Editorial Review:
An Actionable Framework for Elevating the CIO's Strategic Role Two converging factors-the ubiquitous presence of technology in organizations and the recent technology downturn-have brought Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to a critical breaking point. They can seize the moment to leverage their expertise into a larger and more strategic role than ever before, or they can allow themselves to be relegated to the sideline function of "chief technology mechanic." Drawing from exclusive research conducted by Gartner, Inc., with thousands of companies and CIOs, Marianne Broadbent and Ellen Kitzis reveal exactly what CIOs must do now to solidify their credibility with the executive team and bridge the chasm that currently separates business and IT strategy. The New CIO Leader outlines the agenda CIOs need to integrate business and IT assets in a way that moves corporate strategy forward- whether a firm is floundering, successfully competing, or leading its industry. Mandatory reading for CIOs in every firm, The New CIO Leader spells out how information systems can deliver results that matter-and how CIOs can become the enterprise leaders they should be.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Explaining Demand Management versus Supply Management  2008-09-24
Broadbent and Kitzis have helped explain something that is rarely done elsewhere: the importance of IT leadership in "Demand Management" versus "Supply Management." Other failings within the book in completeness of authority (i.e., public, private, etc.) and examples or case studies may be forgiven for the clarity the authors offer in separating these two crucial concepts in IT leadership.
Excellent Book 2008-07-06
This is an excellent read for anyone who wishes to lead their IS organization. Also for existing CIO's and IT managers who wanna align their activities and create a performance matrix within the organzation. I thank the authors for their hard work in putting together the material.
More readable than others  2007-05-11
The New CIO Leader has some insights for current and aspiring CIOs. Its a good book to benchmark where you stand today and what you could do differently.
Like every book, you may not agree with everything that the authors have to say; but overall I found it interesting enough to give a few copies to some of my high potential staff.
Recommended if you are a CIO or want to be one.
Standing on the shoulders of Kouses & Posner  2005-12-22
Broadbent and Kitzis have produced a remarkable work. I have found their work to be like a capstone, integrating many streams of thought that have gone before. Unfortunately, the work suffers from lack of awareness of the leadership literature. "The Leadership Challenge" by Kouzes & Posner predates this work by more than 3 years, yet Broadbent and Kitzis, while seemingly familiar with "The Leadership Challenge" do not acknowledge their debt. Readers who enjoy "The New CIO Leader" will benefit from Kouzes and Posner's seminal and very readable work on leadership.
Here is a comparison of a short passage from "The New CIO Leader" with excerts from "The Leadership Challenge" ...
From "The New CIO Leader" by Broadbent & Kitzis (2005)
On Page 17 "The good news is that leadership skills can be developed. Leadership isn't mysical or mysterious; it has nothing to do with immutable personality traits. Nor is it something for only the chosen few.
" The first step in becoming an enterprise leader is to understand what leadership really is. And the fundamental aspect of leadership is credibility."
COMPARE THIS WITH THESE EXCERTS
From "The Leadership Challenge" by Kouzes & Posner (2002)
"developed" on Page 386: "... it's the persistence of the myth that leadership can't be learned. This haunting myth is a far more power- 388 THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE ..."
"mystical" on Page 144: "... Yet this leadership practice isn't always effectively employed. In fact, we've consistently found ... others' spirits? We believe that most people have attributed something mystical to the process of inspiring a shared vision. They seem to see it as supernatural, as a grace or charm ..."
"personality" on Page 13: "... each case we looked at was unique in expression, each path was also marked by some common patterns of action. Leadership is not at all about personality; it's about practice. We've forged these common practices into a model of leadership, and we offer it here as guidance ..."
"chosen few" . on Page 386: "... we wait for someone to ride in and save us. Well, forget it! It's just pure myth that only a lucky few can ever understand the intricacies of leadership. Leadership is not a place, it's not a gene, and it's not a ..."
"first step" on Page 64: "... finding your voice-by clarifying your values and by expressing yourself in unique ways. By finding your voice you take the first step along the endless journey to becoming a credible leader.
"credibility" on Page 23: "... CREDIBILITY IS THE FOUNDATION OF LEADERSHIP Without credibility, you can't lead. Brian Carroll, Challenge Bank, Australia You can't follow someone who isn't credible, who doesn't truly ..."
You Want To Fix The Mercedes or Drive It? 2005-11-30
The times they are changing. The direction of change for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) has had different answers from different people. In their December 2004 book, entitled The New CIO Leader: Setting the Agenda and Delivering Results (2005, Harvard Business School Press, 338 Pages, ISBN 1591395771), Marianne Broadbent (Associate Dean of the Melboune Business School) and Ellen S Kitzen (Group Vice-President of the Gartner Group's Executive Programs) argue that the choice is yours. You can choose to be a new CIO Leader or be relegated to Chief Technology Mechanic. The authors do an outstanding job of discussing the seas change, until the book loses some of its luster from what appears to be their interpretation of Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies (CobiT).
The authors start out strong by identifying what the sea change is, as technology is increasingly relied up to support all functions within the enterprise. After a discussion that lays down a foundation of how they view leadership, they break the goals of the new CIO Leader down into two parts: "Demand-Side Leadership" and "Supply-Side Leadership". On the demand side, they cover politics, realities and the need for strong IT governance. They emphasize that the new CIO leader has to be willing to step and be recognized as part of the leadership team. On the supply side, they delve it what it takes to create a high-performance IT team, measure results, and communicating the results. In all, they lay a strong foundation for a framework/paradigm for CIOs to follow.
And that is where the book loses it. They are laying down a foundation that strongly resembles the CobiT Framework. CobiT is about linking technology and business objectives in an integrated fashion, providing a controls framework to ensure success. It is essentially a circular (feedback-driven) cradle to grave process. So I wondered why I was not seeing it mentioned in the book. Eventually I came to it, but only in a very brief discussion of developing security policies. This "silo" misses the mark and may give those unfamiliar with COBIT, the wrong perception of what it is. I was quite surprised given the back ground of the authors. However, this may partially be the fault of inconsistent messages that the IT Governance Institute (ITGI) puts in some of their publications.
Who Should Read This Book
This book should be read by current CIO's looking to shape their future. It should also be read by those who aspire to be a CIO one day/ The discussion is full and thought provoking.
The Scorecard
Birdie on a long par 5 reachable in two.
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