Haunting the CEO - Revised & Updated: A tale of true leadership in an era of IT failure
Hughes, John D
Synopsis "Haunting the CEO - Revised & Updated: A tale of true leadership in an era of IT failure"
In Haunting the CEO Sometimes it takes a new CEO to shake things up—raise the stakes and demand more from an organization. Demanding more always came easy to Jim Cavo. As Cantril Distribution’s new CEO, he was doing just that. He not only demanded more, though, he delivered more. Not the case for Brian Kagey. As Cantril’s CIO, Brian’s time was about to run out. Jim needed greater results from IT, results that would help drive the business growth and profitability necessary to turn the company around. But Brian saw himself as a technologist, not a business leader. How was he supposed to deliver business results? He wasn’t. He couldn’t. No, that wasn’t his responsibility. Out of time and options, Brian is thrust into a journey of leadership discovery he doesn’t feel he needs, nor wants. The heat is as Brian tries to fix IT and save his career before Jim pulls the plug. Haunting the CEO is a well-crafted business tale that delivers priceless leadership wisdom through an engaging, humorous, and heartfelt story. Haunting the CEO follows the story of a CEO (Jim), CIO (Brian), and the CIO from Jim's previous company (Carol). You will discover many other characters along the way--some you will love and some not so much. But they are all in this story together, and boy is it a story! The book separates the wheat from the chaff. That is, uncovering how and why IT organizations are too often broken, as well as how to fix them. After 40+ years into IT, the author became absolutely convinced that leadership alone is the answer to broken IT organizations and the ongoing costs and missed opportunities they saddle the business with. True leadership will bridge the communication and alignment chasm that has for too long existed between business and IT, and bring with it greater business growth, profitability, and innovation. This book points the way. Finally, the three core leadership traits shared in this book were discovered and honed through the author's own efforts of watching, learning, trying, failing, and trying again (and again and again and again). They are road tested. Learn them. Practice them. Develop them in yourself and you’ll discover what true leadership is and how to achieve it.
