this year’s winners are between 30 and 39 years old, 61 percent are between 40 and 49 years old, and 9 percent are 50 or older. Nearly half (48%) of honorees hold an MBA or a PhD.
CompensationOnes to Watch winners earn an average salary of $211,956. One-third (34%) earn more than $250K while 21 percent earn less than $150K annually.
Leadership DevelopmentNearly all (95%) of our winners say that stretch assignments have been a very or extremely effective type of leadership development, followed by mentoring/one-on-one-coaching (73%) and cross-departmental/functional training (63%). More than one-third (39%) of respondents wish participation in a formal succession plan had been offered as a form of training or assistance.
CIO Ones to Watch
Find out more about the 2007 CIO Ones to Watch Award winners, plus how to turn your staffers into leaders and a quiz that shows where you stand in comparison to this year’s Ones to Watch. Read more.
Critical Success SkillsChange management (61%), strong knowledge of the organization’s business (52%) and relationship-building (50%) are the skills cited by at least half of this year’s winners as extremely important in getting them to where they are today. Skills that more than half of this group consider extremely important in advancing their careers are business strategy (81%), strong knowledge of the organization’s business (76%), change management skills (67%), relationship-building skills (55%) and driving innovation (53%).
Career PathFive years from now, the majority (87%) of respondents see themselves as a CIO/VP of IT and 9 percent see themselves as some other C-level executive (CSO, CFO, CMO, etc.)
Developing IT TalentWhen asked to rate dedication to developing internal IT leaders, 41 percent of this year’s winners say their organization is extremely committed, 50 percent moderately committed and 10 percent committed to developing internal IT leaders. All award recipients say their company’s CIO is extremely or moderately committed to developing internal IT leaders.
Half (50%) of respondents do not have a formal IT leadership succession plan at their company, 41 percent say there is a formal plan in place and 9 percent don’t know.
StaffingAlmost half (48%) of Ones to Watch winners say their IT bench is somewhat strong/deep in terms of strategically skilled and capable IT leadership talent, 35 percent say it’s somewhat weak/shallow, while 17 percent say their IT bench is very strong/deep.
Morale among IT staff is excellent at 9 percent of respondents’ organizations. Sixty-four percent of Ones to Watch winners say morale among IT staff is good and 27 percent say morale is fair.
Use of CIO’s TimeAll of this year’s award recipients believe their CIO should spend more time interacting with CXOs and business executives at their companies. Other frequently cited areas in which the CIO should spend more time according to respondents are: researching industry trends, market forces and business strategy (95%); hiring, managing and developing IT staff (81%); and interacting with outside business partners, suppliers (non vendor) and customers (68%).
Areas on which the CIO should spend less time, according to respondents, include managing crises/putting out fires and leading projects (tied at 95%); followed by interacting with IT vendors, service providers and outsourcers (74%); and learning/understanding technologies and making system decisions (67%).
Results
1. What range best describes your annual compensation?
| More than $300,000 | 30% |
| $250,000 to $299,999 | 4% |
| $200,000 to $249,999 | 13% |
| $150,000 to $199,999 | 30% |
| $100,000 to $149,999 | 17% |
| Less than $100,000 | 4% |
2. Which of the following degrees or certifications do you hold? (Check all that apply.)
| PhD | 13% |
| MBA | 35% |
| Undergraduate Degree | 35% |
| IT certifications | 9% |
| Military and/or law enforcement rank | 0% |
| Other | 9% |
3. What is your age?
| Younger than 30 | 0% |
| 30 to 39 years old | 30% |
| 40 to 49 years old | 61% |
| 50 or older | 9% |
4. What type of leadership development assistance or training has been part of your career path? Using a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 indicates not at all effective and 5 indicates extremely effective, rank how effective this training has been to your personal success:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Mentoring/one-on-one coaching | 0% | 5% | 23% | 23% | 50% |
| Fast-tracking | 14% | 9% | 18% | 50% | 9% |
| Participating in formal succession-planning program | 42% | 11% | 21% | 21% | 5% |
| Cross-departmental/functional training | 9% | 9% | 18% | 45% | 18% |
| Stretch assignments | 0% | 0% | 4% | 52% | 43% |
| Executive education programs | 5% | 10% | 33% | 38% | 14% |
| Overseas assignment | 38% | 25% | 25% | 13% | 0% |
| Other | 40% | 0% | 0% | 40% | 20% |
Other:
