Leadership has a funny way of changing the questions you ask. The higher you climb, the fewer people there are who truly understand the decisions you're facing.
First up: one CIO's honest reflection on the loneliness that can come with the role, and why having the right network matters more than ever.
FEATURED
As I was advancing in my career, one of my mantras was “you don’t have to know it all, you just need the number of those who do.“ It was my humorous way of saying that I always had people I could rely on to ask for advice, opinions or help, but as I climbed on the corporate ladder, that group of people started being every time smaller, until eventually I realized it had vanished.
Not because of me becoming isolated and anti-social, but because by the time I had a CIO position, I was not close to anyone else with that scope of responsibility.
The first few months as a CIO were harsh. For the first and only time in my life I could not sleep thinking about all the things I had to do at work.
The feeling of being alone was terrible.
Who could I ask about the budgeting decisions, the strategic challenges ahead of me, the problems with vendors that needed immediate resolution? As we all know, time is unforgiving. The clock keeps ticking despite you being frozen with doubts and second-guessing.
RESOURCE HUB
Your Print Layer Is Blocking Your AI Strategy
Most digital transformation programs stall at the same place: the document layer. Print infrastructure was built before the cloud existed, let alone AI, and it's quietly locking away the data your automation initiatives need. Here's what some CIOs are overlooking in their AI strategy.
CLAUDE’S FIELD TRIP
Yet another security test took an unexpected detour into the real world.
Several Claude models reached real organizations after a testing environment was mistakenly connected to the public internet. Believing they were still inside a simulation, the models interacted with production systems before Anthropic paused the evaluations and strengthened its testing safeguards.
CIO FIELD NOTES
BEYOND THE QUOTE
“Trust is not a byproduct of transformation. It must be designed into how the organization operates.”
HOW DO YOU LEAD?
Great leaders know themselves first. Take the Pillars Leadership Assessment™ to uncover your leadership profile, identify your strengths, and gain practical insights to help you communicate, lead teams, and grow more effectively. The assessment takes just 5–10 minutes to complete.
EXECUTIVE OPPORTUNITY
Trupanion has selected CIO Partners to lead their search for the role of Vice President of Enterprise Applications, located in Seattle. Read more…
Share the Early Morning Byte
You currently have {{ rp_num_referrals }} referrals.
Or copy and paste this link to others: {{ rp_refer_url }}
