Mojgan Lefebvre stepped into the senior vice president and CIO job at Liberty Mutual Commercial Markets in July 2010. It was her third stint as a CIO since 2004. She held the top IT posts at BioMerieux from 2007 to 2010 and at Teletech Holdings from 2004 to 2007. Her experience as an IT executive, coupled with the skills she has gained in business-side positions such as company founder and CEO, has given her insights into what it takes for executives to manage their careers. In fact, she recently spoke on that topic at an event sponsored by Women in Technology International. Here she shares her views on running a successful IT shop and managing one's career.
What's the biggest mistake most CIOs make in managing their careers? One of the things that CIOs, and executives in general, don't do enough of is take risks and take on new roles and, for CIOs specifically, take the time to do something on the business side before spending their careers on the IT side. Those who do [spend time on the business side] realize how valuable the experience is.
Did you spend time on the business side? Yes, absolutely. It's such an amazing experience to have to look at everything from a customer's perspective.
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