- na
- Multiple consulting engagements
- Informal advice from other C-level leaders
- IT M&A responsibilities
5. Was there any form of training or assistance not offered to you that you wish had been? (Select no more than three.)
| Mentoring/one-on-one coaching | 4% |
| Fast-tracking | 4% |
| Participating in formal succession-planning program | 39% |
| Cross-departmental/functional training | 13% |
| Stretch assignments | 4% |
| Executive education programs | 13% |
| Overseas assignment | 17% |
| Other | 4% |
6. Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
| As a CEO | 0% |
| As a CIO/VP of IT | 87% |
| As another C-level executive (CSO, CFO, CMO, etc.) | 9% |
| In my current role at a larger company | 0% |
| No change | 0% |
| Out of the IT field entirely | 0% |
| Other | 4% |
7. Using a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 indicates not at all important and 5 indicates extremely important, rank which leadership skills have been most important to getting you where you are today. Please rate on a scale of one to five:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Crisis management | 0% | 0% | 35% | 39% | 26% |
| Change management | 0% | 0% | 13% | 26% | 61% |
| Driving innovation | 0% | 0% | 22% | 43% | 35% |
| Business strategy | 0% | 0% | 19% | 43% | 38% |
| Relationship-building skills | 0% | 0% | 5% | 45% | 50% |
| Vendor management skills | 0% | 20% | 55% | 20% | 5% |
| Ability to manage up/shape executive expectations | 0% | 0% | 25% | 13% | 0% |
| Political savvy | 0% | 5% | 30% | 55% | 10% |
| Project management | 0% | 0% | 38% | 38% | 24% |
| Financial acumen | 0% | 5% | 35% | 35% | 25% |
| Strong knowledge of the organization’s business | 0% | 0% | 5% | 43% | 52% |
8. Using a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 indicates not at all important and 5 indicates extremely important, rank which leadership skills you think will be important to your further advancement in IT:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Crisis management | 0% | 5% | 50% | 30% | 15% |
| Change management | 0% | 0% | 10% | 24% | 67% |
| Driving innovation | 0% | 0% | 12% | 35% | 53% |
| Business strategy | 0% | 0% | 5% | 14% | 81% |
| Relationship-building skills | 0% | 0% | 5% | 40% | 55% |
| Vendor management skills | 0% | 10% | 45% | 30% | 15% |
| Ability to manage up/shape executive expectations | 0% | 0% | 10% | 50% | 40% |
| Political savvy | 0% | 0% | 5% | 62% | 33% |
| Project management | 0% | 16% | 53% | 21% | 11% |
| Financial acumen | 0% | 0% | 19% | 48% | 33% |
| Strong knowledge of the organization’s business | 0% | 0% | 5% | 19% | 76% |
9. Do you think your CIO should spend more or less time on the following activity?
| More time | Less time | |
| Budgeting | 42% | 58% |
| Hiring, managing and developing IT staff | 81% | 19% |
| Interacting with your company’s CXOs and business executives | 100% | 0% |
| Interacting with outside business partners, suppliers (not IT vendors), customers | 68% | 32% |
| Leading projects | 5% | 95% |
| Learning/understanding technologies and making system decisions | 33% | 67% |
| Designing or optimizing business processes | 47% | 53% |
| Managing crises/putting out fires | 5% | 95% |
| Researching industry trends, market forces and business strategy | 95% | 5% |
| Other | 50% | 50% |
10. Rate your company’s level of dedication and commitment to developing internal IT leaders.
| Extremely committed | 41% |
| Moderately committed | 50% |
| Not very committed | 5% |
| Not at all committed | 5% |
11. Rate your company CIO’s personal commitment to developing internal IT leaders.
| Extremely committed | 41% |
| Moderately committed | 59% |
| Not very committed | 0% |
| Not at all committed | 0% |
12. Is there a formal IT leadership succession plan in your company?
| Yes | 41% |
| No | 50% |
| Don’t Know | 0% |
13. How strong/deep is your IT “bench” in terms of strategically skilled and capable IT leadership talent?
| Very strong/deep | 17% |
| Somewhat strong/deep | 48% |
| Somewhat weak/shallow | 35% |
| Very weak/shallow | 0% |
14. What is the state of morale overall for the IT staff in your company?
| Excellent | 9% |
| Good | 64% |
| Fair | 27% |
| Poor | 0% |
