Brian Watson and Dan Roberts, Confessions of a Successful CIO

Episode Overview

Among other topics, Brian and Dan discuss the following issues with Metis Strategy:

• The journey undertaken by both Brian and Dan to uncover and accurately portray the stories of nine innovative leaders in the CIO universe
• The imperative, as echoed in the stories of each of the nine CIOs, to look past the idea of “aligning IT with the business,” instead beginning to view IT itself as the business
• Brian and Dan’s take on shared characteristics of the nine CIOs profiled in the book and how they contribute to their success, including but not limited to the ability of the CIO to answer the call, be a transformational leader, and look “beyond the curve” to create an IT organization that drives revenue
• The evolution of the role of the successful CIO to source talent with an assortment of core competencies—the majority of which are surprisingly non-technical
• The tenacity of the nine CIOs profiled in the book to forge their way onto the corporate boards or teams of their organizations, landing themselves in positions where they are looked at as another business driver and not simply an IT representative
• Eye on Trends: The shifting background of the successful CIO to be more of a “hybrid” between business executive and technologist, the emerging importance of the “networked CIO” in successfully leading the business and IT through challenges

Biography of Brian Watson and Dan Roberts: Brian and Dan are the co-authors of Confessions of a Successful CIO: How the Best CIOs Tackle Their Toughest Business Challenges, one of the latest releases in the Wiley CIO Series. With the book, Watson and Roberts bring forward a variety of stories of innovative CIOs, challenges they faced, and their pragmatic and successful responses, a topic we cover in some depth in this interview. Brian Watson is the former Editor in Chief of CIO Insight and has contributed reporting and analysis to several media outlets focused on IT leadership. Since October, Brian has been Executive Director, iRise Advisor Network & Executive Roundtable Series at iRise.  Prior to that, Brian served as Director of Business Outreach for Workforce Opportunity Services (WOS), a charitable organization that helps companies build strong talent pipelines through unique work-study programs. Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University and a Master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Dan Roberts is a 30-year veteran of the IT industry and the CEO and President of Ouellette & Associates Consulting, Inc., a leading provider of IT leadership and professional development training services focused on the “human side of technology”. Dan is a contributing author of O&A’s latest book titled Unleashing the Power of IT (Wiley, 2011) and has published numerous articles in industry journals. Dan graduated from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

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