I didn't start my career expecting to be in IT. I found myself thrown into it along the way. I've always gravitated toward the big, visible challenges no one else wanted to tackle and have found the greatest personal reward in turning tough problems into routine, repeatable processes. During successful stints as the head IT guy for four major public companies, I chalked up some of the most humbling and rewarding experiences of my life. Many folks aspire to the top IT job, but it looks better from a distance! The job is tough, and you're the one everyone is counting on for the answers. A guidebook like this would have been an invaluable resource for many of the challenges I've faced. This book is packed with practical advise from a group of highly accomplished IT veterans. Whether you're a seasoned CIO or aspiring to be one, I think you'll find this collection of ideas to be useful and thought provoking.

There is no single recipe for IT. The book begins with Understanding the Role of the CIO, where the authors discuss the multi-faceted, evolving role of the IT leader, and offer three perspectives on the role of the CIO. Every situation is unique and each of us brings unique perspectives and talents to bear. When I was at Quantum, the challenge was to make it easier to do business, while reducing costs. At Bay Networks, it was about implementing major ERP capability and exploiting the Internet to accelerate the supply chain. At eBay it's been about fulfilling the destiny of the company and leveraging technology to enable it. Regardless of the particular situation, we all face the common challenge of needing to lead while appearing to serve. As the book describes, it's all about bringing credibility and strategic insight to the table - while your colleague can't get their PC to work or their business is suffering because of network problems! It's a constant battle to achieve the right IT vision while doing the day job really, really well.

For me, success has meant applying conventional methods and tools in unconventional ways. With that, the chapter, The First 90 Days, resonated deeply with me. When I joined eBay in 1999 as President of eBay Technology, I knew I was walking into problems. The business was taking off like a rocket ship yet there were severe system issues. On my first day on the job, I was chagrined to find CNN in the lobby interviewing Meg Whitman, my new boss, about problems with the site. Not an auspicious beginning! Now conventional wisdom would have said to freeze all product changes and focus on stability and scale. But because of eBay's unusual potential and unique position in the marketplace, we chose to take significant risks and fix the stability and scale problems, while at the same time we accelerated the rate of product development and site changes by 4x. Applying conventional methods in out of the box ways, we were able to fuel the aggressive business growth while rearchitecting the site for infinite scalability. Had we not done so, eBay may not have become the market leader it is today. As these authors will teach you, “Decide and act with a sense of urgency”. “Make aggressive commitments and meet them.” “Strive for excellence through continuous improvements.” Words to live by.

I've always felt that one of the hallmarks of a successful CIO is the ability to lead and manage alignment across the business. In The Tao of IT Leaders, the author writes about the business-focused IT organization, and the power and leverage this brings. The most successful IT executives I have known are those who not only have the vision to determine where the business needs to go, but have the credibility and service orientation to have the company enjoy the journey!

Sharing the secrets of their success, this group of seasoned CIOs gives you real world advise on developing and communicating IT strategy, developing true partnerships with the business, considerations for organizational design and tools for managing projects. Their collective wisdom has come together to be no less than a career's worth of mentoring in a paperback.

Listen to these folks. Then figure out the unique circumstances you're trying lead your company through and create your game plan. I look forward to reading your chapter in the next edition.