CIO Survey reveals up-and-coming IT leaders benefit the most from hands-on experience Hands-on experience leading an enterprisewide project is the best way to get ahead, according to an exclusive CIO magazine survey of 100 respondents identified by their managers as up-and-coming IT leaders. A whopping 76 percent of those who had the opportunity to lead such a project rated the experience as critical to their career development. The survey, conducted earlier this year, also found that 52 percent are only somewhat satisfied with their leadership development opportunities. Mentoring or coaching by internal (37 percent) or external (53 percent) leaders also ranks among the most frequently cited leadership development opportunities of interest. Aspiring leaders face obstacles, however. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they lack time to devote to their career development, while 19 percent said they lack management support. However, 54 percent envision themselves as CIOs in five years, while 29 percent are aiming for some other corporate leadership role. “For many, the challenge is availability of opportunity, to be at a place where they can actually grow,” says Simon Dunning, managing director at Applied Materials. “It’s a double-edged sword. You need the opportunities to grow but you also need to be successful at the opportunities. It only takes one failure to destroy a lifetime of growth.” (Read about the experiences of emerging IT leaders in “Pathways to Leadership,” Page 37.) Relationship building (78 percent), change leadership (75 percent) and the ability to shape executive expectations (67 percent) are among the leadership skills most instrumental to getting those we surveyed where they are today. Driving business innovation (49 percent) and strategic planning (44 percent) were most frequently cited as the skills these future leaders are most interested in improving. According to Brad Busick, manager of change management for the city of Takoma, Wash., younger IT staff may also benefit from their familiarity with rapidly changing technology and social networking tools. “Today’s Twitter is yesterday’s CIO conference that required everybody to fly to Florida,” says Busick. “It’s real-time, relevant and that is the competitive advantage for the next group of leaders coming up through the ranks.” Related content News Amazon to lay off 9,000 more workers, including some at AWS The latest round of Amazon layoffs will impact AWS, Twitch, advertising and PXT, CEO Andy Jassy said. By Jon Gold Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Technology Industry Cloud Computing BrandPost What’s next for network operations Broadcom: 2023 Tech Trends That Transform IT By Serge Lucio, Vice President and General Manager, Agile Operations Division Mar 20, 2023 8 mins IT Leadership Networking BrandPost Digital transformation obstacles: Stubborn challenges, what to do about them Value Stream Management is an increasingly essential approach to strategic transformation initiatives. To help teams more fully capitalize on the opportunities it presents, Broadcom is holding its third annual VSM Summit. By Marla Schimke, Head of Product and Growth Marketing, Broadcom's Enterprise Software Division Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Devops Software Development Feature CEO directives: Top 5 initiatives for IT leaders As organizations change course with economic gyrations, collaboration between IT and business becomes priority No. 1 for CEOs. By Stacy Collett Mar 20, 2023 7 mins IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe