Perhaps because of the ever-increasing influence of technology in so many aspects of business, senior IT executives get more than their fair share of blame for everything from bursting tech bubbles to out-of-control compliance spending. Consequently, you get fired a lot more often than COOs, CFOs or CEOs. "Most of us are going to end up as executive roadkill," one CIO told me recently, only half-jokingly.
But as a group, you're often the smartest C-level people at your companies. So how can it be that you neglect the most rudimentary career imperative: networking your way into your next job?
We asked this vexing question in Schmooze City and discovered some pretty interesting answers. Reading this story may actually change your attitude about whether to return that recruiter's call (even if you're perfectly content right now) or whether it's worth your time to become a better salesperson of your capabilities.
It also seems that many of you are networking with the wrong people, or perhaps just too deeply within your comfort zone. Bill Rogers, now CIO at $1-billion Goss International Corp., figured that out after his previous position was eliminated last year. He did all the conventional stuff, like circulating his résumé, lunching with CIO colleagues and using outplacement services. But he cast his net much wider, fishing for leads in trade magazines and business journals. He took note of IT-related stories about companies in his geographical area. He then referred to those articles (and his relevant experience) when pitching himself to CEOs at some 20 different companies, a dozen of whom invited him in to meet with senior executives.
"Some of the companies had no idea that I didn't know the president personally," Rogers says. "If you want to be a CIO, you need to network with CEOs, CFOs and COOs: the buyers of IT services."
I heard similar advice at the recent Gartner Midsize Enterprise Summit, where the assembled IT execs were told that within five years, as many as 15% of current IT professionals will have given up and moved on to other careers. Diane Morello, a Gartner research vice president, predicted that by 2010, the IT groups at both large and midsized enterprises will be one-third smaller than they were in 2000. She identified several "mega forces" driving this reverse job migration that are difficult to argue with: a growing use of global sourcing, increasing IT automation, worldwide labor shifts and the rapid pace (especially in the midmarket) of company restructuring and mergers. The future of IT work, Morello contends, belongs to those who show greater versatility and business understanding rather than superior technical knowledge.
That probably sounds like a familiar refrain to many of you. But there's a gulf between recognizing a truth and acting on it. Of all the stories in this issue, our career networking piece addresses you personally, as the director of your own destiny. I hope it persuades you to turn your leadership skills inward and makes the perils of being you more about the power of being you.
Maryfran Johnson, is the founding editor in chief of CIO Decisions. To comment on this story, email editor@ciodecisions.com.
This was first published in October 2005