ABSTRACT
No matter how much power or manipulation skill
CIOs acquire, their reach and range is always limited
if they behave as independent entities and cannot ex-
ecute to scale. Since we are discussing warfare, execute
is meant quite literally. In warfare, one must be able
to dispatch multiple enemies or potential enemies at
one time. Level one in multilateral warfare and creat-
ing scale is developing a high-performing IT leadership
team, and ensuring that they march in lockstep toward
the strategy. Many CIOs believe that they have good
relationships and partner well with the CEO, CFO
and other leaders in the enterprise. They feel comfort-
able collaborating as well as saying no periodically in
their peer-to-peer and executive relationships. Unfor-
tunately, when their direct reports engage with IT and
business colleagues, the situation may be quite differ-
ent and might actually undermine the CIO, his strategy
and his ability to execute to scale.
