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 brandpost Sponsored by EXL Unlocking generative AI’s greatest growth opportunities Looking beyond the hysteria— It is imperative for companies integrating AI technologies to embrace the opportunity to strengthen their products, services, and workforce…with fundamental human pragmatism. By Rohit is vice chairman and CEO at EXL, a multinational data analytics and digital operations and solutions company. Dec 07, 2023 5 mins Artificial Intelligence brandpost Sponsored by BMC BMC on BMC: How the company enables IT observability with BMC Helix and AIOps The goals: transform an ocean of data and ultimately provide a stellar user experience and maximum value. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by BMC The data deluge: The need for IT Operations observability and strategies for achieving it BMC Helix brings thousands of data points together to create a holistic view of the health of a service. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership how-to How to create an effective business continuity plan A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an By Mary K. Pratt, Ed Tittel, Kim Lindros Dec 07, 2023 11 mins Small and Medium Business IT Skills Backup and Recovery 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