The Lighthouse CIO—Brave, Clueless, Bold—or all of the above?

Pioneers scribble paradigms, but it’s not all song and dance while they are doing it. Is it easy for a CIO to be the first one to fire-walk into something new?

- Pratima H [e-mail]

The front row of a fashion show. Gives you an early, and the best, peek into what's hot and what's not. The front row of a class. Gives you proximity to both the teachers and their fresh-off-the-boat answers, before others. The front row of a lab. Allows you to handle the test tubes yourself. The front row of a battle. Gives you arrows. The front row in a stand-up comedy show. Gives you jitters.

Well, it's not easy to be in this row. But it's tempting. It has its perks. As many as the potshots.

Nothing changes for a CIO or a CXO who sits in a front row. The CIO who dares to pick the next new thing without any hesitation. Being an early adopter, being the first one to experiment, and being gutsy enough to enter a new coast - that's what makes these leaders stand apart from those who sit on the fence and those who lurk behind skepticism till the coast is clear. Or till it's too late to claim the edge.

So what wisdom, courage, foresight and adrenaline goes into making a Front-Row CIO?

THEY ARE READY TO TAKE THE ARROWS

To start with - they have to be bold. They are not afraid of failure, but they are afraid of complacency. Bold CIOs know how to frame the challenge to inspire others, as captured well by R Ray Wang, Founder, Chairman, & Principal Analyst of Constellation Research, who is also a commentator on Disruptive Tech and the Co-Host of DisrupTV. "Bold CIOS understand how to activate movements among stakeholders such as employees, customers, suppliers and partners to effect transformation."