I report to General Counsel
May 15, 2007 at 10:03 pm 1 comment
Over the years there has been a lot of debate regarding where the CIO should report. Most of the noise comes from CIOs that determine their self-worth by reporting to the CEO. I know this, because I used to be this way. But, the CEO is not always the best person. I now strongly believe that this is dependent on the organization and the leaders. There are very few generalities one can apply to this topic. The best example is here at Ministry. I report to the General Counsel. Now, this is very mis-leading. Our General Counsel, Ron Mohorek, is a top executive that just happens to be lawyer by education. Because of that background he is naturally in charge of legal matters. But, his greatest contribution to the organization is his ability to be strategic and tactical. This is where he spends most of his time.
Legal and IT matters are very similar. In both disciplines there is a temptation to hand over a business matter to the lawyer or the IT guy. In both cases this usually results in disappointment, especially when the business leader is not clear on what they are trying to accomplish. Ron’s understanding of this greatly advances my cause to keep the accountability for IT initiatives out of IT (except the technical stuff).
At Affinity I do report to the CEO. And, this seems to be the best fit for that organization. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Entry filed under: Management, Philosophy. Tags: .
1.
Carmelo Lisciotto | May 31, 2007 at 8:25 am
I firmly beleive the CIO role should report directly to the CEO.
Such alignment helps to keep senior management apprised of the value add in relation to IT spend, offers much in the way of knowledge transfer regarding IT project priorities and where the department fits in the organizatons overall strategy.
Carmelo Lisciotto