|
Great Leaders Take Risks
Overcoming hurdles and seizing opportunities are common CIO traits. A 2006 survey conducted by consulting firm Compel Ltd. and Women in Technology International (WITI) suggests this phenomenon is as true for women as it is for men: Those who don't fear risk go further. The study found that women who ascend into the executive ranks relish risk; those who reach a midtier are more risk averse.
"It was striking how often these women CIOs talked about the importance of risk, the opportunity and challenge in high-risk projects, and their eagerness and enjoyment of it," says Patricia Shafer, who co-authored the study with Barbara Trautlein. "There was less of an inclination in the women managers to take on risk."
Women CIOs interviewed for this story support these findings, but their thrill seeking seems driven more by a strong need to make a difference than a desire for a bigger salary or a better job title.
Riazi, for instance, took on the MetroCard initiative knowing that it had "maybe a 5% chance of success." Her peers figured she would be fired within six months. But Riazi says she's attracted to high-risk projects that carry high rewards. "It transformed the way New Yorkers live and work. And New Yorkers are tough. It's not easy to change their habits."
Drewry also took on a risky project in the 1980s while at Mutual Benefit Life Insurance. "We looked at the process of insurance, which is pretty complicated and pretty detailed, and decided that if we used these 'new PCs' to put a client/server app in -- a whole new thing back then -- we could automate 40% of the jobs, bring down the costs, take all the routine off of our people and have them freed up to do better things," she recalls.
The project would cost millions, but the potential ROI over a three-year period was "very attractive." She and the head of underwriting made the pitch, took on the challenge and delivered within two years. "That was huge, and it made the press for us at the time," Drewry says. "Now, did I take it on because I thought that would get me ahead? I took it on because it was exciting. ... What drove me wasn't status or position but impact."
The chance to fix a troubled Philadelphia icon enticed Tasty Baking Co.'s Autumn Bayles to leave a principal consultant role at IBM to become the company's first CIO. The $168-million maker of Tastykake brand Jelly Krimpets and other snack cakes was losing money. "I did something that a lot of people thought I was nuts to do," says Bayles, who was trained as an industrial engineer and has an MBA from Wharton. "I walk in, and I look at everything and decide we're going to overhaul everything -- new data center, new everything -- and I did this all with reducing costs. A lot of people would say, 'Boy, I would never want to do a project like that because a lot of people fail.'"
The overhaul included implementing SAP AG. Now VP of strategic operations, Bayles hadn't done an SAP project before but had deployed Oracle Corp.'s JD Edwards and PeopleSoft projects during her 11-year run as a consultant. Schooled in crisis situations and accustomed to selling a solution to clients, Bayles knew how to make a compelling case to Tasty's board of directors.
|
