Question: Which C-level most closely resembles the CEO?  Surprisingly, it’s not the CFO nor the COO…it’s the CIO. By resemblance, I’m referring to the CEO and CIO possessing similar competencies such as market knowledge, commercial orientation, and customer focus.

A recent article explains the CIO – CEO resemblance after evaluating 25,000 executives. A leader’s level of performance is correlated to his/her proficiency of the 10 leadership competencies defined by Egon Zehnder International (EZI). This type of benchmarking is especially important in today’s climate, as CEOs are increasingly expecting their CIOs to be more proactive and strategic, and command measurable impact within the business by leveraging technology investments.

Benchmarking these competencies does something else to further the role of the CIO. It can be used to elevate the CIO from an “order-taker” role to valuable business strategist. To survive, IT must have a seat at the strategic table and a voice in the evolution and direction of the business. The CIO must drive innovation by leveraging emerging technologies in order to generate operational efficiencies and competitive advantage.

How do you rank in the core C-level competencies? Do you have what it takes to be tomorrow’s “Business Strategist” CIO? Take the self-assessment and begin developing your competencies today.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 27th, 2010 at 7:10 am and is filed under IT Recruiting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.