Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Essentials of CIO Leadership
Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.
As more CIOs join the executive leadership of organizations, they face new challenges, ones that may prove their undoing, that test their ability to lead. For decades CIOs and IT VPs have been seen as wizards, people with a knowledge of a realm steeped in the unfamiliar, the realm of technology. Being technology wizards, while making them an enigma within the corporate culture, afforded them forgiveness of their eccentric ways, so long as they got results.
But those days are ending. No longer can a CIO get by as the Chief Techno-Wizard if he expects to grow and take his place in the executive suites. CIOs need to bring more to the table than just their ability to align IT with the business. They need to bring Leadership Skills, an appreciation of the bigger issues that CEOs and their most trusted advisors face on a daily basis.
The ability to inspire, persuade, earn trust and respect requires skills that are foreign to most technologists. The ability to rally an organization to trust your judgment and to follow you into war of commerce takes more than a mere understanding of how to deploy information technology effectively.
For some, leadership comes naturally. For these lucky few who are natural born leaders and can achieve results, comes great success as they exude an easy-to-embrace nature that makes others root for their success.&…
Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.
ADVERTISEMENTS
|
"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein |