If you strive to be a CIO who can command a high-powered entourage, take a lesson or two from Melott, Sias and two other star polishers: recruiter Tony Pannagl, president of IS&T in Houston, and publicist Wendy Serafin, principal of the Nifares Group.
The Project Manager
Role: Run the big showsRhonda Sias
President
The Mosaic Group
Good project managers are always in demand. Great project managers can stay employed forever, says Shaklee's Harris (Shaklee is a private multilevel marketer of cleaning and nutrition products). Harris realized this when he arrived as CIO of Nike in 1998 to find the European division's ERP project in trouble.
"The European business head made it clear that from his perspective, getting the project on track and completed successfully was my priority number one," Harris recalls.
He put Sias, who was already at Nike in the U.S., in charge of the project, relying on her know-how in putting together teams and motivating people, he says. "With someone like Rhonda, you know you are going to get a full and accurate picture of what is happening, communicated frequently, with a clear depiction of what decisions need to be made, what recommendations go with those decisions and what specific things I can do to help the project be successful," he says.
Sias also implemented the foundation for Nike's use of PeopleSoft human resources software, which she says was the company's first truly global application rollout. What Sias respects about Harris is his blend of "visionary" IT thinking and "genuine heart." After Harris left Nike in 1999 to be CIO of Gap in San Francisco, Sias asked him for a job. He hired her to be VP of supply chain in 2000 and there she rescued a "troublesome" part of a major merchandising system, Harris says. She worked with him there until she left to be an independent consultant in 2003.
Sias later consulted with Harris at Chevron, where he worked as a consultant in 2004 and, for a few months recently, at Shaklee.
"We trust each other," she says. "He knows I'll ask for help if I need it. I won't surprise him. I provide leadership and a work ethic beyond your wildest imagination."
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