The Publicist
Role: Make the CIO look goodWendy Serafin
Principal
Nifares Group
We all know CIOs who can't talk business strategy as well as they should. Yet it's one of the most important skills a CEO wants from a CIO. Many technology leaders will admit to needing help to convey their ideas to colleagues above and below. A publicist can help with that, as well as build the CIO's reputation outside the company. A CIO with a good image can attract new talent to the IT department.
Chicago-based Wendy Serafin spotted this need when a former coworker became the CIO of her company, and few people outside of IT knew of his talents and achievements. She was working in the marketing department and knew she could get the word out about her modest IT friend better than he could himself. She did so, then started her own business handling communications for tech-exec clients.
"Business results are there but they camouflage it with IT-speak," Serafin says. For one client, CUNA Mutual Group, a financial services firm with $8.3 billion in assets, Serafin develops the IT annual report. The booklet tells the story of the IT department's strategy, vision and accomplishments each year along with other metrics to quantify the department's successes. It also highlights how IT runs like a business. Executives will sometimes take it on sales calls with prospective clients to show how CUNA Mutual's IT strategy supports business goals, she says. Serafin's other clients have included the
Association of Wisconsin — where she advised CIOs how to communicate their accomplishments. In addition, from 1999 to 2001, Serafin worked with Rick Roy, then CIO at Metavante a $1.6 billion banking technology firm. One of her roles was communication leader for Metavante's internal technology steering committee, helping to convey the group's purpose and results to the rest of the company. Roy is now SVP of Customer Operations at CUNA Mutual, and gave Serafin the entree to the company.
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