Overcoming Resistance
Most CIOs who take on another role don't feel diminished by it. But for members of their staff, it can take time to adjust to the new reality. "It was confusing for my team initially," says Gibson. "But now I think they feel like they're coequal members of my larger team. In this role, I can do a better job of having the business make clear what they want to pursue with technology; I can actually make the lives of IT people a little better."
Drouin says the IT group at TRW has been supportive of his add-on role. "Generally, they have seen it as strong support from the top that we have made significant progress as an organization."
Individuals on the business side can take longer to come around. When Coleman arrived at Sloan Valve, he inherited an IT role previously filled by a dictatorial personality: "That had created a lot of resentment, so I had to be careful about coming across as all-knowing." When he decided to take on additional responsibility outside of IT, he knew he had to tread even more gingerly. "In the early stages, a lot of people wondered what my real agenda was. They assumed I wanted to take over their department or become the next president of the company," Coleman recalls. Coleman made it clear he had "zero interest" in running the show.
"Clearly there can be resentment if somebody feels they have been passed over for a role and the CIO does not have the requisite 'business credentials,'" says Gordon. "It may be a misunderstanding of the CIO role that causes people to be on guard, not considering IT to be 'part of the business.'" Being seen by those in the business as more than "just" the CIO takes time. When Michael Hites was CIO and vice president of planning and IT with New Mexico State University, "everyone from the 'past' [would still ask] me about the latest BlackBerry or how to fix their website," he says. "It's my responsibility to be known as 'the strategic planning guy,' not theirs. My actions need to clearly show that." Hites, who began a new job in March with the much larger University of Illinois system as associate vice president of administrative IT services for the university administration, which includes Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, Springfield and Global Campus, says his experience outside of IT helped him get the job.
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