Michael,

One of the things that I would keep in mind is the company (Baxter) that Jansen worked for. Medical Device and Products companies are probably one of the last few bastions of old-style company loyalty structures so I'm not entirely certain that outside of his industry, his career path would be the best example in much of today’s World.

Personally I think that both Company Loyalty as well as Career Loyalty can co-exist in your career path as long as you understand that both are separate objectives that ideally are convergent during one's tenure with any employer. When they are no longer convergent is when one has to ask the question of whether it is time to move on or not. The smart (and successful) person is the one that can make that call at the correct time and moves on when Career and Company loyalty come into conflict and are unlikely to change.

To Thy Own Self Be True really should be ones’ attitude at the end of the day. This does not mean that you should walk into every career opportunity with a purely mercenary attitude, but you should periodically evaluate your relationship with your employer and recognize that the day may come when your goals no longer can coexist with theirs. Good employers also should recognize this fact and either offer employees new goals that can coexist or a graceful way out.

Easier said than done I know…

In regards to the diversity question for CIOs (or CxOs for that matter), I think a diversified background is the wave of the future for those that wish to excel. A good CIO is going to be someone that knows I.T. and the I.T. process inside and out and if that is all they have spent their career doing I believe it is still possible for now and the near future to be successful.

However a GREAT CIO is going to the person that understands not only I.T. but all (or nearly all) aspects of the company they lead I.T. for. This makes a diversified skill-set almost a requirement.

Companies looking to fill true CIO positions (as opposed to I.T. managers that are simply given the title) are doing themselves a disservice when they post job descriptions that force them job search into narrow categories of specific products or platforms (and yes I’ve seen all too many of them as well and personally would not apply for one) as the CIO should be a strategic position that lifts a company up and outside of the box, giving them a unique competitive advantage.

Michael

It's a long, long time since I did any programming but I remember one of the early lessons why my programs didn't behave as expected was that OR is not mutually exclusive.

These days I work with many companies as my clients. Am I loyal to my company, my profession or each of my clients?

Yes.

Of course, sometimes there are tensions between these things. But so far, thankfully, I've been able to reconcile them without ever concluding that the three loyalties are mutally exclusive.

Perhaps, though, the clue to the predicament you pose is what someone regards as their profession. For example, is being promoted from - say - CFO or CIO to CEO a significant change of profession? I would say so. So is being promoted from - say - VP of IT Service Delivery to CIO.

Which begs a serious question of every CIO. Do you see yourself (or do others see you) primarily as a member of the 'IT profession', the 'corporate executive' profession, or is being a CIO a unique profession all of its own?

Chris

MEK and Chris,

Your comments raise more questions, like why do companies post job requirements for CIOs that specify such narrow technical skills? Does that mean those companies consider the CIO as just the head technician and not a senior executive?

It's a good question about whether CIOs see themselves as corporate execs or as technical professionals. I like to think the CIO is an executive who employs highly efficient strategies for exploiting IT for business gain.

Yet the frequency of narrow technical requirements being applied to the CIO position puts aspiring CIOs and existing CIOs on the horns of a dilemma. Do they get broad business experience and hope companies will recognize the value they provide, or do they go for the security of narrow technical skills in this unpredictable job market? How lucky do you feel today?

Michael