Leadership article published in CIO Magazine

Last month, I made the transition from Chief Information Officer (CIO) here at North Georgia back to my tenured position as an associate professor in computer science & information systems. This month, an article I submitted to CIO magazine this past year was published. You can access the article here:

What Would the Next CIO Do? How to Preempt Your Successor

I count it a crowning achievement to be published in the magazine (page 14 of the September issue of CIO in print)  that I’ve turned to each month for leadership advice these past six years. I wrote a piece about the strategy I began employing three years ago, in the middle of my tenure as CIO. I noticed my team and I weren’t innovating at the pace we were while I was still fresh in the role, and while I still had my “honeymoon” period. I began asking myself, “what would the next CIO do?” as a way to regain some fresh perspective on the pressing issues, even amidst the myriad of IT systems that needed maintaining.

There’s a small amount of irony, of course, that my article on what the next CIO would do appeared the month after my successor, good friend and excellent IT leader, Steve McLeod, stepped in and I transitioned back to the classroom. The article touched off thoughtful comments by readers and fellow technology leaders across the country. I was honored to see my good friend Dr. Tim Chester, CIO at the University of Georgia, had extended the discussion with a blog post of his own: https://www.accidentalcio.com/2012/09/a-vicious-cycle.html . (Note: Tim’s blog, The Accidental CIO,  is a terrific resource on IT leadership in its own right. CIO at Pepperdine and UGA, Tim’s advice and deep, critical thoughts on leading IT today have helped me and countless become more effective technology leaders.)

I don’t expect this to be the last technology leadership article I publish, but it’s certainly a milestone in a CIO’s career to be able to give back to a community that he’s drawn so much from. I’m deeply passionate about teaching the next generation of IT leaders, but it was a great time to BE a technology leader at North Georgia. I’m grateful for the team of 34 of the best IT staff in the state, and for the mentorship of my past President, Dr. David Potter. I’ll have great memories of my time as CIO, and I’m looking forward to creating new ones as a professor in a thriving, accredited computer science program.