C&L: What CIOs want in hiring leaders

A week or so ago I reached out to FierceCIO readers to gain insight on what tech leaders are looking for in hiring IT professionals and right-hand leaders. I received a terrific response from Gary Lust, SR Recruiter with Geoweb Staffing. Lust has spent nearly two decades recruiting in the "critical skill" area and he offered up what he sees CIOs wanting today and how things have changed:

Versatility: The days of being a "guru" in one facet of the IT structure are gone. Job seekers, especially senior level candidates, complain endlessly that the job descriptions now sound as though the CIO is looking for several people in one. To an extent they are correct; rather than hire a large staff of specialists, today's CIO needs people who can wear a lot of hats and never say, "That's not my job."  

Personality: One CIO phrased it this way to me: "We used to look for strong technical skill. Now we look for the same strong technical skills, but also a 'Dale Carnegie' course along with them." Gone are the old "IT as geek" image (contrary to Best Buy's "Geek Squad" concept). The IT professional must be able to sell the program up and down the enterprise and make it all make sense to stakeholders from users in the mail room to the people who approve expenditures in the board room. Case in point: One of my clients has an IT director who always struck me as technically weak for the level of position he holds. I discreetly inquired of a mutual acquaintance if my assessment was correct. His response was a chuckle and confirmation of my opinion. However, he went on to say, "What XXX is better at than anyone else is walking into the board room with a proposal and walking out with signatures." Almost anyone can be trained to monitor even logs; not everyone can get approval for new servers.

In the meantime, here are some recent career announcements about colleagues taking on new leadership roles: 

YTXP Corporation has named Robert Walden as CIO.

MGM MIRAGE has announced the appointment of Tom Peck as senior VP and CIO.

John McGowan has been tapped as the associate vice provost for IT and CIO at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Missouri University has named Gary Allen, its CIO, as VP of IT.