What has been learned about IT leaders
In his experience, Darwin has found that most top leaders are too narrow in their views, they are thinking too much about things internal to their own areas and disciplines, and are not holistic nor broad enough in their views of business.

He has learned that a big risk for a CIO is letting ego get in the way, losing the ability to be humble enough to continue learning even when you think you’ve got it all. “Over confident ego turns to arrogance and will take you down.”

Leaders get distracted from the basics. In fact, most CIOs get “killed” for not attending to the basics.

So, what are those basics that must always be a key part of a CIO’s leadership plan?

1. Align with the strategic mission of the enterprise. Become a plank in the business strategy not a separate IT strategic direction.
A CIO must never think of information technology as a standalone or even as a service to the enterprise. A CIO must always think about information technology as an integral part of the business. It must be aligned with the mission of the enterprise.

2. Build strong Project Management.
Being effective in managing projects in information technology, ensuring delivery of quality products, on-time and within budget, was essential to success 40 years ago and is still essential to success today. It is possible to be distracted by the shiny new technology and forget that if you don't do the basics, such as project management, with excellence, nothing else matters.

3. Get the right people in the right capabilities.
A solid CIO must anticipate capabilities that will be required, and the amounts of those capabilities, so that when the need arrives, he/she has sufficient resources to fulfill the requirement. One can think about the capability requirements and how they are best secured. One can invest in training to develop capability or sometimes it should be hired. Beyond that, the ability of matching individuals’ capabilities to business needs in a way that draws on their natural strengths is an art that CIOs need to master. This talent is critical for the CIO’s good, the good of the individual employee and the good of the enterprise.

4. Sourcing.
One needs to identify that which, for what ever reason, must be done in-house only, and then build that capability and expertise internally. Along with this idea is determining which capabilities can be provided more effectively outside the enterprise and potentially at less cost. The net effect, then, is to optimize resourcing of any and all work.

5. Change Management is fraught with human involvement.
Change is never easy. It has been said that most humans would rather die than change. This is evident in the nature of many of our health habits. Changes is always human-centric, if you ever take your eye off from this ball, or forget the need for preparing all environments to receive change, then introducing change can cause major disruption or even failure.

6. Maintain relationships and earn your way into the inner circle.
Finding oneself within the inner circle of leadership in an enterprise is not something that can be granted or bestowed. It must be earned by knowledge of the business. Having a mindset for this is a leader’s first specific assignment, and understanding information technology is second. If one cannot earn his/her way into the trusted first-team; it is only a matter of time. “I believe some of the short tenure of CIOs reflects failure on this very point.”

Most enterprises are becoming increasingly dependent on IT. Broken infrastructure can and will stop a business from functioning. This high reliance/dependency on IT will demand flawless service.

More products have IT products and services bundled with them. IT will need to be knowledgeable, flexible and truly understand the business in dealing with these changes.

IT is more and more pervasive and part of how business functions. Business and people cannot avoid technology.

There is a greater sensitivity to security. Privacy is a huge issue everywhere. As a result of major threats to security and privacy, there is an emerging high-level position of CSO (Chief Security Officer). This role will encompass security for IT and physical facilities. It is possible that this role might be folded into the office of CIO.

There are 2 leadership models: Hierarchy and Council. The CIO must be good at both types of leadership and know which one to use and when to us it. Decisions and directions can not always be based on power of authority; increasingly the effective leader will use council and influence.