The Transformational CIO: Leadership and Innovation Strategies for IT Executives in a Rapidly Changing World

"The Transformational CIO" is more than just a great book for top executives. It's a field manual for success in the rough and tumble world of modern IT management. Let's speak plainly: Innovation drives business. Technology drives innovation. Successful CIOs drive technology. The CIO must be a transformational leader to provide the business with the right mix of relevant technologies.In today's wild economy, however, markets change quickly, and that means that the technology has to change quickly to keep pace. So the modern CIO has to stay ahead of both curves -- the business curve and the technology curve -- to stay relevant.Hunter Muller's book presents a new model for CIO management strategy. The old CIO management model was: "Wait until the business asks me to do it." The new model is: "I have to figure out what the business needs before the business even know that it needs it." In other words, the CIO has to the leader, not the order taker. Successful CIOs grasp this leadership principle intuitively. They use their energy to help the business achieve success -- and they reap the rewards.In addition to presenting a new model for CIO leadership in the global economy, the book also contains dozens of richly detailed stories told by A-list CIOs at major global corporations. These valuable first-person stories and anecdotes make the book worth buying. I can't think of another strategy management book with this level of detail. I found it highly useful, and I am recommending it to my friends. It's a great investment!

This is one of the best CIO books I have ever read as it points out clearly what it needs to become a transformational CIO and to me the four major aspects of any successful CIOs in todays' technology evolving can be summarized to Leadership, Business Acumen, Technology Knowledgeable and Mastering Communication and Relationship. I believe in most if not all the interviews Hunter and his team had conducted with the Senior IT Executives throughout the book emphasized on these main aspects.I truly enjoyed reading all the chapters and I liked the most the one where Hunter and his team interviewed the "Headhunters" to know what exactly they will be looking for from new CIOs to join and meet organizational needs.Lastly, from my own perspective I believe a lot of the new CEOs in different varieties of businesses in the next 10 years or so will be promoted CIOs form within the companies themselves. It is no longer just the COOs or CFOs who can be promoted and become the CEO to lead a whole organization but nowadays CIOs are the future CEOs.....and indeed CIO stands for "Career Is ON"

As an IT professional for close to 20 years, I have said for a long time that IT lacks respect within the organization it serves and often that is due to a lack of professionalism on the part of IT, but more often than not it is due to the focus on technology as the end game rather than the value technology provides the business. This is book that can help CIOs, IT Managers and Business Analysts translate their vision into a message that their internal Customers and the business' external Customers will value and embrace. This is a must read for how to change your IT organization's relationship with your Customers. Much of it will seem like a no-brainer to folks with business acumen, but if you're looking for ideas on how to better approach your internal business partners or want examples of how to help your IT Customers approach their internal business partners, then this book is an excellent read!

Hunter brings an extraordinary amount of experience to this book drawn from his vast network of global CIOs. He both defines why transformation is essential along with tips for achieving it - both in his own words and via the many CIOs he quotes extensively throughout the book. This is an absolute must read for any IT leader concerned with transforming her organization.

Worth every cent. You get prctical knowledge, which is what I was looking for. You can use this book to get to the top or stay on top.

Good Book

This was extremely disappointing with very lightweight, soft, high-level recommendations that are not aligned to the complex and challenging expectations that a modern CIO must meet.

Great book - fantastic ideas very current topic. Fast read

Don't let the use of CIO in the title put you off, if you want or perhaps need to get IT and Information Systems working to add value in your organisation then this is an essential starting point.The focus here has nothing to do with whether you should buy a crate of tablets to replace desktop boxes, or to embrace the current BYOD wave; This is about getting he business to recognise the importance of all department working together to pull business up and forward.As with all good books of this ilk, it's common sense in the end - if you don't use the tools and skillset that you already have in place then you're ignoring an asset and opportunity that your company might not survive to regret.Buy it, read it and pass it on to those around you.

Really to the point - testimony from CIOs and great tips and anecdotes on the application of leadership techniques. Whether one is a CIO or not, the techniques for transformational leadership apply across industry sectors and business cultures.

In "Transformational CIO" sammelt der Autor diverse Zitate von (befreundeten?) CIOs großer Unternehmen und setzt sie in einen Kontext, der seinen Vorstellungen vom heutigen CIO entspricht. Das ist von der Idee her gut und vor allem recht aktuell. Zweifellos bringt er dabei viele heutige Herausforderungen auf den Punkt, und man kann von erfolgreichen IT-Managern lernen, wie sie ihre Organisationen drastisch reformiert haben. Als roter Faden zieht sich dabei eine Idee durchs Buch, die eigentlich heute nicht mehr so neu ist: die IT als aktive Wertschöpfungsorganisation im Unternehmen statt als Commodity-Dienstleister, der vom Business ausgequetscht wird und immer nur "nein" zu Innovationen sagt. Recht gut auch die Idee, einen beispielhaften Plan für die ersten 30 Tage im Job zu liefern.Aber wie das geschrieben ist! Im furchtbarsten US-Management/Motivationsbuch-Stil: Selbstbeweihräucherung des Autors mit ausgiebigem Namedropping, (Selbst-)Beweihräucherung seiner Interviewpartner, unzählige abgegriffene Buzzwords aus dem Consulterjargon, nur oberflächliche Erfolgsbehauptungen ohne jegliches kritische Hinterfragen, Binsenweisheiten x-mal wiederholt.Fazit: Wenn man sich durchs Geschwafel durchquält - immerhin ist es locker-flockig geschrieben -, kann man durchaus einige Perlen finden, zumindest zur Motivation. Die Hardcover-Ausgabe ist überteuert, ich würde eher zur günstigeren Kindle-Version greifen (Illustrationen gibt es absolut keine).