Michael Rapken, executive vice president and CIO for transportation company YRC Worldwide, offers some great advice on becoming a change leader--a role that he assumed after spearheading a merger between three companies' IT groups from multiple locations into a single unit. In addition to the upheaval of merging disparate groups, he was tasked with developing an application road map for the newly merged company. Rapken explains that he spends 20 to 30 percent of his time managing the project. To make it through a transformation like this, he recommends creating a corporate identity and consolidating overlapping technologies. Rapken adds that even the best leaders need to change. His solution: work in several industries--manufacturing, consulting, telecommunications and transportation--to keep learning and to vary your experiences. After all, "in the end, to inspire change in others, you have to embrace change in yourself," he said.

For the full column and advice from Rapken:
- read the CIO Magazine column [1]